The Medical Research Zone ran from 2 to 27 November 2020. The Zone was 1 of 4 Zones that ran as part of I’m a Scientist: On Demand in November 2020.

I’m a Scientist: On Demand aims to offer greater flexibility to teachers in how, and when, they can take part in I’m a Scientist. This is in response to the COVID-19 situation and greater restrictions and uncertainty in schools.

The Medical Research Zone was funded by the Medical Research Council.

• 41 researchers created profiles in the Zone.
• 38 researchers engaged with students through live Chats and/or Ask questions.
• A broad range of fields and career stages were represented. For example:
  • Natsuko Imai – research associate at the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London
  • Vrushali Patil – researcher in Mammalian Synthetic Biology at The UK Centre
    for Mammalian Synthetic Biology, funded by the MRC
  • Suzan Kors – PhD student in Biological Sciences and GW4 BioMed MRC Doctoral Training Partnership, University of Exeter

• 467 students logged in, from 20 schools across Great Britain and 1 from the USA.
• Student participation was 31% of the 1,500 target.
• 82% of active students were from target schools (WP and/or U).
  • 39% were from widening participation (WP) schools.
  • 58% were from underserved (U) schools

• 28 live Chats took place took place during the activity.
• 34 live Chats were booked (42% of capacity), but dropout was higher than usual with 6 cancellations.
• On average, 7 researchers/tech staff attended each live Chat; more than is typical.
• 1 teacher typed questions in a live Chat on behalf of their students, so the total number of students engaged in this Zone may be higher by up to 25.
• 58 student questions were approved. There were 109 answers provided.