Yearly Archives: 2010

6 Easy Steps to Win I’m a Scientist!

Thinking about taking part in I’m a Scientist, but wondering how to increase your chances of winning? Wonder no more, we’ve done some analysis of last year’s winners and here are our top tips on how to win I’m a Scientist… 1. Change your first name to Jo (or Joe). It seems that if you are named Jo in any way you are more likely to win! Five of our winners from 2010’s events were called Jo or Joe. Out of the 125 scientists who took part in the events only 6 were named Jo or Joe. 2. Change your surname to one beginning with C, M or S. 32% of our winners from both the March and June events had surnames starting with C or M. This is closely followed by those with who begin with S who won 12% of the zones. Out of everyone that took part … Continue reading →

Posted on December 10, 2010 by in IAS Event. Comments Off

Choosing themed zones for next year

You’ve given us quite a few suggestions for themed zones for next year. Along with the ones we used last year, there’s a good list here for you to vote on. Please vote for the zones you think you’d like to take part in. HOWEVER, you’ll see that some suggestions I haven’t put up. This is because I wasn’t quite sure how they’d work, or they were a bit vague and I wasn’t sure what the right specific suggestion would be. I’m explaining why (i.e. rambling on about this) below the poll. Please can you help me work this out?! Use the comments to add your thoughts and when we’ve worked out more suggestions I can keep adding things to this list. [poll id=”5″] A discussion on How Science Works (HSW) zone topics One suggestion was a HSW zone. The problem with this is, who would we put in it? … Continue reading →

Posted on November 26, 2010 by in How Science Works, IAS Event, Science Education. Comments Off

Science Communication Conference: call for proposals

The British Science Association have asked us for a guest blog spot to promote their conference. The theme is ‘online science engagement’ and we rule at that:-) (Don’t believe me? Check what happens if you google online science engagement. Four of the top links are about IAS. Yes, you’re right, I do deserve a raise, don’t I?) Naturally the I’m a Scientist team will be proposing a session on what we’ve learnt about online engagement by running this event. Hopefully we’ll see you there! The Wellcome Trust and the Science in Society team at the British Science Association are working in partnership to organise the 2011 Science Communication Conference taking place on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 May 2011 at Kings Place, London. The Conference addresses the key issues facing science communicators in the UK. Each year brings together people who are involved in public engagement – a diverse group … Continue reading →

Posted on November 22, 2010 by in Science Engagement. Tagged British Science Association, conference, online science engagement, SCC2011. Comments Off

Suggest topics for themed zones

Last year we had themed zones in the I’m a Scientist event, for the first time. They worked well and we plan to do the same next year. Here’s your chance to suggest what themed zones you would like to see. To start you off, below is a list of the themes from last year, plus some other suggestions. Please suggest themes in the comments, this week. Next week we will put up a list of all the suggestions, for you to vote on. At the bottom there is also a short FAQ about themed zones, to help you decide. Themed zones used in 2010 Brain Genes Are we too clean? IVF Imaging Evolution Cancer research Sports Science Drugs Development Use of chemicals in everyday life New suggestions so far Energy generation Climate Space Ecology Further explanation about zones How do I decide what themed zone to pick? It’s not … Continue reading →

Posted on November 15, 2010 by in IAS Event. Comments Off

Dates chosen for IAS2011!

Drumroll… I’m delighted to announce that the dates for the two I’m a Scientist 2011 events will be:- 14th – 25th March 13th – 24th June This is based on votes from teachers who’ve applied to take part. Let it never be said we don’t listen to teachers! For the March event, these two weeks were the most popular with teachers. For the June event, starting one week later would have been marginally more popular, but would have excluded the majority of Scottish schools, who break up on 24th June. As the most popular week in June was 20th-24th (which we are still hitting) we’ve decided to go with 13-24th to exclude as few schools as possible. Now the hard work begins in earnest. We’ve got to actually plan and organise them! If you would like to take part, please use the links below to find out more and sign … Continue reading →

Posted on November 8, 2010 by in IAS Event. Comments Off

Help choose dates for I'm a Scientist 2011

What dates would work best for you for the I’m a Scientist events next year? Like this year, we’ll be running a small, warm-up event in March, then the main event in June. This is based on research we’ve already done with teachers. We’d just like to confirm what dates in June and March will work best for you. Please select on the poll below, the two best weeks in March and the two best weeks in June, for you and your classes. [poll id=”2″] [poll id=”3″] Just to be clear National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW) runs from 11 – 20 March 2011.

Posted on November 1, 2010 by in IAS Event. Comments Off

The arguments for young people's involvement in decisions about science funding

The following is a version of an article I wrote for the British Science Association’s magazine in May 2009. It puts forward some arguments for why I think young people should be involved in decisions about science funding. I’m posting it now because it’s relevant to conversations we were having on twitter yesterday. There are further arguments, not covered here, which are that having to explain their work and its implications to teenagers helps scientists think them through. And that kids are good bullshit detectors. I might get round to writing a post on those aspects one day. “Interesting but badly paid work on offer” said the email. As an out-of-work TV researcher, paid work sounded good and interesting was even better. I signed up for two weeks as an online moderator for a youth engagement project called I’m a Councillor, Get me out of Here! The event got young … Continue reading →

Posted on October 28, 2010 by in Science Engagement. Comments Off

I'm a Scientist: A student speaks

Here is an article written for a school newsletter by a teenager, about the experience of taking part in I’m a Scientist. I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! Sound familiar? One small change – we’ve swapped a group of celebrities trying to eat the entire jungle for a group of buzzing scientists – each in a jungle of questions and comments. Another textbook science lesson? Maybe not! I’m a scientist is a website aimed at all teenagers – interested in science or not (but believe me, by the time you finish the project, science will have taken over your brain and made you love it for the rest of your life). Each pupil is given a login, leading to their individual area which can be personalised with pictures of famous scientists, exploding chemicals and swine flu particles. The login works for a specific zone. In each zone, there … Continue reading →

Posted on October 12, 2010 by in IAS Event, School, Science Education. Comments Off

Beyond Blogging event teaser

Do you think science is perfect, or is there something about it you want to change? And can the internet help you do it? Is the peer review system broken? Why do we still publish research papers? What are the problems with the system? What’s the proper relationship between government and scientific advisors? Are there barriers (that we could change) to women excelling in science, or are they just not as good at it? What about ethnic minorities and people from different socioeconomic groups? How can scientists explain the value of their work (and funding it)? Are scientists answering (or asking) the questions that really matter? Are there ways that scientists could gain by communicating better with others in their field? With scientists in other fields? With people outside science? Fold.it and Galaxy Zoo are great. Are there other areas where people could get involved in actually taking part in … Continue reading →

Posted on October 1, 2010 by in Project News, Science Education, Science Engagement. Comments Off

Beyond Blogging: Science engagement online can do more!

I’m making this very quick post as twitter is awash today with people protesting about Vince Cable’s remarks on proposed science budget cuts. Back in July Shane and I went to Alice Bell’s excellent talkfest on science blogging. Shane then wrote this typically provocative post about how the bloggers weren’t being ambitious enough – why did nobody want to change the world? Blogs are fantastic, not to diss blogs at all, but there’s a lot more that can be done online than writing blog posts. We decided that instead of just whinging, we should put our money where our mouth is, and do something to help! We are now planning a workshop/get-together called Beyond Blogging. This would bring together people from the worlds of science, science communication and engagement, with some of the hackers and doers involved in civil society online engagement, to see what interesting ideas and projects could … Continue reading →

Posted on September 8, 2010 by in Science Engagement. Comments Off

Read about our session at Science Online conference

We’d never been to the Science Online conference. And we’d never given a presentation about I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! But when the organisers asked if we’d like to do a session on the event we jumped at the chance. We then closed the office for the whole of August, so we had to write and organise our highly interactive, possibly risky session in 2 days when we got back last Wednesday. At the same time as do all our catching up from the holidays. Last week was an interesting week… So here is a summary of our session (last Fri, 3rd Sept) and what we, and others, said. Our presentation At Gallomanor we like to walk the walk, as well as talk the talk. So we wanted to make the session as interactive and audience-led as possible. After a short (2 min) intro, we showed the … Continue reading →

Posted on September 7, 2010 by in Evaluation, IAS Event. 1 comment

Who said scientists aren’t funny?

In I’m a Scientist we ask all the scientists to tell us a joke. It turns out everyone loves this bit of the scientist’s profiles, so we thought we would gather them all here together, for your delight and delectation… Zone Scientist Joke Beryllium Philip Wadler There are two kinds of people—those who think there are two kinds of people, and those who don’t. Ian Sillett Why did the scarecrow win a nobel prize? He was outstanding in his field! (Topical?) Derek Mann Q. What did the fish say when he swam into the wall? A. Dam! Daniel Mietchen Schrödinger’s cat walks into a bar … and doesn’t. Boron Vicki Stevenson how many physicists does it take to change a light bulb? 2 – 1 to hold the bulb and 1 to rotate the universe Keith Brain 3 people travelling in a bus through the Australian countryside see a black … Continue reading →

Posted on July 23, 2010 by in Event News. Comments Off

Students! Tell us what you thought about I’m a Scientist, and win a prize.

This is a last reminder: We really want to hear from you! What do you think, did you like I’m a Scientist? What did you like/dislike about it? Was it better or worse than normal lessons? You should fill in our survey and tell us what you think. It helps us make it better for next time. Also you’ll go into a prize draw for £20 WH Smiths vouchers. Survey is here http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/307117/i-m-a-scientist-june-2010-tell-us-what-you-think- Thanks for your help!

Posted on July 19, 2010 by in Evaluation, Event News. Comments Off

How DOES magnetism work?

Last year I saw A C Grayling talk on happiness and it’s importance. He said that he bans his students from using the word ‘happy’, that it’s a lazy portmanteau word. He thinks that if you are forced to choose a different word – hopeful, exhilarated, content – you’ll think about what you really mean far more clearly. I think the same can sometimes be true of jargon. Scientists taking part in I’m a Scientist have told us before that explaining yourself without using jargon is hard work, but unexpectedly rewarding. It means you have to think through what you mean and it exposes your mental shortcuts. We saw a great example of this in Imaging Zone. A fairly innocuous-seeming question (Why do magnets attract and repel?) pretty much lead to the scientists realising that they don’t actually know how magnets worked. Not really. Not when they tried to actually explain it to … Continue reading →

Posted on July 13, 2010 by in Evaluation, IAS Event, Scientists. 2s Comments.

Tell us what you want!

It’s almost two weeks since I’m a Scientist ended. Doesn’t time fly? Do you miss it? We do, but we’re maybe a bit sad like that. Now we want to know what YOU think about it, what you liked and what you didn’t. If you tell us what you thought, it helps us make it better for next time. Also, you’ll go into a prize draw to win £20 of WH Smiths vouchers. Student survey: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/307117/i-m-a-scientist-june-2010-tell-us-what-you-think- Thanks for telling us, we really appreciate it.

Posted on July 8, 2010 by in Project News. Comments Off

Press announcement: IAS2010 winners

I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here! has found its very own kings (and queens) of the laboratory, as chosen by 5,000 school students from across the UK. For two weeks 100 scientists, in 20 different zones, have been answering questions from school students and having online live chats with them. The students have now voted for who they think should win and the final votes have now been counted. It really does give us the most enormous pleasure to announce that the winners are… Zone Winner Beryllium Ian Sillett Boron Hywel Vaughan Nitrogen Joanna Buckley Oxygen Tom Hardy Fluorine Mark Roberts Neon Jon Copley Sodium Ben Still Magnesium Dean Whittaker Aluminium Katy Mee Silicon Andrew Maynard Clean Panos Soultanas Brain Joanna Brooks Cancer Joanna Watson Chemicals Joe Cook Drugs Deuan Jones Evolution Ceri Thomas Genes Steven Kiddle Imaging Stephen Curry IVF Vicki Onions Sports Sally Fenton This has … Continue reading →

Posted on June 25, 2010 by in IAS Event. 1 comment

A scientist gives us the lowdown on what it’s like behind the scenes…

As you all know, there are evictions every day for the rest of the week! You get a vote every day, so remember to keep voting for your favourite scientist. But how do the scientists feel, being bombarded with questions and then facing eviction? One of the scientists who took part in I’m a Scientist in March, the lovely Louise Buckley, has agreed to tell us about what the scientists taking part are REALLY thinking… Hey there! I am Louise one of the scientists from the last “I’m a Scientist….” event. This competition is looking even more exciting than when I took part – I cannot believe how many questions are getting asked. It’s a total mash-up of questions – these scientists are going to need to take a holiday afterwards to recover! I bet the scientists are starting to feel nervous now about who’s going to get evicted. We … Continue reading →

Posted on June 23, 2010 by in Evaluation, Event News. Comments Off

FIFA delays kick off for IAS breaking eviction news

Well no, OK, funnily enough FIFA aren’t changing their match times because of I’m a Scientist evictions. But we do have an eviction planned for 3.30pm on Wed, during the England vs Slovenia game. Because we are kind, caring people here at I’m a Scientist, we have decided to bring the time of Wednesday’s eviction forwards to 3pm. This means that you (and the moderators, who’ve been working very hard, and deserve a break) can relax and watch the match, with your eviction worries behind you. Apologies to those of you not supporting England, but we would move evictions for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland matches too. If there were any. Also apologies to those of you who don’t like football. Me either. I and the two non-English mods will be looking after the site on our own while the match is on. Please try not to break anything. Other … Continue reading →

Posted on June 22, 2010 by in Event News. Comments Off

So what do the scientists plan to do if they win?

As you all know, the winner of I’m a Scientist gets a £500 grant to spend on science communication. And you students decide who gets it! So we thought we’d have a little look at some of their plans for the money. Here’s a few of the more interesting ones:- Beryllium Treasure Hunt Daniel Mietchen, from Beryllium Zone, is planning to share a bit of it (£50!) with the first student to work out his scientific puzzle. This is open to all students, not just in Beryllium Zone, so get your thinking caps on if you think you’d make a good scientific detective! Scan your Teacher Tom Hartley, in Imaging Zone, would use the money to scan one class’s teacher’s brain. While the teacher does a task chosen by the class. No, rude things not allowed I’m afraid. But you might be able to see inside your teacher’s head! The … Continue reading →

Posted on June 21, 2010 by in Event News. Comments Off

Don't Panic! More advice for our scientists…

OK, judging from Twitter you are all getting worried about what you’ve let yourselves in for and fretting about getting evicted. I’m writing this to reassure you, although, I’m afraid most of you are going to get evicted and there’s not much I can do about it. Sorry! The moderators and I do hate the evictions. It’s excruciating having to say goodbye to people who’ve put in lots of effort and been great contestants. But evictions are a big part of what makes the event exciting for young people, they create a buzz and a tension. And I guess we should all remember that it’s the taking part that counts (tell that to my Dad on pub quiz night…). However, these are my top tips on surviving evictions, based on running events in this format over 6 years. I think the things that make students vote for someone are:- 1. … Continue reading →

Posted on May 18, 2010 by in IAS Event, Scientists. Comments Off

What can you do?

I want to take part with my class ❯

I want to take part as a scientist ❯

I want to find out about funding I’m a Scientist ❯

What is I’m a Scientist?

I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here is an online activity where school students get to meet and interact with scientists.

It’s a competition between scientists, where the students are the judges.

Students challenge the scientists over intense, fast-paced, online live Chats. Then they Ask the scientists all the questions they want to, and Vote for their favourite scientist to win a prize of £500 to communicate their work with the public.