Click here to download the report.
The Wellcome Trust provided funding to support the I’m a Scientist events in November and March of this academic year. We’ve written a report on what this funding allowed us to do, read it here.
Below are the key outcomes from the report:
- 6 I’m a Scientist zones were run with Wellcome Trust funding in November 2015 and March 2016, including 2 themed zones, Fat Zone and Heart Zone, and 4 general science zones, two of which were for primary schools only.
- 30 scientists were able to engage with school students, including 22 biomedical-related researchers. Of these, 45% were doing research supported by the Wellcome Trust
- 2,826 school students logged into the zones, an average of 455 per zone.
- 85 schools got a place in I’m a Scientist Wellcome Trust funded zones. 86% of these schools took part in the event.
- £3,000 to be used for further public engagement was distributed among the winners of the zones.
- Widening participation in schools – We developed criteria to identify schools that would benefit from taking part and 18% of the schools who took part in the zones met one of our criteria for schools underserved by STEM engagement.
- Feedback from teachers and scientists was positive:
My school is absolutely buzzing about ‘I’m a Scientist’. Children are spending hours at home looking at questions. They don’t want to go out for lunch, so they can spend time on it!” – Teacher, Gold Zone
It’s been fun and manic all in one… Overall it’s been a great lesson in science comms! – Scientist, Rhenium Zone
