IOPWinner

Simon won the Earth Zone in 2013. Here’s what he did with his £500 prize money… I’ve donated the prize money to two causes. Based on how far behind I’ve gotten with work and everything, I felt it was easier to donate the full £500 prize money to some good causes that will actually get stuff done, so I’ve donated £200 to the charity Engineers Without Borders UK who help with all kinds of awesome projects around the world, bringing sanitation and power and inspiration to poor communities globally, as well as running outreach session for schools in the UK. I donated the remaining money to the London Science Museum in the hope that they will continue to inspire and educate the next generation of scientists and engineers. From my own experience, it was visiting museums and science exhibits as a child that got me hooked on wanting to better understand … Continue reading →

Dave was voted the winner of the Quantum Zone in June 2013. If you’d like the chance to win funding for your own public engagement work, apply for the next I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here: imascientist.org.uk/scientist-apply I spent all of my prize money on video equipment. My original plan was to make a series of science communication videos, but unfortunately I came up against some obstacles and wasn’t able to make them happen. So the equipment was used to film live public shows I put on, including a show at the NSEW Science in the Park event in March 2014. These videos have been distributed online. You can see the finale of one of them below. Since winning I’m a Scientist, I worked as a Physics Outreach Officer at Royal Holloway University for two years, and even managed to get some of my academics to sign up for the event!

Philip was voted the winner of the Terbium Zone in March 2015. Here he writes about using his £500 prize money on developing the script and artwork for a nanotechnology-themed graphic novel, “Open Day”. If you’d like the chance to win funding for your own public engagement work, apply for the next I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here: imascientist.org.uk/scientist-apply I initially said that I would spend the money as a contribution towards the development of a video game. Unfortunately, the games developer with whom I had initially scoped the game could no longer commit to the project (the video game project has instead been kick-started via a company in Bristol). The prize money was instead spent on developing the script and artwork for a nanotechnology-themed graphic novel, “Open Day”. Written by Shey Hargreaves with art by Charli Vince, Open Day is a “warm-­‐hearted, funny, and bittersweet tale of ambition and overcoming the odds … Continue reading →

Paul won the Medical Physics Zone in March 2016. Here he reports back on what he’s done with his £500 prize money over this past year. If you’re a scientist who’d like the funding to develop your own outreach activities apply for I’m a Scientist at imascientist.org.uk/scientist-apply So after winning the Medical Physics Zone, I decided to get right on the task of designing an exhibition for the Dundee Science Festival. My plan was to have a UV camera that would allow people to see the effect that sunscreen has on their skin – on a UV camera sunscreen would show up matte or shiny black due to UV light being absorbed or reflected away. Ready-made UV cameras can cost anything upwards of £1000. Due to not having over £1000 and needing some of the money for other parts of the exhibition, I decided to go much more low budget. … Continue reading →

Matthew was voted the winner of Light Zone in 2014. we asked him to report back on how he used his £500 prize money and here is what he said. When I started competing in the Light Zone, I envisioned that I would make an online interactive video about the history of the universe with my prize money. Online videos covering this content already exist, of course, but I wanted to add another dimension — making a ‘choose your own adventure’ style production where viewers could click on various sections to increase the level of detail described. Well, you know what they said about the ‘best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men…‘ After winning the competition, I went about contacting folks with the technical know-how and production equipment to turn this dream into reality. I am fortunate enough to have friends who do this sort of thing professionally, so I could call … Continue reading →

Glafkos was voted the winner of the Medical Physics Zone in March 2015. We asked him to report back on how he used his £500 prize money and here is what he said… Last year I was humbled by being selected the winner of the Medical Physics Zone and it was an amazing, exhilarating and breath holding experience! I have never typed so fast in my life, so many questions! I work in a hospital as a Medical Physicist. So my initial plan for the prize money was to create replicas of our scanners using Legos and Raspberry Pis so that children visiting the hospital could see how our scanners work. I thought this would be helpful for children who are scared of having a scan done as well! When I won the zone, and along with it the £500 prize money, I had second thoughts. I thought- why should I … Continue reading →

Helen won the Space Zone in November 2014.  We asked her to update us on what she’s been able to do with her £500 prize money and here is what she said… I had an absolute blast taking part in I’m a Scientist! It was such a thrill to connect with students from all over the country and be able to share my research. I was amazed by their curiosity, their insightful questions, and it was brilliant to see such enthusiasm for astronomy and space exploration. Those two weeks were like a wonderful scicomm bootcamp – I learnt so much and it was one of the most rewarding outreach experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve since been using my IAS mug with pride and telling anyone who will listen that they have to give it a go themselves. Although up against some tough competition (Hugh, Julian, Jane and Heather) I was lucky enough … Continue reading →