IAS Event

I'm a Scientist March 2010 FAQs for teachers

I’m getting a lot of requests from teachers for more info about the next event, so I thought I should put up the answers here and save people writing to me. Not that I mind people writing to me, I hasten to add, but hopefully this will save time all round. When is the event? Teacher registration closes: 9th Feb – we will let everyone know that day if they have been selected Scientist registration closes: 19th Feb – we will let everyone know that day if they have been selected Event begins: March 15th Event ends: March 26th The event lasts for two weeks. The first week is ‘getting to know the scientists’ week, the second week is chucking them off week:-D. We have evictions almost every day in week two, with the winner in each zone being announced on the Friday. Where is the event? It’s online! You … Continue reading →

Posted on February 4, 2010 by in IAS Event | Comments Off

I'm a Scientist 2010 Registration open

This is a weird moment. I can’t quite believe I’m actually doing it. I am now declaring registrations open for the first full scale I’m a Scientist event! We are ready to hear from classes and scientists who want to take part in I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! 2010. Teachers should register here. Scientists should register here. Getting us this far has taken a large proportion of my professional life for the last three years. Too large a part, Mr McCracken would say. It’s also taken loads of work from dozens of other people – the lovely (and long-suffering) teachers panel, all the previous participants, the people who’ve worked with us and the many people who’ve supported us. I’m proud of what we’ve done. Thank you everyone. The event this year is going to be amazing. But I tell you what, if I’d known what hard work … Continue reading →

Posted on January 26, 2010 by in IAS Event | Comments Off

Registrations for this year's I'm a Scientist opening very soon

This is just a quick post to keep you all in the loop. My pre-publicity has obviously been too successful and I keep being contacted by people who want more info about taking part in the event this year! We will be running two I’m a Scientist events this year (details below). If everything goes to plan we will open registrations on Friday this week (22nd Jan). March event | 15th-26th | 5 zones | 25 scientists | 100 classes June event | 14th – 25th | 20 zone | 100 scientists | 400 classes If you just can’t wait to let us know you want to take part, then feel free to email me (sophia@gallomanor.com), but it will just mean I send you an email on Friday telling you how to register:-). There’s more info about the event here, but, of course, if you’ve got more questions then get … Continue reading →

Posted on January 19, 2010 by in IAS Event | Comments Off

I'm a Scientist gets funding!

Our I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! event has been awarded a grant of £209,000 by the Wellcome Trust, so that we can roll it out nationally over the next two years. Hallelujah! Long bit of waffle about how this came to pass Long time readers will remember that we ran a pilot of the event in June 2008, funded by Wellcome. We then ran a second event in March 2009, funded by us, with assistance from Bristol University. These events went really well. As you can see from the evaluation reports, they got students really engaged with science, changed students views of science and scientists and were memorable and exciting learning opportunities. Since then we have been chasing the funding to roll the event out bigger and better and give the same great learning experience to thousands more students. It’s been a frustrating experience – so many … Continue reading →

Posted on November 18, 2009 by in IAS Event, Wellcome Trust | Tagged award, brilliant, funding, Hurrah, Society Award | Comments Off

Doors open!

I’m a Scientist is a FREE online science enrichment activity where your students talk to real scientists, learn about How Science Works (HSW) and get inspired. We are now taking applications for classes to take part in I’m a Scientist June 2009. It should be even better than last year and we are looking forward to hearing from you! Event dates: 15th-26th June 2009 Deadline for applying: 15th May 2009 Spaces are limited, so get in early. Although it won’t be strictly first-come-first served as we want to make sure we have a good spread of schools. To find out more before applying:- The event site is here, and you can look back at the March 2009 event, or the pilot last June, and see the kind of questions young people asked and the answers scientists gave. Please note, this doesn’t give you an idea of the energy and usefulness … Continue reading →

Posted on May 5, 2009 by in IAS Event, School | Tagged apply, I'm a Scientist, IAS 2009 | Comments Off

Nice I'm a Scientist press coverage

There’s an article about IAS in the ASE‘s Education in Science magazine for April, surely the crème de la crème of science education media? The article was written by me and Ian Francis, our Education Consultant. Our author copies have just arrived so we are all quite excited (look Mum, my name in print!). Unfortunately they don’t publish the articles online, so I can’t link to it, but look out for it if you are a subscriber. If you are an Education in Science reader who’s here because you read the article, then Hi! This site is the project blog, where you can find out what we’re up to, and about the development of the project. The event site is here, and you can look back at the March 2009 event, or the pilot last June, and see the kind of questions young people asked and the answers scientists gave. … Continue reading →

Posted on April 27, 2009 by in IAS Event, Science Education | Tagged ASE, Education in Science, Hello Mum!, press coverage | Comments Off

These scientists were just like real people!

Hi everyone, here’s a summary of how the March 2009 event went (PDF download). I was supposed to write a couple of pages so of course it’s 12 pages long (I’m the same with cooking – if I have a couple of friends round I make enough food for ten and we’re eating leftover curry ’til thursday…). Fortunately Shane (my boss) is busy being terribly important in London running his G20 bloggers tent, and hanging out with Bob Geldof (pictured), so he can’t tell me off about it. What we found was pretty similar to the pilot (but it’s important to check everything is still working:-)). One of my favourite quotes was the one I used as the title. Students were over and over amazed that ‘scientists are just like real people’, and that they were taking time to talk to young people. They also couldn’t quite get over that … Continue reading →

Posted on April 3, 2009 by in Evaluation, IAS Event | Tagged Evaluation, March 2009, thanks | Comments Off

The winner!

The results are in! Huge congratulations to the winner of I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! 2009: Gillian Hamilton! Gillian will use the £500 prize money to help communicate her research to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust conference in London. Gillian says: “It’s been really great to chat to so many folk about my work and to be able to give them information about what a real scientist actually does in the lab and how to get there too. I didn’t really plan to end up where I am but it’s all worked out. So I’m glad they were interested in my work and what I do!” Well done to Mark Roberts, who came in second place, and to all the scientists for their great work. And… biggest thanks of all to the students for working hard, asking questions, and chatting… The students are the stars! We couldn’t have … Continue reading →

Posted on March 13, 2009 by in IAS Event | Tagged I'm a Scientist, IAS, March 2009, Winner | Comments Off

Two scientists out, three to go!

We’re almost halfway through! Two scientists – Christine Cooper and Scott Grandison – are already gone, and the others are shaking in their boots. Who will the students evict next?

Posted on March 11, 2009 by in IAS Event | Tagged evictions, funding, IAS 2009, live chats, questions | Comments Off

Open the Floodgates!*

Our next I’m a Scientist event is about to start on Monday and we’re all very excited/tired. The site is up and running, and next week the scientists and the students start talking (and the students start voting). Teachers have been introducing their classes to the event this week, and doing some of the preparatory lessons to get the students thinking. The IVF debate (teachers can download lesson materials from here for free) is still a big favourite, ‘my 6th form did the IVF debate today … their response….. can we do another …. just as successful as least year! I love it … it is so simple to use and the kids love the role play.’ The scientists taking part this month are:- Gillian Hamilton University of Edinburgh I am looking at the genetic differences between people and whether these can result in a person developing Alzheimer’s disease. Mark … Continue reading →

Posted on February 27, 2009 by in IAS Event, Scientists | Tagged flooding, IAS 2009, IVF debate, March event, teaching materials | 1 Comment

New I'm a Scientist event starts next week

Student access codes and teacher lesson packs for this year’s event are in the post. Teachers, watch your mailboxes! We’re running another instalment of “I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here!” to support National Science and Engineering Week. Our event runs 2nd-13th March, and we’re working hard to repeat last year’s success. The IAS event site will be live very soon, and our first eviction will be on 6th March. It looks like we’ll have another great event. I’m particularly excited about our new team of scientists, so look forward to hearing from them right here on the blog. Thanks again, everyone, for your hard work. Hope you enjoy the next event!

Posted on February 19, 2009 by in IAS Event | Comments Off

"I'm a Scientist" wins Sciencewise People's Choice Award

“I’m a Scientist” wins Sciencewise People’s Choice Award, and the new I’m a Scientist event starts next week Continue reading →

Posted on February 19, 2009 by in IAS Event | Tagged award, I'm a Scientist, IAS 2008, IAS 2009, IAS publicity | Comments Off

Please vote for us!

Voting closes TODAY in the ”People’s choice award’ in science engagement’ from People and Participation.net. I’m a Scientist is one of the projects up for the award. Obviously, I don’t want to be guilty of vote-rigging, you can have a look and vote for whichever project you think is best, but please, please, please vote for us:-) We believe that IAS empowers young people and helps to give them the skills and confidence to engage in discussions around science and technology. The other projects up for the award are all specific consultations, which are very worthwhile, but we think that giving young people the skills and, importantly, the confidence, to discuss their views has a much bigger long term effect on public engagement. To expand on that a bit, there’s a lot of talk in youth and public engagement circles about the ‘Ladder of Participation’, this is (very roughly) the … Continue reading →

Posted on February 11, 2009 by in IAS Event, Science Engagement | Tagged award, confidence, debate, discussion, empowerment, Ladder of Participation, People and Participation.net, public engagement, skills, vote for us!, young people | Comments Off

Where we are at

Well, it’s all getting very hectic here and the March event is hurtling towards us. So I thought I’d leave off messing about with sexy scientists and write about proper work today. Here’s a round up of where we are for the March event. Classes 15 schools have so far said they want to take part, meaning about 40 classes. Places are very limited, but if we are lucky with sponsorship there may be space for more classes, so do get in touch if you are a teacher and would like your students to learn loads, develop their higher thinking skills, and look forward to their science lessons. Or it’s not too early to register for the June event. Funding Overall, it’s looking promising finding long term funding, in that everyone who knows their stuff that we talk to, immediately gets the event, gets why it works and why it’s … Continue reading →

Posted on February 6, 2009 by in IAS Event | Tagged Beacons for Public Engagement, DIUS, excited, funding, March, National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement, Phil Willis, pots of money, Royal Society, Science Learning Centres, sponsorship, swish toilets | Comments Off

The students decided. And the scientists spent the money.

During I’m a Scientist students voted and decided which scientist they wanted to give £500 to. It’s very powerful that the event gives young people a real say about something: it makes the whole thing much more real and vivid and makes them feel important. As one student said, “[I liked best] how it was totally up to us and not influenced by adults.”

Posted on December 4, 2008 by in IAS Event, Scientists | Tagged conferences, feedback, prize money, Royal Meteorological Society | Comments Off

Listen to Liv Hibbitt on BBC Radio Oxford

BBC Radio Oxford interviewed Dr. Liv Hibbitt this week. You can listen to the interview, hear all about Liv’s experience of I’m a Scientist, her gene therapy research, who could beat Chuck Norris in a fight, and find out why Marmite is better in New Zealand. Cheers, Liv! If you can’t listen to MP3s on your computer, drop me an email (admin@imascientist.org.uk) and I will send you a written transcript of the interview. Audio courtesy of BBC Oxford 95.2FM. Their website is www.bbc.co.uk/oxford Click here to listen (apologies for last week’s broken link… it works now, honest!)

Posted on July 4, 2008 by in IAS Event, Scientists | Tagged gene therapy, IAS publicity, Liv Hibbit, marmite, press, Radio Oxford | Comments Off

The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Moderator

Moderating I’m a Scientist was like driving through a terrific summer storm. Now the chatrooms have cleared, and emails have slowed to a patter, it’s time to venture out and take stock. Goodbye, question and answer sessions; hello, feedback forms! My favourite feedback response so far: “The scientists SEEM like normal people but I can’t be quite sure…” – thanks to imwithstupid for that comment.

Posted on July 2, 2008 by in IAS Event, Science Education, Scientists | Tagged comments, evictions, feedback, I'm a Scientist, marmite, Moderator, prize, prizes | 1 Comment

We have our winners!

Well, the event is all over now (bar the evaluation…) and the students have spoken. The winners of the first ever I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! are:- GCSE 1 – Jenny Barnes GCSE 2 – Ian Walker 6th Form – Nick Dickens Thanks so much to everyone for taking part. The votes were all really close, the scientists all did great jobs, and the students and teachers had such enthusiasm and energy. We’re off to the pub now to celebrate. And then I, personally, plan to sleep all weekend! Although I do feel a bit sad it’s over.

Posted on June 27, 2008 by in IAS Event, Scientists | Tagged end, pub, sleep, winners | Comments Off

The event is half-way through now! (a short report on how it's going so far)

The event has been going great and we’re all having a lot of fun. We’re amazed at how busy it is, and what great questions and answers we are seeing. The students, the teachers and of course, the scientists are all total stars. Some of my favourite questions so far:-

Posted on June 23, 2008 by in IAS Event | Tagged event, General, good questions, stats | Comments Off

The site is now completely live!

The site for the pilot event is www.imascientist.org.uk, please update your bookmarks. https://www.imascientist.org.uk/ will continue to point to this blog. Please go and have a look at the site! If you are not one of the participants you are very welcome to enter the site as a guest, and have a look around. Many of the scientists have got their info up already, and there are also lots of teaching materials, which are free for anyone to use.

Posted on June 4, 2008 by in IAS Event | 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.