The West Midland's status as the boffins' capital of Britain takes a leap forward this week with the opening of a groundbreaking science centre.

The base at Keele University in Staffordshire aims to revitalise enthusiasm and understanding in science.

Teachers and other educators will be invited to use the state-of-the-art facility to increase innovation in the field at a time of mounting concern over waning interest among the public.

The Science Learning Centre will be opened by Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell tomorrow during a science-dominated week for the region.

Award-winning BBC science correspondent David Whitehouse will be in Birmingham tonight - named Britain's first science city by the Government - to give a lecture.

The former space scientist's talk at Birmingham University will, among other things, discuss the impact of an asteroid hitting Earth.

And this Wednesday also sees nearly 600 schoolchildren hear a talk about energy conservation, cars of the future and the likelihood of extreme weather destroying our planet.

Entitled Our Planet - Our Future, demonstrations by scientists at Birmingham University will include how it is possible to derive energy from faeces.

This week's events are part of a growing scientific focus in the region. As well as being named a Science City by Chancellor Gordon Brown in the last Budget, Birmingham was pronounced Britain's City of Space in April.

The title, granted by the Royal Astronomical Society for the first time in its 185-year history, was in recognition of the city's role hosting a number of space events.

It held the 2005 RAS National Astronomy Meeting in April and is home to the British Festival of Space over June and July.

Millennium Point also plans to open a digital planetarium towards the end of the year.

Chris King, head of education at Keele University, believes the new Science Learning Centre will transform science education in the West Midlands.

"We look forward to working with schools, colleges and universities across the region," he said.

"Our aim is to make sure pupils in schools get a much better view of science and get

much more turned on by it.

"Children are not choosing to do science as much as they used to in that will give us problems down the line if we don't do something about it."

"Keele University will play a vital role in this groundbreaking project to maximise the exceptional scientific potential the UK has to offer."

The centre is one of nine science bases across the country.

Mr Whitehouse's talk entitled Dinosaurs on the Moon or Astronomy and Space in the Media aims to give an insight into how the press handled stories like the possibility of life on Mars and the loss of Beagle 2 on the Red Planet.

The author of The Moon: A Biography has been a space scientist and astronomer and has worked at the worldfamous Jodrell Bank Radio Observatory.

The event, at the Physics Poynting building on the Edgbaston campus at 7.45pm, marks the first in a series of new public talks with an astronomical theme at the university over the coming months.

The science talk for 11 to 16-year-olds intends to show how science and engineering can help reduce the impact humans have on the planet.