THE FUTURE of the human species comes under scrutiny in a major exhibition planned by the Science Gallery at Trinity College.

Human+: The Future of Our Species will be an interactive exhibition looking at the implications of human “enhancement” and how it might alter the way we define ourselves.

The gallery has begun seeking proposals for the exhibition and is interested in the widest possible range of ideas, its director, Dr Michael John Gorman, said.

Like most of the art-science crossover projects seen at the gallery, submissions are invited from the widest possible range of areas.

Your field of expertise does not matter so long as the project is right for the installation.

Submissions were welcomed from people with science or humanities backgrounds, artists, doctors and also from those seeking to build collaborative groups, Dr Gorman said. The gallery can assist in linking people who want to make a joint proposal for the exhibition.

The overall theme is human enhancement, making changes to deliver improvements. Could we take smart pills for cognitive enhancement? How might personalised medicine affect us? Advances in genetics allow for the diagnosis of diseases that have yet to appear. How are we to handle that?

Exhibits at Human+ might look at robotics, information technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology, Dr Gorman said. “It is a collaboration. It brings together all of the different groups to give us new insights.”

The gallery is now looking for proposals for art projects, interactive installations and lab experiments under the “lab-in-the-gallery” banner seen in previous exhibitions. People can introduce new media via web-based projects or even smart phone apps, Dr Gorman said.

Proposals should target an audience in the 15-25 age range, and must have a strong relevance to the theme. A maximum of €7,000 in funding will be available for each project selected .

More information and application forms for Human+ are available at the web site: sciencegallery.com/human_plus.