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The Einsteinium Zone was a general physics zone supported by the Science & Technology Facilities Council and featured six scientists:

• Kathryn Harriss, from the University of Kent, investigates impacts between two objects at very high speed
• Graeme Poole, zone winner, an astrophysicist studying meteorites to discover how the solar system began
• Chris Davies uses data to fix problems and improve quality issues in the steel industry
• Anne Green is a physics professor looking for dark matter as part of her research
• Agnes Wojtusiak is a laser scientist at STFC who performs an array of different experiments and creates computer models
• Adam McGuinness uses lasers to analyse the contents of the vesicles sent by cells to each other

This was a very busy zone, receiving over 25,000 views over the course of the activity. Students were interested in discussing physics topics such as space, matter and computing, but also wanted to get to know the scientists on a more personal level. Continue reading →

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The Crystallography Zone was a themed zone supported by the Science & Technology Facilities Council and it featured six scientists:

• William Glass is a PhD student at the University of Oxford where he is using computers to simulate proteins
• Rebecca Roddan is studying for a PhD, looking at an enzyme with the aim of making new drugs
• Martyna Pastok is a Postdoctoral Research Associate working at Newcastle University where she is trying to understand how molecules regulate cell division
• Callum McHugh, the zone winner, is a senior lecturer in chemistry and makes organic crystals to work out what their structure is
• Alice Loasby works at the University of Bristol performing protein purifications, assays and crystal tray setups
• Adam Berlie is an instrument scientist at ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, STFC, and works with muons

In this zone students asked mainly about career advice, questions to get to know the scientists a little better and more general science topics. Where questions were linked to the zone theme, they were often asking what crystallography actually was, or questions focused on crystals. Continue reading →

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The Fast Computing Zone was a themed zone supported by the Science & Technology Facilities Council and involved six scientists:

• Stewart Martin-Haugh is a particle physicist who writes code to ensure the right data from the Large Hadron Collider is recorded
• Miriam Hogg is a PhD student, using computers to study planets and stars as a theoretical physicist
• Marton Olbei is also a PhD student and his research uses computers to study bacteria
• Laura Kent tests electronics to ensure they work in extreme environments as a research scientist at the National Physical Laboratory
• Kathryn Coldham uses code to analyse data taken from the Large Hadron Collider to research a particle called the top quark
• David Ho, this zone’s winner, uses computer models to calculate the properties of theoretical particles that have never been seen

Discussions between the students and scientists in this zone mainly focused on how technology, computing and physics could be used to help people or the wider society. The students were also keen to get to know the scientists on a personal level. Continue reading →

READ THE FULL REPORT The Iridium Zone was a general science zone funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Scott is a particle accelerator physicist at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Jim and Adrian are STFC funded PhD students; Jim analyses data to find new planets and Adrian is a particle physicist. Vicky works in flu vaccine stability management at MedImmune and Gaia studies genetic mutations in children. The zone was busy with students mostly asking science questions rather than wanting to know about the scientists’ careers, with students interested in topics like black holes, gravity and disease. Most of the scientists were very active within the zone and there was a higher than average number of answers given compared to the other March zones. Scott, the winner of the zone, was the most active of all the scientists and contributed almost half of all live chat lines by scientists and … Continue reading →

READ THE FULL REPORT The Gravity Zone was a themed zone funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council and Steve is a Post-Doctorate researcher who works on the Large Hadron Collider. The other four scientists are all supported by STFC; Emma studies how neutron stars emit gravitational waves, Bose studies gravity at a galactic scale working on testing gravity theories, Alice models explosions on neutron stars and Christian is a physicist who builds experiments to detect gravitational waves. The majority of the questions were thoughtful and on topic with interest in current scientific discoveries, black holes and space in general. Most of the scientists were highly active throughout the event and were very encouraging towards students who wanted to learn more about physics.

READ THE FULL REPORT The Extreme Pressure Zone was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and the research of Jack, Craig, Giuditta and Flavia was funded by the organisation. The concept of extremely high pressure was involved in each scientist’s background, such as Giuditta’s research using it to warp magnets, Craig’s work looking at atoms under high pressure and Sheona simulating the action of plate tectonics and the earth’s mantle. Popular topics in the zone were the research areas of each scientist, as well as questions about the scientists opinions on personal issues. The live chats in the zone were busy and all the scientists did well to engage in some very fast-paced chats. Between them, the final two of Jack and Giuditta contributed 60% of both lines in live chat and answers in ASK.

READ THE FULL REPORT The Tantalum Zone was a general science zone funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Four of the scientists, Monique, Carsten, Ashley and Bernard were connected to this organisation, either as users of its facilities and data, or funded by its grants. The scientists varied backgrounds included building particle accelerators, firing lasers at proteins, modelling galaxy clusters, developing plant-based biotechnology and improving the safety of steel. This was the busiest of the November zones in terms of questions from students, and over 1200 were submitted. The popular topics in the zone reflected the research of the scientists, and many were physics related, ranging across subjects from sub atomic to galactic scales. Notably, Monique contributed nearly 40% of the answers, whilst zone winner Ashley was the most active in live chats.

The Electromagnetic Zone was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and involved four scientists, Miranda, James, Freya and Daniel, whose work was supported by the research council. The research of the scientists encompassed a wide range of uses for the electromagnetic spectrum, from treating cancer to encrypting data. As such, questions in the Zone related to many different areas of physics. Although the zone had fewer questions than most of the zones in June, the live chats were the busiest of all the zones and the attending scientists did well to engage with sometimes challenging classes. Download the full report

The Extreme Force Zone was a themed zone funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It involved five scientists whose work was supported by the STFC and was related to the fundamental forces of nature in extreme situations. The topics discussed in the Zone were focused around physics and related strongly to the research carried out by each scientist. It was the one of the busiest June zones and both ASK questions (550 approved) and the live chats were extremely busy. This high level of engagement from the students was matched by most of the scientists in a competitive zone. For example, Steven, Lidunka, and Jillian each answered between 200 and 300 questions each and the scientists evicted early in the competition continued to attend the live chats. Download the full report

The Hafnium Zone was a general science zone funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The Zone involved five scientists whose work was supported by the STFC, covering areas from neutrinos, to neuroscience, to computer programming to lasers. Question topics in the zone were very varied, reflecting the diverse research areas of the scientists. It was the busiest of the June zones (521 active students) and consequently had the most questions approved (563) and the most live chats of any zone (23). The scientists worked hard to match this high level of engagement, with nearly every live chat attended by at least 3 scientists. The personalities and good humour of all the scientists were evident throughout the event, in both live chats and ASK. Download the full report

The Astronomy Zone was very popular among teachers, and it was the first zone to be fully booked. Students’ questions were really focused and on-topic, as well as very specific and consistent, probably due to students being familiar with the term “astronomy”.  This was the zone with the highest activity in the CHAT section, with 18 live chats and over 7,700 lines of live chat. All the scientists in the zone were really engaged, sharing the load of questions answering and chatting in the ASK and CHAT sections between all 5 of them, as well as lots of discussion on Twitter. Zone winner Roberto decided to donate his prize money to the runner-up Sam, as he already has enough outreach funds to run his own public engagement projects. Download the complete report here.

The Diamond Zone was funded by the Science and Technologies Facilities Council and featured scientists working at Diamond Light Source, using it for their research or using data collected at Diamond. This zone was extremely busy with the largest number of students registered during this event: 524 students, of whom 82% asked questions, took part in a chat, commented, or voted for a scientist. The chats were always buzzing with a broad range of questions, reflecting the different work of the scientists. The ASK section was also very busy, but scientists kept up with the questions at all times, giving over 1,000 answers between them! Students in the zone were really keen to know more about the scientists’ work, as shown by the questions’ keywords below. Download the complete report here.

9 schools registered students in the Extreme Energy Zone, which lead to lively CHAT sessions, particularly during the first week of the event.  There was a good balance of questions about space, the beginning of the universe, Physics theories and the day to day life and work of a scientist. The scientists in this zone were all very engaged, giving a high average of 2.5 answers per question.   Download complete report here.

The Nuclear Zone was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. This zone had a high percentage of active students – 84% of students who registered asked a question, live chatted, voted, or commented. Students asked a lot of questions on the topic. They were very interested in scientists’ daily routines in work places such as CERN, and asked lots of questions about subatomic particles, such as the Higgs Boson.   Download the report here.

The Extreme Size Zone was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. The students in the Extreme Size Zone were very engaged in both the ASK and CHAT sections, despite the zone having fewer registered students than the average zone. 439 questions were approved, and the scientists left over 1,000 answers to these questions, which is almost double the average of 533 answers per zone.   You can download the zone report here.

The Extreme Clean Zone was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Questions in this zone began slowly, with a lot of questions about the moon and space, given that Nicci’s research is focused on moon dust. There were a higher number of interesting questions during the second week, most of them coming from a particular group of students. Live chats, though there weren’t many, were often busy. Download the report here.  

The Particle Physics Zone was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. This zone was a little bit less active than the rest of the zones on average, it had more live chats during the first week than during the second one, and there was a wide range of questions asked throughout the event. Students in primary schools were more likely to ask about science facts and aliens. There were students from secondary schools who brought out very interesting issues and even hot debate topics, relating to recent theories in physics. Download the report here  

At the end of each event we compile a report about each zone, containing moderator observations and our web data. This report provides a summary and some meaningful information on the zone. The New Materials Zone had chats spread relatively evenly over the two weeks. There were a lot of students registered in the zone, and a good number of questions submitted. Download the report here.

At the end of each event we compile a report about each zone, containing moderator observations and our web data. This report provides a summary and some meaningful information on the zone. The Extreme Speed Zone was busy from the start, with live chats packed full of space questions. Lots of students wanted to know about what will happen when the sun burns out and about black holes and life on other planets. There were loads of questions submitted, with 119 approved on the first day. Throughout the event the number of questions coming through did slow down, but the live chats didn’t! Download the report here.

At the end of each event we compile a report about each zone, containing moderator observations and our web data. This report provides a summary and some meaningful information on the zone. The Crystallography Zone had lots of live chats and also received a relatively constant stream of questions. All five scientists took part and engaged well with the students. Download the report here.