Sparks! Talks
Save the date - Third Edition Launch
Experts give our audience a first look at the growing importance and the potential impact of quantum technologies before the full Sparks! event in March.
16 November 2023 | 7.00 p.m. | Science Gateway, CERN | Talk in English | Free entrance
Mandatory registration - link to follow, save the date for now!
For its third edition, Sparks! will collaborate with the CERN Quantum Technology Initiative (QTI) to bring our audience cutting edge discussions in the domain. This launch event will be the opportunity for our audience to take a first dive into the status quo in quantum technologies as well as into the future developments and their ramifications in society before the full Sparks! event in March. The evening will be moderated by Bruno Giussani, who will be talking to Nicole Yunger Halpern, author of Steampunk Quantum, Sofia Vallercosa - CERN physicist and coordinator of the Quantum Computing area within the CERN Quantum Technology Initiative, amongst others. The evening will also feature the work of dancer, choreographer, new media artist and recipient of the Arts at CERN Accelerate Taiwan Award, Su Wenchi. In collaboration with Arts at CERN. WenChi Su was artist in residence in 2016.
Third edition launch speakers
Host
3rd edition - Future Quantum
The 3rd edition of Sparks! will address Future Quantum. During the Talks on 7 March 2024, we will cover a range of quantum technology subjects - with presentations on quantum theory and the way it influences our understanding of reality; quantum computing and the impact it may have on the development of new treatments for diseases; climate change mapping: finance, etc.
The Sparks! Talks are aimed at the wider audience, allowing the public to have an insight into the specialist topics at the forefront of academic, social, philosophical and industry-linked advances in Quantum. Held in the Science Gateway auditorium for the first time, this edition will allow for an 800-strong audience to attend, thus allowing for a fully public event for the first time.
The talks will also be streamed online for an international audience.
Below you can browse the first and second edition talks given by our Sparks! speakers on Future Intelligence and Future Technology for Health.
Sparks! Second Edition
The theme for the second edition of the Sparks! Forum was Future Technology for Health. CERN has actively pursued medical applications of its technologies since as far back as the 1970s. The tools of experimental particle physics are ubiquitous in hospitals and biomedical research. However, Sparks! goes beyond what we do here at CERN. Spanning the domains of prevention, diagnosis and treatment, the topics for this edition of Sparks! sparked new questions about the links between medical technologies and fundamental science, globalisation, accessibility, trust, ethics and more.
Sparks! First Edition
Videos - First edition 2021 - Talks on Future Intelligence
The theme of the first edition was Future Intelligence. The subject is particularly relevant to CERN because the flow, analysis and interpretation of vast amounts of information is a core strength of the Organization, in particular when searching for tiny signals in vast data sets, while avoiding bias and being open to novel technologies. As the particle physics challenge intensifies, CERN is set to be at the forefront of bringing together big data and artificial intelligence.
Playlist
Videos - Launch 2020 - Talks on Future Intelligence