Darren was voted the winner of the Astatine Zone in November 2016. Here he writes about spending his £500 prize money on developing a YouTube channel broadcasting explanations of neuroscientific terms.

If you’d like the chance to win funding for your own public engagement work, apply for the next I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here: imascientist.org.uk/scientist-apply

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I’m a Scientist gave me the confidence to build on the idea of being a science communicator, and for this I am extremely grateful

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I was humbled to receive the seed funding and decided to invest the money in an avenue that was important to me. Science communication has real value, and one of the problems I have often come across working in neuroscience is how some of the complex terminology can detract from what’s important: knowledge and understanding.

To that end, I am in the process of making a YouTube channel that will take 2-5 mins to explain complex neuroscientific terms in easy to understand language: no jargon, no complex equations – just fun stuff. I spent £350 on a video camera, and £50 on video editing software, and a further £100 on audiovisual equipment and lighting, in order to make professional videos that engage with the viewer (or listener!).

I have to mention that winning I’m a Scientist gave me the confidence to build on the idea of being a science communicator, and for this I am extremely grateful. This summer I will have plenty of content for students, but also mums, dads, grandmas, grandpas, and the family pet (ok, not so much), that are interested in how the most important thing in our existence works: your brain.

I have also recently given ‘brain talks’ at local secondary schools, and in the next academic year I will be organising workshops on neuroscience and psychology at schools across the midlands. Thank you once again!