University sets up coffee dates to encourage residents to enrol in Peterborough

Academics are inviting the public to meet them in a city centre coffee bar to consider enrolling at Peterborough’s university.

The offer is part of a new initiative by ARU Peterborough to reach out to the residents to encourage them to look at studying at the Bishops Road campus.

Called Peterborough Pick n Mix, the aim is to use relaxed and informal environments to introduce the £30 million university to more people in a series of workshops in April.

A spokesperson said: “The workshops will be delivered over four nights, each offering a different aspect of exploration, so that people are free to pick and mix the workshops that most appeal to them.”

The first will be held at Bewiched Coffee, in Bridge Street, on April 15 from 6pm to 7.15 when the subject will be computing and robotics where university staff will discuss the inner workings of computers through interactive games and the mechanics of robotics through building a robot arm.

On April 16 the subject will be DNA extraction and creating medicine and will explore the hidden code in fruit through the extraction of DNA and why the consistency of cough medicine makes a difference to its effectiveness.

It takes place at Bewiched Coffee in Bridge Street from 6pm to 7.15pm.

Entrepreneurs and the power of branding is the subject of the third Pick n Mix evening when the team will look at the ideas and solutions to problems through business related activities.

It takes place on April 17 at Bewiched Coffee in Bridge Street from 6pm to 7.15pm.

The final Pick n Mix session is on April 18 from 6pm to 7.15pm at ARU Peterborough’s innovation and research centre, in Bishop’s Road.

Guests will be taken on a journey into the realms of immersive technology from virtual reality and augmented reality to mixed reality. It is a chance to discover how cutting edge technologies will redefine experiences and open doors to opportunities that were once deemed impossible.

The move comes as work progresses to create a publicly accessible Living Lab at the university which will feature an open, interactive science centre and education space to engage people in science and technology.