Scientists and residents in the city will have the chance to shine during the British Science Festival as the nation’s media descends upon Bradford, hungry for announcements of scientific breakthroughs and discoveries.

Professor Alistair Wood, dean of the University of Bradford’s school of engineering, design and technology, has said the event provides a unique opportunity for the district to show off its virtues.

He said: “I’m thrilled about it. I think this is a rare opportunity to really put the talent of the city and the region in the national consciousness.

“But what is also important is the opportunity for everybody, from the cutting-edge researcher down to schoolchildren, to engage with science – it is really saturated science for six days.”

Professor Wood’s role in the past few months has been to encourage and bring together university presentations for the festival.

In the end, more than 100 submissions had to be considered before a selection process was set up to see which ideas could go forward.

He said: “We have used this phrase ‘Exploring New Worlds’ as a theme, and it’s very much about the science world and the cultural world and looking at the relationship between society and science.

“So we have got a number of community engagement activities taking place looking at the ways different cultures perhaps perceive science.

“Each festival is going to have something that comes from the character and the uniqueness of the city it finds itself in.

“Bradford obviously has a very special set of demographics and the university has had a history of trying to reach out and engage with a diverse community, so that is one of the things we are trying to stress in this festival.”

The university will host a wide range of activities, exploring countless scientific themes.

One such event will be the family-orientated Genetic Engineering: How Science Fiction Is Rapidly Becoming Science Fact, which will give people the opportunity to extract DNA and learn about genetic engineering.

Another event will see Dr Eleanor Bryant and members of the Division of Psychology request The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth, as they investigate the accuracy of the mind’s perception.

And Professor Hassan Ugail, of the university’s School of Computing, Informatics and Media, will explain how people can be caught and tested for lying without even knowing as he guides an audience through the latest research in lie-detection technology.

Professor Wood said: “Whatever people think about science, this is an exciting opportunity to engage with it as much or as little as they like.

“This is a unique opportunity for people to try and understand something which they perhaps thought they couldn’t understand.”