Author Archives: admin

Moderator Vacancies: March 2021

We’re looking for online moderators to work with us on our March 2021 activities.

I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here and I’m an Engineer, Get me out of here are online STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) enrichment activities for school students in the UK and Ireland.
Students of all abilities aged 8 to 18 can take part. They can ask scientists and engineers their questions in text-based live chats, and get to know what real scientists and engineers are like.

Find out more about the activities at: I’m a Scientist and I’m an Engineer. Continue reading →

Posted on January 28, 2021 by admin in News. Comments Off

November 2020 winners’ messages

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 their experience with I’m a Scientist, and talk about how they plan to use their £500 prize money.

If you’re a scientist, whether in academia or industry, and you’re keen to experience the ‘best crash course in sci-comm’, you can let us know you’re available to take part now.

Apply now for events happening this year.
Continue reading →

Posted on December 23, 2020 by admin in News. Comments Off

STEM engagement for scientists’ busy schedules

“I really feel it’s a great introduction to public engagement and a fantastic way to explain what biomedical science is all about.” — Hayley Pincott, University Dental Hospital

Hayley Pincott took part in I’m a Scientist in June 2018, spending two weeks chatting with school students about her role as an Associate Practitioner Healthcare Scientist at a University Dental Hospital. Hayley found the experience flexible enough to fit around the workload of a public sector scientist, and it gave her the skills and confidence to do further public engagement. Continue reading →

Posted on April 3, 2019 by admin in News, Scientists. Tagged Case Study. Comments Off

Showing students the ‘bigger picture’ at A Level

“I’m a Scientist encourages independent thought and shows students the practical applications of their studies. Connecting with real psychologists also helps them decide what they’ll do next year and into the future.” – Lesley, Head of Psychology at Bay House School

Bay House School is a large comprehensive school with mixed attainment. In June 2018, sixth form Psychology students from the school took part in the Society Zone. Head of Psychology Lesley tells us how the activity supported her students’ progression and taught them the real-life applications of their subject.

Continue reading →

Posted on July 16, 2018 by admin in News, Teachers. Tagged Case Study. Comments Off

Showing students the relevance of their learning

“Doing something engaging like this creates a more well-rounded education and my students have now seen real-life applications of curriculum content.” — Lucy, Maths Teacher at Cornelius Vermuyden School, Canvey Island

Only a small proportion of students at Cornelius Vermuyden School aspire to go to university or move out of the local area, and many don’t see the point in what they study in school. Lucy tells us how their involvement in I’m an Engineer helped them see the importance of maths and broaden their horizons.

Continue reading →

Posted on July 13, 2018 by admin in News, School, Teachers. Tagged Case Study. Comments Off

Changing attitudes across a whole year group

“Organising the event for the whole of year 8 meant that everyone could enjoy the benefits” – Polly, Science teacher at Willows High School, Cardiff

Willows High School, a mixed comprehensive school in a challenging quarter of Cardiff, took part in the I’m a Scientist activity in March 2018 with two classes. The school participated again in June 2018, this time with a whole year group. Polly tells us how having an entire year involved helped increase aspirations across the school and showed students that doing well in school has a far-reaching impact.

Continue reading →

Posted on July 12, 2018 by admin in News, School, Teachers. Tagged Case Study. Comments Off

Connecting my students with scientists online… is it safe?!

Some teachers may have reservations about bringing their class online to chat with scientists and we can understand that. We take safeguarding seriously and our site is secure and moderated. To reassure any hesitant teachers, here are some steps we take to safeguard young people in our online activities.

Continue reading →

Posted on June 27, 2018 by admin in News. Comments Off

5 reasons I’m a Scientist is worth your lesson time… even for exam classes.

Project Wrangler Katie was a science teacher before joining the I’m a Scientist team, so has first-hand experience of the intense curriculum pressures teachers face. Here she talks us through how I’m a Scientist benefits your students with 5 reasons why it’s worth allocating lesson time to the activity.
Continue reading →

Posted on June 26, 2018 by admin in News, Science Capital. Comments Off

Increasing students’ confidence with I’m a Scientist

“Many of our students lack confidence in their academic ability so they were buzzing when they realised they can hold their own in a conversation with intelligent, educated people and this helped them realise they are all scientists too!” – Julia Anderson, FE College Biology Lecturer

This general further education college is split across 3 sites in a large, post-industrial, non-university town. Students at the college took part in the I’m a Scientist Immune System and Genes Zones in March 2018. Julia tells us how meaningful engagement with the scientists increased her students’ confidence. Continue reading →

Posted on May 14, 2018 by admin in Evaluation, News, School, Teachers, Widening Participation. Tagged Case Study. Comments Off

Using I’m a Scientist to increase participation in higher education

“Traditionally, not many of our students go on to university. I’m a Scientist helps by allowing students to relate to scientists and helping them see the value of studying at a higher level.”

– Mark McNally, Science Teacher

A mixed 2-19 academy, where over two thirds of the school population are students from disadvantaged backgrounds, took part in I’m a Scientist in March 2018. Mark tells us how the activity helped interest his students in science careers and consider higher education.

Continue reading →

Posted on May 2, 2018 by admin in Evaluation, News, Science Capital, Teachers, Widening Participation. Tagged Case Study. Comments Off

Providing STEM opportunities for distant schools

“As we are a remote rural community we do not have a huge variety of careers on our doorstep but these events help to bring them closer to pupils. More students should be getting these funded opportunities across the UK.”

– Emily Tulloch, Science teacher on the island of Unst.

The most northerly school in the UK is located in one of our most distant areas in the Shetland Isles. Emily tells us how I’m a Scientist allowed her remote students to explore a range of STEM careers and increased motivation to learn science. Continue reading →

Posted on April 6, 2018 by admin in Evaluation, News, Science Capital, Teachers, Widening Participation. Tagged Case Study. Comments Off

Broadening horizons for students in a deprived area

“It was a really easy project to engage with for both children and teachers; it only took me about 30 minutes to prepare for all 3 lessons. I was pleasantly surprised with just how excited students were to get responses from serious adults about their work and the adults’ interests.” – Vicky Heslop, Year 6 teacher

A junior school that meets our widening participation criteria took part in the Climate Zone of I’m a Scientist for the first time in March 2018 with their three Year 6 classes. The activity broadened student aspirations, improved enquiry skills and challenged their perceptions of scientists.

Continue reading →

Posted on March 27, 2018 by admin in Evaluation, Teachers, Widening Participation. Tagged Case Study. Comments Off

Working with I’m a Scientist to produce STEM engagement for your discipline

“I’m a Scientist was a fantastic experience. The students were engaged and interested in hearing about my research and the wider field I work in. I wanted to make sure other psychologists had the opportunity too!.” — Dr Sam Smith, University of Leeds

After psychologist Sam Smith took part in I’m a Scientist, we worked with him to secure funding from the British Psychological Society for 3 more zones. As a result, more than 1,100 students across the UK were able to connect with psychologists in 2017. Continue reading →

Posted on March 22, 2018 by admin in Event News, News. Tagged Case Study. Comments Off

Widening Participation School case study

In our experience, the longer it takes for a scientist or engineer to reach a school, the less likely those students are to have visits. We’ve done some research that suggests schools more than 30 minutes travel time are less likely to receive visits.

We also think looking at Widening Participation schools is useful to understand the variety of schools we have wanting to take part. Continue reading →

Posted on December 15, 2017 by admin in News, Widening Participation. Tagged Case Study. Comments Off

Wellcome Trust engaging science day

How to share and disseminate the learning from your project and evaluation. On 14th May the Wellcome Trust held one of their twice-yearly Engaging Science days. They’re an opportunity for grantholders to meet with each other and Wellcome staff, to share learning and ideas. And to sample Wellcome’s renowned lunch offerings (side salad complete with edible flowers and quail eggs, anyone?). Gallomanor were invited to speak on the panel of the session convened by Ben Johnson of Graphic Science, with the blurb “Once you have completed your project how do you widen its impact by ensuring others learn from what did (and didn’t) go right? An effective evaluation can also help with securing further funding and a wider roll-out of your project.” Other panelists were Manisha Lalloo from the Royal Academy of Engineering giving a funder’s perspective, and Becky Parker & Dave Colhurst from Simon Langton Grammar School. Evaluating the … Continue reading →

Posted on May 19, 2014 by admin in Evaluation, News. Comments Off

What criteria do students judge scientists on?

We’re always evaluating the online STEM enrichment activity, I’m a Scientist, to explore its impact and how it can be improved. Check out latest evaluation posts. When students take part in I’m a Scientist they get to vote for their favourite scientist to win £500 to spend on communicating more science. It gives them ownership of the project and they decide who gets, in effect, a small grant for public engagement. But what are students’ votes based on? This is how 855 students (or groups of students) have ranked certain criteria from most to least important when considering how to vote for scientists, between January 2012 and November 2013. The results come from a Drag & Drop ranking activity in the first lesson plan “You’re the Judges” that teachers run to introduce their students to I’m a Scientist. The top ranked criteria are all linked to health or the scientific method. This is reflected in the number of … Continue reading →

Posted on November 8, 2013 by admin in Evaluation, IAS Event, News, Teachers. Comments Off

I’m a Scientist Live: Case Study

I’m a Neuroscientist Live at the Barbican In March and April 2013 we organised the heats and final of I’m a NeuroScientist Live at the Barbican as part of Wonder season: Art and science on the brain. In the first heat on Saturday 30th March the five scientists taking part were: Thomas Butts and Irene Jacobson from Kings College London, Martin Coath from the University of Plymouth, Sarah Jarvis from Imperial College London and Esha Massand from Birbeck, University of London. While on Sunday 31st the next five scientists competing were Amy Birch from Imperial College London, Jonathan Webb from the University of Oxford, Eva Feredoes from the University of Reading, Mark Horowitz from Kings College London and Catherine Loveday from the University of Westminster. We found all 10 of these participants and gave them a full briefing before the event. Neural network modeller Sarah Jarvis from the first … Continue reading →

Posted on August 28, 2013 by admin in I'm a Scientist - Live, News. Comments Off

Who are you Twitter?

We’re always evaluating the online STEM enrichment activity, I’m a Scientist, to explore its impact and how it can be improved. Check out latest evaluation posts. As we prepped for our Science Communication Conference 2013 session on how we evaluate I’m a Scientist, the occasional sidetrack leads to interesting stuff. A while back we used Tony Hirst‘s scripts and know how to download our twitter followers network. We’ve used Gephi to map out the clusters within our network which helps us work out who is following us and how diverse our network is. We were delighted to see an Australia cluster thanks to our friends in Adelaide. More about that later. Another useful benefit of downloading your followers is the ability to search their bios to find specific followers who are interested in certain subjects. This evening we identified 83 followers with “food” in their bio. We’ll be contacting some of them (excluding those … Continue reading →

Posted on April 18, 2013 by admin in Evaluation, Science Engagement. Comments Off

I’m a NeuroScientist, Get me out of here – LIVE

Are male and female brains different? Is the brain more like a sponge or a computer? Do we really only use 10% of our brain? We’re taking I’m a Scientist on the road again. In March and April as part of Wonder: Art and Science on the Brain, a partnership between the Barbican and Wellcome Trust supported BNA2013: Festival of Neuroscience we are running 3 live I’m a Scientist live events. Instead of answering questions from the safety of your lab we’re asking Neuroscientists to get on stage to take questions directly from an audience. On Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd March, comedian and geek songstress, Helen Arney will be compering the events as part of the Barbican Weekender. Five scientists will compete for the votes of the audience to win a place in the final which takes place on the evening of Tuesday 9th April in Cinema One at … Continue reading →

Posted on January 9, 2013 by admin in I'm a Scientist - Live, IAS Event, News, Project News, Scientists. Comments Off

Happy New Year and let’s get cracking on 2010!

And I hope all my fellow science geeks in the Northern hemisphere had a pleasant Winter Solstice. (Summer solstice wishes, of course, to our Antipodean readers). I am certainly relieved now the sun is coming back… And I hope you all had a great Christmas, Yalda, Saturnalia, Karachun, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, or other midwinter festival of your choice. 2010 so far… As you all know, this is going to be a big year for us, now that we have the funding to roll out I’m a Scientist on a much bigger scale. We’ve started the year with a lot of excitement, as we are recruiting a new member of staff to help us cope. I’ve been shortlisting all week (please, teachers, tell your students to never, ever, send someone a file called ‘My CV’. When you get dozens of them the renaming gets very tedious). It’s been really difficult choosing … Continue reading →

Posted on January 6, 2010 by admin in Project News. Comments Off

What can you do?

I want to take part with my class ❯

I want to take part as a scientist ❯

I want to find out about funding I’m a Scientist ❯

What is I’m a Scientist?

I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here is an online activity where school students get to meet and interact with scientists.

It’s a competition between scientists, where the students are the judges.

Students challenge the scientists over intense, fast-paced, online live Chats. Then they Ask the scientists all the questions they want to, and Vote for their favourite scientist to win a prize of £500 to communicate their work with the public.