Join us for our lab evening sessions! These sessions occur on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month and aim to accommodate those who work full time, and to boost the art-science community aspect of the lab. This will be a time where lab members and friends of ASCUS who don't usually get to cross paths can work on lab experiments, meet others, network, share ideas and socialise.

Take experimentation with natural dyes to the next level by getting hands-on with dyeing and printing with... bacteria!!

This beginner-friendly, hands-on course will take you through the processes involved in growing pigmented bacteria and using their pigments in various creative applications accross 2 days. You will create your own textile swatches/artworks to take home.

The experience will involve eating food fermented by fictional hybrid organisms analogous to the ones involved in the bread making experiments. Through ordering, tasting and thinking through food with fellow participants, the audience is invited to calculate the incalculable – the morality of genetic parts from different living beings, and to reflect on the choices they’ve made during the process.

Interlinking, multimedia installations by Dawn Felicia Knox exploring the way plants and fungi work together to undo the toxic residue of industrialisation.

Since ancient times, humans have been fascinated by shapes and structures, but looks can be deceiving! The Maths Outreach and College Engagement teams at the University of Edinburgh have joined forces so that you can explore the difference between how things really look, and how you might perceive them.

Mythic Instruments explores the past and future of science and craft through mysticism and material. A return to and evolution of folklore, myth and ritual appears to have opened a portal for a greater type of knowledge.

Photographic artist Imogen Hero uses her expertise in analogue photographic techniques combined with scientific processes to examine the interconnectedness of life in the Universe. The work in this exhibition was created by collaborating with microbial cultures on the surface of photographic film to create new ‘Micro Planets’ . The images reflect what life may look like on other planets, and across vastly different scales

Created by interdisciplinary artist Agatha Smith, EARTH, SOIL + FILTH is an inquiry into our collective and shared experience of the frequencies of the earth. Relating the health and wellness of soil to our own existence, Smith looks to encourage the viewer to perceive the environmental crisis in alternative literacies.

We Pretended It Wasn't Green is a generative animation by James Stephen Wright using satellite data. Showcasing a frog and enchanting mushrooms intricately woven into a constantly changing narrative influenced by earth data, the project highlights a disorienting contrast: a world where the vibrant green hues of nature are distorted and manipulated, representing our tendency to ignore the consequences of our actions.

Experience the intricacy, beauty and complexity of the world around us through microscopy at the ASCUS Lab. This jam-packed 2-day microscope course is designed to enable participants to have a full understanding of microscopy.

Fancy searching for the microscopic life that surrounds you everyday? Join us at the Edinburgh Science Festival EXPERIMENTAL LIFE and EARTH FEST to find some creepy crawlies!

Artist, Kexin Liu examines microorganisms living in the human body and their impact on our sense of “self”. Named after the number of bacteria species detected in her body, the series aims to challenge human individuality and celebrate the millions of tiny organisms that make up our identity.

Created by interdisciplinary artist Agatha Smith, EARTH, SOIL + FILTH is an inquiry into our collective and shared experience of the frequencies of the earth. Relating the health and wellness of soil to our own existence, Smith looks to encourage the viewer to perceive the environmental crisis in alternative literacies.

Climate Action Exhibition featuring a collection of 18 #LitterCUBES made from thousands of pieces of beach litter plastic, collected by artist, Julia Barton and hundreds of project volunteers in the coastal communities

Fusing photography, sculpture, and installation, environmental artist Scott Hunter explores the co-existence of ecological and industrial materials by crafting alternative representations of cultural landscapes.

Unearthing Micro Life is an art-science creative learning programme which aims to enable participants to engage creatively with their local greenspaces through outdoor interaction and sample collection, supported by hands-on experimentation in ASCUS Lab by looking at these samples under a microscope, learning about microbiology, DNA and scientific techniques.