Scotland’s most famous sheep is travelling to Budapest this month to take part in an opening ceremony at Hungary’s first interactive science centre for children. Dolly, the world’s first cloned animal, was brought into the world in 1996 by scientists at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh.  Since her death in 2003, she has been exhibited in a museum in Scotland and now she has been invited by British Council Hungary to the opening of the Palace of Miracles, or Csodák Palotája, in Budapest on September 16.

The organisers hope that the presence of Dolly will attract large numbers of visitors to the centre. Professor Keith Campbell, one of the scientists who created the sheep, will attend the ceremony, along with a young Hungarian researcher, Dr András Dinnyés, who also worked on the project. After returning to his homeland, Dr Dinnyés established a research group at the University of Gödöllő that is leading on cloning in Hungary.  Links between Scotland and Hungary will be further strengthened when representatives of the Edinburgh Royal Society sign a co-operation agreement with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences later this year.

The Palace of Miracles features more than a hundred spectacular fun and educational exhibits including laser displays, optical puzzles and mazes. Since its beginnings in 1996, the centre’s aim has been to inspire young minds though hands-on discovery.  It will be situated in the Millenium Park, used by the Hungarian government to showcase cultural and scientific ideas of the future, which from December will house 15-20 installations from Hungary and abroad, including a joint Hungarian-UK exhibition ’Images of the Heart’.  The unique exhibition, organised by British Council Hungary, developed from bilateral co-operation projects between British and Hungarian medical surgeons.

Michael White, Science Manager at British Council Scotland, and for the last three years on secondment as the International Activities Manager at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, said:
’It is a huge compliment to Scottish science that Hungary has chosen Dolly to feature in the opening of their new science museum. Dolly is a highly appropriate symbol of the mutual scientific interests of Scotland and Hungary, and it is all the more gratifying that this shoiuld happen as the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of Edinburgh are negotiating an agreement that will enable more and stronger scientific links between the two countries.’

For further information about the Scottish-Hungary events, please contact Eva Salamon Education and Science Assistant, British Council Hungary on Telephone +36 (1) 478 4744 or email Eva.Salamon@britishcouncil.hu.