The pioneering Face Research Laboratory at the University of Aberdeen is one of only three British groups hosting an interactive exhibit at French Science Week this week (October 10 to 16).
Last year, events across France attracted more than a million visitors from all over the world and this year, as part of the events running in the centre of Paris, the Face Research Laboratory at Aberdeen will host an interactive exhibit together with computer scientists from the University of St Andrews.
The display will showcase the group’s work on the ways in which both social factors (e.g. experience and lifestyle) and biological factors (e.g. changes in levels of sex hormones) influence how we perceive other people.
Dr Ben Jones, the psychologist who runs the Face Research Lab at the University of Aberdeen, said: “It’s a great honour and very flattering to be asked to take part in French Science Week and to represent both the University and Scottish science at the event – particularly as only a few other groups from the UK have been invited to take part this year.
“Due to the fact our work mostly focuses on factors that determine attraction to faces it’s also hard to think of a better place to present our work than the European capital of romance.
“We’re really looking forward to presenting our work to the people of Paris and excited at the prospect of setting up some joint projects with French scientists”.
Dr Lisa DeBruine, who developed the exhibit together with Dr Jones, added “The interactive exhibit allows visitors to get involved in our research, meet the scientists involved and ask them questions about their work, and we’re hoping this will change the view that scientists are somewhat detached from the public and not that interested in what they have to say.”
The Aberdeen group is the only team representing life sciences and is one of the youngest contingents to take part in the prestigious French event.
To find out more about the Aberdeen Face Research Laboratory’s research visit http://www.facelab.org/ - you can see an online, English-language version of the Lab’s interactive exhibit at http://www.faceresearch.org/
To contact the face research lab email faceresearch@abdn.ac.uk.