The popularity of the McMaster Children and Youth University program is pushing the sessions to a bigger lecture hall to accommodate more participants.

Now in its second year, the free program of monthly Saturday-morning sessions by university faculty members is moving its January and February sessions to a new location on McMaster’s campus – one that can accommodate more than 600 participants, doubling the size of the 300-seat lecture hall where the program started.

“We’ve been working with long waiting lists, and having a bigger space means we can give more children access to this opportunity,” says Sandeep Raha, a co-founder of the program.

The first of the two expanded sessions, to be held in the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery (Room 1305), is scheduled for Jan. 26, when Dr. Mehran Anvari will discuss robotic surgery, a field in which he is a pioneer.

On Feb. 23, Christina Grant will speak to students in a special session on how to deal with bullies. Dr. Grant is an award winning instructor who is an associate professor in McMaster’s Department of Pediatrics.

Both sessions start at 11 a.m., and space is still available in both. Though the sessions are free, registration is required.