Callum won the Cells Zone in November 2012, here’s where his £500 went:
Having finished my research and moved onto new challenges in engaging partners in Scotland’s National Health Information Service I was unable to use my I’m a Scientist prize money myself and so I decided to donate it to Edinburgh Neuroscience.
Edinburgh Neuroscience are a collective group of researchers involved in all aspects of neuroscience from the city’s 4 universities. They have a vibrant programme of public engagement activities and I was involved in several of these during my undergraduate and PhD studies. The Brain Awareness workshop we run called “How we see the brain and what the brain sees” introduces children to the basic structure of the brain and ways of imaging the brain in the clinic and in basic research. We then explore how the brain can sometimes be fooled by the visual illusions. The workshop is hands on with children building plasticine brains, making their own optical illusions and even getting allowed to hold a real human brain!
Kids taking part in a getBRAINY quiz. Source: Edinburgh Neuroscience
We also go out to schools with our getBRAINY workshops to teach children about how neurons in the brain talk to each other. Again we have creative competitions, running games, gory pictures and even a Harry Potter based game to learn about the different chemicals in the brain.
This year one of Edinburgh Neuroscience’s new ventures is working with other partners from the University of Edinburgh to help establish the Midlothian Science Festival. Instigated as a small local event in 2012, it was very well received and this year they want to create a full programme involving schools workshops, drop-in sessions for families and film and discussion evening events for adults.
Students mimicking nerve cell connections. Source: Edinburgh Neuroscience
Edinburgh Neuroscience has committed to get involved for 2013 and the £500 from the ‘I’m A Scientist’ prize will be used to allow these neuroscience-related events to happen. Edinburgh Neuroscience has no other funding to support this activity, so this will allow them to provide lots more activities including sending some of our getBRAINY workshops into schools and evening talks etc for adults.
