Do you need to be clever to be a scientist?

Surprisingly, being ‘clever’ is not the most important quality that a budding scientist needs to possess.

Professor Tim Birkhead from the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences will be exploring the traits and attributes which may determine whether a child will grow up to be a scientist in a talk for the hugely successful Sheffield Festival of Science & Engineering.

Sheffield Festival of Science & Engineering is returning to Sheffield on 10 March for a two-week series of lectures, events, and activities across the city.

The programme of more than 50 events has something for everyone and features some of the biggest names in science and engineering. Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Science Professor Tony Ryan will be on stage interviewing Professor Jim Al-Khalili, the host of the popular BBC Radio 4 show The Life Scientific. Professor Al-Khalili will also be sharing his views on quantum physics, the origins of life, and his life-long passion for Leeds United Football Club.

Funded and organised by Sheffield's universities and supported by museums and industry-education groups across the city, the Sheffield Festival of Science & Engineering 2013 will build on our world-class research and emphasise the central role played by science and technology in the region.

Using the Zebrafish to Model Cardiovascular Disease, New Ways to Tackle Parkinson’s Disease, A Window into the Psyche: Psychiatry and Brain Imaging, and 10 Years Younger: Use or Abuse of Science? are just some of the other fascinating talks on offer.

There will also be a strong schools programme where our academics and students will run over 120 visits, events and activities in local schools.

You’ll be able to sneak a peek at the creatures in Sheffield’s most mind-boggling museum – fossilised flying dinosaurs, the dolphin that washed up in Sheffield, Arthur the half-hedgehog and our ancestors stripped to the bone.

The Alfred Denny Zoology Museum is one of Sheffield’s best-kept secrets and will open to everyone during the Festival. Since the museum was established in 1905, only a handful of people have ever seen the weird and wonderful stuff inside.