In March 2020, I’m a Scientist, Stay at home was launched to allow school students to stay connected with STEM during the school closures due to coronavirus. Students could log in and take part whether they were at school or at home, reconnecting with their teachers and each other.
The Coding Zone ran over 7 weeks as part of the Stay at home activities, instead of the usual two. This Zone was funded by bp with additional funding from UKRI.
- 49 scientists created profiles in the Zone, and 44 engaged with students in live chats and answering questions. 38 of these scientists were new to the I’m a Scientist activities.
- Scientists from a broad range of areas and career stages took part. For example, Hannah Im is an integrated risk manager at bp, Will Furnell works in Scientific Computing for STFC, and Sreejita Ghosh is a Data Science PhD student, using machine learning to identify rare diseases of the adrenal glands.
- On average, 8 researchers attended each live chat session.
- 120 students from 10 schools all over the UK logged into the Zone. 3 of these schools had taken part in a previous I’m a Scientist activity.
- 33% of active students were from Widening Participation schools, and 26% from Underserved Schools.
- 18 live chats took place during the event.
