WRITER and broadcaster Alice Roberts visited Bournemouth University to launch its Festival of Learning 2018.

The university's Talbot campus will play host for a range of activities for children, adults, students and members of the public during the festival, which lasts until Wednesday June 20.

Professor Roberts spoke to audiences on Saturday about the history of species.

She said: "I strongly believe that universities are about much more than just their own staff and students. I think events like this are just what they should be doing to show people what goes on inside universities. There's a cultural enrichment that can happen."

Among the events taking place in BU’s state-of-the-art Fusion Building was It’s Painless (almost)!, hosted by Dr’s Ellen Seiss, Jonny Branney and Osman Ahmed. The event looked at the pain threshold and how this can vary between individuals.

Dr Branney, a senior lecturer in adult nursing at BU, said: “The Festival of Learning has been really popular, in particular our event attracted many people interested in finding out exactly where their pain threshold is.

“Engaging with the public is something that we really enjoy, and being able to share our research with the community has been particularly great.”

Also capturing the imaginations of visitors was an open lab drop-in session with members of staff from BU’s Faculty of Science and Technology. The lab featured a collection of skeletal remains, together with artefacts from across anthropology, including knapped tools and stone age weapons discovered at Hengistbury Head.

BU vice-chancellor Professor John Vinney said: "The Festival of Learning is all about opening our doors so that members of the public can come in and see what we do in terms of our research, our education, and how we bring this together with our model of fusion.

"There’s been a real span of ages with lots of families on campus exploring and engaging in activities, which makes it so special. There’s been a real buzz and excitement about inspiring people to learn."

Events will continue across BU until Wednesday. Details from bournemouth.ac.uk/fol