To celebrate the work of the world’s first software engineer, Ada Lovelace, we’re holding an edit-a-thon on Thursday 17th October at the University of Manchester where you can learn how to edit Wikipedia. This is a great opportunity for anyone looking to improve their digital skills and written communication skills, regardless of their level of computer literacy. Held in association with the Physiological Society, we’ll be focusing on creating and improving biographies of Women in Physiology.

Come and develop or improve your skill set using the world’s largest encyclopedia and ninth most visited site on the entire web. You don’t need to be a physiologist or a Wikipedian to participate, make a contribution or learn. Confirmed speakers for the morning include:

• Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, Physiologist and Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester
• Professor Susan Wray, Physiologist, University of Liverpool
• Dr Jessica Wade, Physicist, Imperial College London
• Dr Duncan Hull, (yours truly) Computer Scientist, University of Manchester

After lunch (provided) we’ll have hands-on sessions with experienced editors to help you start your Wikipedia adventure. Registration is now open on eventbrite at bit.ly/ada-lovelace-editathon, you can attend either or both morning and afternoon sessions.

Any questions, please contact the organisers Sarah Mohammad-Qureshi (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion office) and me. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday 17th October from 10am, North Campus, Sackville Street Building B-Floor Entrance Hall, (5 minutes walk from Manchester Piccadilly train station) more details on the eventbrite registration page above.

[Update January 2020: See equality and diversity report on the event]

(Original watercolor portrait (Ada lovelace.jpg): Alfred Edward ChalonWoodcut-style graphic (Ada Lovelace.tif): Colin Adams, for the Ada InitiativeSVG conversion (Ada Lovelace.svg): Fred the OysterColorization: Kaldari [CC0] via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ada_Lovelace_color.svg)