DUBLIN’S SCIENCE Gallery has received a €1 million award from Google to establish a network of similar galleries in cities around the world. The gallery is already in negotiations with Moscow and London as possible locations with other possibilities including New York City and Singapore.
“It is fantastic, we are completely thrilled with this,” said Dr Michael John Gorman, director of the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin.
Google and the gallery announced the award yesterday morning.
The company has been a long-term supporter of the gallery, which uses highly innovative and entertaining exhibitions to interest students in the 15- to 25-year-old age bracket in science and engineering but also the arts.
“Having Google’s European headquarters down the road has helped,” Dr Gorman said.
The company’s philanthropic wing, Google.org, announced $40 million (€52 million) worth of awards and that for the gallery was one of the largest, Dr Gorman said yesterday.
He was encouraged to apply for support from Google.org during regular contacts with the company in Dublin.
This eventually led to the award announced yesterday. His proposal was to create an international network of science galleries in different cities, each with links to a nearby university. The goal is to have eight connected galleries in place by 2020, he said.
The science gallery connects with people in the arts, science, academic and engineering world, looking for ideas and support for its exhibitions.
“The Science Gallery is a new model for connecting young people to the world of science and the world of art and design.”
This would be carried across to the eight new galleries.
“You can tap into the smartest people in the city and harvest ideas,” he said.
“We create about five exhibitions a year. If we had science galleries in different cities we could create two exhibitions in Dublin and bring in three from the network and those from Dublin could go back into the network.”