Discovery Day is the flagship event of the Futures Festival of Discovery. It is a free event aimed at showing children and young people what researchers at GW4 universities, including the University of Bristol, do.
This year’s Discovery Day was held at We the Curious in Bristol in September and the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation and Behavioural Science was delighted to take part, along with many other research teams from different parts of the University.
Can you beat the snot monsters?
Using bubbles and our interactive game Can you beat the snot monsters? to show how far germs can travel, we hoped to spark curiosity and raise awareness about public health research and how important simple actions can be in preventing the spread of germs.
Our game introduced the different research roles involved in managing infectious disease outbreaks. The goal was to collect enough researcher cards before the snot levels got too high. Researcher Cards were Epidemiologist, Infectious Disease Modeller, Public Contributor, Evidence Reviewer, Behavioural Scientist, Health Ambassador, and Health Economist – explaining how each researcher’s skills can help stop the snot spreading. But players also had to watch out for the Snotzilla cards, which made the snot levels rise!
Engaging with children and young people
A huge 476 visitors attended Discovery Day with transport provided for community groups in Ambitions Lawrence Weston and Hillfields Community Garden into help make the event more accessible for all.
We included descriptions of the researchers roles on the cards, so we could explain to the children and young people during the games how the researchers use their skills to prevent and curb infectious disease outbreaks and answer any questions the children and young people had.
The bubbles were a real draw and gave us the opportunity to physically show how far germs can travel with sneezing and coughing and discuss ways to stop the spread.
It was really great to engage with children and young people from all backgrounds, raising awareness of our research, possible careers in public health and showing the real-world impact of our work.
Quotes from some of the children who played:
“I liked finding scientists when I was playing the game and the snot monsters, snot can spread really easily”
“I liked it was about bacteria and that it spread further than you think”
“I really like this because I won the game against my brother and I also liked it because the people were also very nice and that’s why I liked it”
“It is a very good game , you should play it. I give it 10 stars. BEAT THE SNOT”
“It is very fun I give it 9/10 I love bubbles”.
“I liked this game because I won, and it was really fun”
Next steps
We thoroughly enjoyed representing the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation and Behavioural Science at the Discovery Day 2025. It was great to be able to explain our work to children and their families. We are planning to expand our game and add some new features to make it even more exciting, ready for Discovery Day 2026!
Do you think you can beat the Snot Monsters??
Photo credit: Bhagesh Sachania Photography
