The National Quantum and Dark Matter Road Trip is on its way to schools around Tasmania during National Science Week!

The National Quantum and Dark Matter Road Trip is a travelling science show, bringing all things quantum and dark matter to a town near you. To coincide with National Science Week each year, a team of scientists and science communicators travels around Australia, delivering engaging presentations, hands-on activities, pub quizzes and more.

The 2026 Road Trip starts on 16 August in Launceston, Tasmania, and visits towns and communities around the ‘Apple Isle’ where it wraps up in Hobart on 22 August.

The nature of dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries of the Universe, and Australia is a key player in the quest to figure it out.  Dark matter accounts for 84% of all the matter in the Universe, but we don’t yet know what it is.  Quantum technologies are crucial in the hunt for dark matter, and they’re already used in smart phones and cars, medical imaging, manufacturing and navigation.  But today’s technologies capture only a small fraction of the potential of quantum physics.

With funding from National Science Week, ARC Centres of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems and Dark Matter Particle Physics, High School Students will have the opportunity to be informed and entertained in all matters dark and quantum.