| Where | The Beehive Harborough Road Kingsthorpe Northampton NN2 8LR |
| Contact | Ruth Hughes-Rowlands |
All our Northampton Cafe Scientifique talks are hosted by the Centre for Health Sciences and Services
Upcoming Cafe Scientifique event
Harnessing our intuitive cues – for better or for worse.
Thursday 27 February 2025, 5 – 6.30pm
The Bee Hive, Harborough Road, Northampton NN2 8LR
Our first Café Scientifque of 2025 is presented by Robin Sturman-
Coombs, a qualified Social Worker and Senior Lecturer in Social
Welfare, University of Northampton.
Robin’s passion for Social Work has led to an emerging interest in how HEIs prepare Students to practice Intuitive Reasoning in Social Work Practice.
This talk offers the opportunity to discuss and examine the findings
from Robin’s Doctoral studies which explores an important area of the Social Work curriculum. Robin considers how academics construct and teach intuitive reasoning to Social Work Students. Enablers and barriers to this process are considered along with recommendations for teaching and practice.
Refreshments available to purchase on the evening.
To attend February’s Café Scientifique register at bit.ly/CafeSciCUES
Previous events
Dr Hilda Hayo – The Dementia Challenge
The first Cafe Scientifique event in Northampton took place on Thursday 31st October 2019. We were delighted that it was delivered by Dr Hilda Hayo, Chief Admiral Nurse & CEO for Dementia UK.
This inaugural talk, titled: The Dementia Challenge 2018-2020, focused on:
• prevalence of dementia
• the implications of a rise in the number of people living with dementia
• what Dementia UK and Admiral Nurses do
• evaluation of the effectiveness of Admiral Nursing services
Dr Declan Ryan – The Sitting Disease
Our second talk was from Dr Declan Ryan, Exercise Physiologist, who spoke about ‘The Sitting Disease‘ and the effects it could have on our health as we enter older age.
Dubbed the ‘New Smoking’ and the ‘Sitting Disease’ by the media, the health effects of prolonged sitting have grabbed the headlines in recent months. Dr Declan Ryan, an expert in sitting research, talked about how this new focus on sitting within health research came about. Declan highlighted some of the surprising health statistics related to prolonged sitting and asked our audience to share what tactics they have to prevent the ‘Sitting Disease’ from getting a hold of you.
Prof Jeff Ollerton – Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society. Thursday 25 June
In June we held our first Virtual Cafe Scientifique where Prof Jeff Ollerton, (Professor of biodiversity, University of Northampton) drew on his experiences of field work in South America, Africa, Australia, the Canary Islands and the UK, to offer a unique and personal insight into the science of pollinators and pollination, aimed at anyone who was interested in understanding these fascinating and crucial ecological interactions.
Jeff, one of the world’s leading pollination ecologists also examined how individuals and organisations can support pollinators?
If you would like to view this event please visit: Pollinators and Pollination: Nature and Society
Prof Jeff Ollerton – Biodiversity Blog and book offer
Dr Inga Stewart & Dr Alessandra Girardi – Using technology to support individuals living with dementia. Thursday 22 October
Our second online event looked at how technology can support people living with dementia and their carers. Due to safety concerns, access to a wide range of relevant and personalised activities in secure care settings may be limited.
Dr Inga Stewart, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Dr Alessandra Girardi from St Andrew’s Healthcare discussed the challenges and benefits of technology in mental health care. Case studies describing exposure to virtual reality environments and interactions with digital journals were presented.
If you would like to view this event please visit: Using technology to support individuals living with dementia
Dr Federico Farini – Friendship, trust, diversity:children’s experiences in the classroom. Thursday 25 February 2021
The classroom can be a small but nevertheless complex social world of friendship, mutual trust between children and teachers, school-families relationships and the impact of linguistic and cultural differences. A European Research Project child-up.eu examines the intersection between these layers of social experience and how it affects children and adults.
Dr Federico Farini, a childhood and youth sociologist talked about data from the first part of Child Up. Federico has been leading the design and evaluation of action-research projects committed to promoting young people’s well-being for 15 years, working with Local Authorities, National Governments and the European Commission. Recently he was awarded two large research projects on the integration of migrant children in education systems across Europe.
If you would like to view this event please visit: Friendship, trust, diversity: children’s experiences in the classroom
Hadiza Azi – Underutilisation of Maternal Healthcare Services in Bauchi, Nigeria: exploring the limiting factors. Thursday 25 May
Our last Café Scientifque of the academic year was presented by Hadiza Azi, Associate Lecturer in Public Health, University of Northampton.
The continent of Africa is affected more than any other. Africa is home to 17 of the 20 nations with the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. Nigeria is one of the six nations contributing over 50% of maternal mortality worldwide. Maternal outcomes are poor in Nigeria, with a low rate (36%) of women’s delivery in Western maternal healthcare centres.
Hadiza’s discussion will explore the factors contributing to the
underutilisation of maternal healthcare services among reproductive
women in Bauchi state, Nigeria, leading to high maternal mortality.
Refreshments will be available to purchase.
Underutilisation of Maternal Health Care Services in Bauchi State, Nigeria: Exploring the Limiting Factors
Menopause wellbeing project: exploring the effects of moderate exercise on sleep in menopausal women. 19 September 2025
Our 24/25 Café Scientifique programme of events started with Associate Prof. Dr Tracey Redwood from the University of Northampton presenting her findings of the Menopause Wellbeing Project. This pilot project aimed to encourage female UON staff of menopausal age to increase their physical activity, improve sleep quality, and manage the effects of menopause. Participants used Fitbits connected to phone apps over three months and were challenged to achieve 10,000 steps per day or 70,000 steps per week. Those involved took part in pre and post-project focus groups, completed surveys, and kept weekly diaries to provide a comprehensive and holistic picture of their health and wellbeing.
Tracey leads the Centre for Health Sciences and Services at UON. Her research interests are diverse and she has been inspired by the participants’ determination throughout the project. The staff, from both professional and academic services “embraced this project, created increased awareness and benefitted often in ways they had not anticipated”.
To find out more about the project.
Power and Resistance 14 November 2024
Dr Peter Goy, Senior Lecturer in Education at UON and a Qualitative Researcher presented at our next Café Scientifique of the 2024 – 2025 year.
In an atmosphere of othering in the UK a new label has emerged, that of vulnerable families. There are concerns about how families are socially constructed because of being labelled vulnerable, as well as the negative implications of that. In this talk Dr Peter Goy, UON explored how vulnerable families are socially constructed in the context of Children’s Centres. Peter talked about how neoliberal politics influenced those social constructions and deflected from the structural inequalities that cause vulnerabilities in families.
Peter discussed his findings from a study of Children’s Centre workers and their resistance to negative social constructions of vulnerable families.
Dr Peter Goy is a Senior Lecturer in Education at UON and a Qualitative Researcher. His teaching and research interests focus on social welfare and justice related to children and families.