MRC

The Medical Research Zone was a part of I’m a Scientist: On Demand that ran from 2 to 27 November 2020. The Zone was funded by the Medical Research Council and featured 41 researchers and technical staff from various fields and career stages.

A total of 467 students from 20 schools in Great Britain and one from the USA participated, with 82% from target schools, 39% from widening participation schools, and 58% from underserved schools. There were 28 live Chats, and 58 student questions were approved, with a total of 109 answers provided.

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Read the report: Medical Research Zone Report – March 2020 [PDF] The Medical Research Zone was an online event held over four weeks and funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC). 29 MRC researchers and technical staff created profiles on the website, and engaged with students throughout the month in live CHATs and the ASK section. The effects of coronavirus meant substantial disruption was reported by many schools during the last two weeks of the event. 1,012 students from 23 schools all over the UK logged into the zone over the four weeks. 74% of the schools were widening participation and/or underserved. In the ASK section, 349 questions were approved and sent to the researchers and technical staff, who between them wrote 1,564 answers. 45 online live CHATs took place during the event, including four evening live CHATs where students could join in from home with their family. An average … Continue reading →

Read the report: MRC Festival Zone Report – June 2019 [PDF] The MRC Festival Zone was a four-week-long online event funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the MRC Festival of Medical Research. 25 MRC researchers and technical staff put up profiles on the website, and 24 of these engaged with students throughout the month in live CHATs and the ASK section. 1,204 students from 33 schools all over the UK logged in to the zone over the four weeks. 79% of the schools were widening participation and/or underserved, an increase from 59% in 2018’s event. In the ASK section, 342 questions were approved and sent to the researchers and technical staff, who between them wrote 2,072 answers. 63 online live CHATs took place during the event, including four evening CHATs where students could join in from home with their family. An average of six researchers came to each session, giving students a wide variety of roles and people to … Continue reading →

Read the full report The MRC Festival Zone was a four-week-long event funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the MRC Festival of Medical Research. There were 25 MRC scientists and support staff taking part. 32 schools from all over the UK participated in the zone, with 1,404 students logging in over the four weeks. Over half the schools were widening participation and/or under-served. Teachers from 45 schools accepted places in the zone. However, several were unable to participate, mostly due to scheduling difficulties. In the Ask section students asked 740 approved questions. Of these, over 50% were relating to science and medical research topics, a figure higher than the average for an I’m a Scientist two-week, general science zone. 76 online, text-based live chats took place during the MRC Festival Zone, three of which were evening chats, where students could access the chat from home to … Continue reading →