After every event we ask the winning scientists to write a short post to be sent to all the students who took part in the zone. It’s the perfect way for the scientists to reflect on the previous two weeks, thank all the students for voting for them, and talk about how they plan to use their £500 prize money.
If you’re a scientist keen to experience the ‘best crash course in scicomm’, apply now for the next event, taking place 10th – 21st June 2019, at imascientist.org.uk/scientist-apply
Lee Steinberg, University of Southampton, Drug Discovery Zone
I hope that you have learnt that anyone can be a scientist, regardless of sex, gender, ethnicity, or any other characteristic you can think of. All it needs is an interest in the world around us, as well as the ability to persevere when things aren’t quite going your way.
Rosanna Tilbrook, The University of Leicester, Imaging Zone
I was asked some really thought-provoking questions, and even learnt a few things myself. The chats were crazy at times, but I had so much fun, and it was really great to see so many of you so interested in our research.
Martin McCoustra, Heriot-Watt University, Molecule Zone
Thanks to all of the students who voted for me. Hopefully some of the enthusiasm that all of the participants showed will rub off on you and we might see you look to pursuing science and engineering as a career in a few years’ time.
Sophia Pells, University of Manchester, Nuclear Zone
The ASK questions and the live chats have been really fun! They’ve really made me think about how to explain my work in an accessible way. They’ve also reminded me just how cool science is! Since I am a PhD student I spend all of my time studying one very specific area of physics, so I really enjoyed the questions that got me talking about different areas of physics.
Matthew Smith, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Organs Zone
Wow, I can’t believe I won! What an end to an unbelievable two weeks. The money from this will go towards buying extra equipment for our outreach team to do more experiments when we go schools! It will also allow us to visit more schools, especially in underprivileged areas.
Vassilis Sideropoulos, London South Bank University, Perception Zone
I would like to say a HUGE thank you to all the students and teachers! It was a great experience and I had such a good time chatting to the students, teachers and to other scientists! There are no words to describe how stimulating this experience was. I’ve learned so many different things during the past two weeks
James Munro, Edinburgh Napier University, Relationships Zone
I am over the moon to have been chosen as your winner after 2 weeks of excellent fun. Winning is really encouraging and inspires me to do a lot more to make science open to anyone curious! Some of my favourite questions were the really challenging ones to answer. I was asked if plants have very subtle emotions, if Winnie the Pooh characters represented psychological conditions and how well psychology was represented in thriller movies!
Zoe Wimshurst, AECC University College, Time Zone
When I found out I had been placed in the Time Zone, I was a little nervous. All the other scientists were physicists and I was concerned I would be completely out of my depth. I decided to take a deep breath and go for it anyway and I am so glad I did. Not only did I get to chat about my work but I also learnt a lot from the other scientists and also from you students!
Lowri Evans, Bangor University, Water Zone
Wow! What a fantastic experience I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here! has been. I had no idea what to expect on the first day… but I found it all a truly worthwhile and enlightening 2 weeks. I have learned a lot about myself, other scientists and how best to communicate with a diverse range of children.
Oliver Gordon, University of Nottingham, Nobelium Zone
As a PhD researcher, you can end up spending a lot of time worrying about how good you are at talking to the general public, worrying about the quality of your work, and worrying if it’s actually worth the time you dedicate to it! From my own point of view, being told that you find my work interesting and exciting has been a real inspiration to me. As scientists, we also worry about people no longer caring for science or understanding its importance. But it’s so clear to see that the future of science is in good hands
Alexander Allen, The University of Nottingham, Lawrencium Zone
This has been one of the most fun two weeks I’ve had in a long time. I hope you’ve all had a great time too with the competition and that you’ll all enjoy science as much as you can.
Russell Arnott, University of Bath, Rutherfordium Zone
What?!! I can’t believe I that I won I’m a Scientist! .. I’m looking forward to putting the prize money to good use taking my Cheltenham Science Festival show “Sea Soup” into some deserving schools. Do get in touch if you know of a school that might want a visit from a plankton nerd…
Stuart Higgins, Imperial College London, Dubnium Zone
Thank you to everyone who sent in their ASK questions, and took part in the live CHATs too! There were so many great questions, and I had fun researching the ones I didn’t know. My favourite questions made me think about why I am doing my research. It’s so easy to get lost in the experiments, it was great to think about the bigger picture.
Nick Werren, University of Surrey, Seaborgium Zone
Thank you to every single student who took part in I’m a Scientist, you are all superstars who have the key trait of every great scientist – curiosity! The universe is a place we can explore by questioning it and there were A LOT of questions. From unicorns to supernovas I enjoyed every topic of conversation. We discussed the strange wibbly-wobbly world of quantum mechanics, climate change, extra-terrestrial life, and raccoons.
If you’re up for the challenge, want to answer some downright weird questions, even learn things from students…
I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here runs every March, June, and November. It only takes 2 minutes and one sentence to apply!
