News

Taking the whole-school approach to I’m a Scientist

“My colleagues were buzzing. They were watching conversations unfold, and seeing individual students’ interests that they hadn’t seen before. It’s a great way to get to know students in a different light. ” — Jon Hale, Head of Biology at Beaulieu Convent School

When PHSE plans were scuppered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Jon Hale chose to bring I’m a Scientist to an entire school… at the same time. Continue reading →

Posted on July 15, 2021 by modjosie in News, Teachers | Tagged Case Study, teachers | Comments Off

Even life-altering pandemics can’t stop student STEM engagement

In 2008, Beijing hosted the Olympics, George Sampson won Britain’s Got Talent, and I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here hosted its first event: each Zone hosting 5 scientists and 25 school classes.

Over 2 weeks the students would put the scientists through their paces, posting questions, joining text-based Chats, and voting for their favourite scientist to make it through progressive rounds of ‘evictions’ before a winner was declared on the final Friday.

For 12 years that format remained relatively unchanged. Little tweaks here and there, but the core format — 5 or 6 scientists; 25 classes; 2 weeks, 3 times per year — stayed the same. It worked.

Until, of course, 2020. Continue reading →

Posted on June 3, 2021 by modjosie in News, Project News | Comments Off

Helping Science Centre outreach during COVID-19

The Life Science Centre sits at the heart of unique science village in Newcastle upon Tyne. In a typical year, their visitor’s centre welcomes an average of 300,000 people. But 2020 was not a typical year.

“Once we entered lockdown, we were looking for ways to engage with schools,” says Toni Hamill, Education Programme and Partnership Manager for the Centre for Life. “I’m a Scientist was really useful because we know that it’s safe, and it had been used in hundreds of schools across the UK already.”
Continue reading →

Posted on February 11, 2021 by modjosie in News | Tagged Case Study, COVID-19, Life Science Centre, museums, science museum | Comments Off

Unique online youth summits using our proven formula

While teachers come to I’m a Scientist for tried-and-tested STEM engagement with in-built safeguarding, they also find lots of additional benefits to text-based communication for their students.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, video conferencing (with all its glitches and delays) quickly became the norm. However, when the Royal Institution Youth Summit was not able to take place in-person in October 2020, I’m a Scientist was chosen to host the summit online. Continue reading →

Posted on February 3, 2021 by modjosie in News | Tagged Case Study, I'm a Scientist, museums, Royal Institution Online Youth Summit, science centres, Youth Summit | Comments Off

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

Royal Institution Online Youth Summit 2020 – Report

Screenshot of home page of RI Youth Summit Each year the RI run a youth summit on a subject related to the CHRISTMAS LECTURES. In 2020 it was decided to run the Summit prior to the filming of the lectures so that the views of the delegates could be communicated to the lecturers. However the Covid-19 pandemic intervened and the RI building remained closed to the public.

The decision was taken to bring the summit online and I’m a Scientist was chosen as the platform because of a strong record of safeguarding and working with the RI on the Lectures. Continue reading →

Posted on October 30, 2020 by ModShane in Evaluation, News | Tagged Royal Institution Online Youth Summit | Comments Off

Moderator Vacancies: November 2020

We’re looking for online moderators to work with us on our November 2020 activities.

I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here and I’m an Engineer, Get me out of here are online STEM enrichment activities for school students in the UK and Ireland, where students of all abilities aged 8-18 can ask scientists their questions in text-based live chats, and get to know what real scientists are like. Continue reading →

Posted on September 29, 2020 by in News, Science Engagement | Comments Off

“Easily the most enjoyable and rewarding STEM event I have taken part in”- March 2020 Winners’ blog posts

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 all the engagement of the previous weeks, thank all the students for voting for them, and talk about how they plan to use their £500 prize money.

Greg Heikel, City Hospital Nottingham, Antimicrobial Zone

“Thank you all so much for taking part, we had so many great questions and I hope you all enjoyed it! I had a great time, it was really heartening to see the enthusiasm you all had for science and I hope that we have inspired some of you to enter science as a career. I still can’t really believe I won, especially with some amazing scientists in our zone, so thank you to everyone.”

Continue reading →

Posted on March 31, 2020 by modemily in News | Comments Off

COVID-19: Students’ questions

Word cloud of themes students ASK about COVID-19 With schools across the UK due to close this week, the impact on the daily lives of students and young people of the COVID-19 outbreak is clear. We wanted to do a little analysis to look at what young people are concerned about, what are they asking?

Finding ourselves in the midst of the March I’m a Scientist (IAS) and I’m an Engineer (IAE) events, means that for the past few weeks, young people across the UK and Ireland have had the opportunity to ask any questions they like to groups of scientists and engineers.

Continue reading →

Posted on March 19, 2020 by modjosh in Evaluation, News | Comments Off

Moderator Vacancy: 9th – 20th March 2020

We’re looking for online moderators to work with us on our March 2020 activities.

I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here and I’m an Engineer, Get me out of here are online STEM enrichment activities for schools students in the UK and Ireland, where students of all abilities aged 8-18 can ask scientists their questions in text-based live chats, and get to know what real scientists are like.

You can (and should) find out more about the activities at: I’m a Scientist and I’m an Engineer Ireland.

I’m a Scientist UK will run from the 9th – 20th March 2020. Continue reading →

Posted on February 3, 2020 by modemily in News | Comments Off

Moderator Vacancy: 2nd – 27th March 2020

We’re looking for a moderator to work with us from our offices in Bath on our March 2020 activities.

I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here and I’m an Engineer, Get me out of here are online STEM enrichment activities for schools students in the UK and Ireland, where students of all abilities aged 8-18 can ask scientists their questions in text-based live chats, and get to know what real scientists are like.

You can (and should) find out more about the activities at: I’m a Scientist and I’m an Engineer Ireland.
Continue reading →

Posted on January 28, 2020 by modemily in News | Comments Off

Learning quality engagement principles in IAS Academy

“Taking part in both activities allowed me to engage in active, reflective learning… Learning about science capital has really changed my mindset.” — Katie Fala, PhD student and IAS Academy alumna

Katie believes taking the course ‘really added value’ to her experience: “The IAS Academy was of interest to me as I haven’t had the opportunity for much formal training in outreach and felt that my skills could be improved by doing it alongside the IAS activity.” Continue reading →

Posted on January 20, 2020 by modemily in News, Scientists | Tagged Case Study | Comments Off

“One of the most rewarding, inspiring and engaging things I’ve done all year” – November 2019 Winners’ blog posts

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 all the engagement of the previous 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, whether in the public, private or academic sector, and you’re keen to experience the ‘best crash course in scicomm’, apply now for the next event, 9th – 20th March: imascientist.org.uk/scientists Continue reading →

Posted on December 16, 2019 by modemily in News | Comments Off

Transforming perceptions of public engagement

“I love that students have power. It made me think ‘ Oh that’s interesting, how do you manage to even the playing field in engagement activities?’” — Julian Rayner, Director, Cambridge Institute of Medical Research; Director, Wellcome Genome Campus Connecting Science

Julian is an active malaria researcher. He also leads a programme of learning and engagement around genomics for scientists, healthcare professionals and public audiences.

In 2011, Julian took part in the Argon Zone of I’m a Scientist and describes it as a ‘transformative moment’ in his public engagement career:
“On my office wall I have a couple of papers that have made the covers of certain journals. Right next to them is my certificate from I’m a Scientist” Continue reading →

Posted on December 4, 2019 by modemily in News, Scientists | Tagged Case Study | Comments Off

Highlighting technician roles in industry

Fitting the I’m a Scientist activity around my job was fortunately quite a success: I was able to fit the live chats around my shift pattern.
Jess Leung, Quality Technician at Kerry Ingredients

Jess Leung took part in an I’m a Scientist general zone along with five other scientists from a range of industries and career stages.

School students were very interested in her work “testing flavours that go into food and drinks” and she found the whole experience rewarding, fun and flexible enough to fit in around her work schedule. Continue reading →

Posted on October 10, 2019 by modemily in News, Scientists | Tagged Case Study | Comments Off

Moderator vacancies: November 2019

We’re looking for five moderators to work with us on our November 2019 events.

I’m a Scientist and I’m an Engineer UK, and I’m a Scientist Ireland will run from the 11th to the 22nd November 2019.

First rule of moderator club… This is a paid, 10 day job.
If you aren’t free from 8:30–4:30pm on all 10 days, please don’t apply. Continue reading →

Posted on September 30, 2019 by modemily in News | Comments Off

Extending the I’m a Scientist experience

“’Raising questions’ appears in the National Curriculum Programmes of Study from KS1, and involving the whole school in I’m a Scientist gave a much wider scope for all children to ask questions and share information… it was a chance to encourage enquiry and curiosity throughout the school.” — Catherine Dixon, teacher

Catherine is a teacher at Hodthorpe Primary School in Derbyshire: a small school with just four classes from Nursery to Year 6. “We pride ourselves on our holistic approach to education and our family atmosphere, everybody knowing each other and sharing experiences,” says Catherine.

Catherine applied to take part in I’m a Scientist with one class of students, but then realised it was a great opportunity to get the whole school discussing STEM subjects and careers. “We started with a whole school assembly, where we informed the children about the activity and shared the scientists’ profiles and pictures. We discussed their work and explained how the scientists would use the prize money for research projects. The stereotypical image of a scientist as a middle-aged man in a lab coat with wild hair was quickly dispelled!” Continue reading →

Posted on July 30, 2019 by modemily in News, Teachers | Tagged Case Study | Comments Off

Which devices and browsers are UK schools using?

Every year we try to look at our data to see what devices and browsers UK schools use to visit the site. This is data up to 2019.

Taking into consideration how visitors access the site, what they use to access it, and then see how much has changed over the past couple of years.

Our sites are mobile-device and tablet friendly, which is necessary as you can see the trend for using tablets in class is growing.

View previous years’ analysis: 2018, 2015, 2014.

Continue reading →

Posted on July 29, 2019 by modemily in News, Project News | Comments Off

Reflecting on I’m a Scientist participation: Academy Zone pilot

“

I found a lot of students were asking questions that weren’t directly related to my work, so initially I kept quiet, but then talking about it with Hannah and the other scientists, and reflecting on the Academy Zone questions made me consider my work in terms of ‘social influence’

Ian, PhD researcher

As part of the ChallengeCPD@Bath project, last year we showed that engaging with school students in I’m a Scientist (IAS) functions as effective, accessible, experiential learning, especially for communication skills.

We wanted to further improve IAS as a training opportunity for researchers. The Academy Zone was created to help participating scientists better understand principles of good public engagement through reflecting on their IAS experience while it was happening. The ultimate goal: help build capacity for effective, high quality, public engagement in the research community. Continue reading →

Posted on July 25, 2019 by modemily in Evaluation, News, Scientist Benefits | 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.