Embedding a sustainable culture of public engagement in SCMH
Published: 23 February 2023
Professor Jason Gill, Professor Godfrey Smith and Dr Lorraine Work have received funding from the MVLS Engagement with Research Fund to develop a platform for embedding a sustainable culture of public engagement in SCMH.
Professor Jason Gill, Professor Godfrey Smith and Dr Lorraine Work have received funding from the MVLS Engagement with Research Fund to develop a platform for embedding a sustainable culture of public engagement in SCMH.
In MVLS we have a good track record of developing and delivering high-quality public engagement activities which are well-received by the intended audiences and provide valuable experience to the researchers delivering them. However, these are often delivered as ‘one-off’ events which presents a missed opportunity in terms of both the potential sustained reach of the engagement activity and for the development of a culture of engagement amongst researchers within the College. With the increased focus on engagement and community impact in the MVLS 2025 Strategy, it is important that we work to increase the proportion of researchers undertaking engagement activities.
This £2000 award is to develop and test the feasibility of a sustainable pipeline of engagement activities based in primary and secondary schools to i) provide researchers with a supported low-stakes entry point to public engagement and ii) provide late-primary/early-secondary school children with exposure to ‘real-life’ science by ‘real’ scientists which could spark an interest and ambition leading to a career in STEM. It comprises two parts. The first part, which is underway, involves adaptation of the award-winning ‘Build-a-Brain’ school events, developed by ‘science-based-artist’ Dr Lizzie Burns together with Dr Lorraine Work, for sustainable delivery in primary schools. These workshops involve telling the story of the structure and function of the brain through children building model brains out of coloured clay. We have now trained a new cohort of PGRs and ECRs to deliver this updated event and will be trialling this at three primary schools in February and March.
The second part of the award will involve SCMH researchers working with Dr Burns to develop a new science engagement event for schools. This will initially involve a 2-hour workshop for SCMH researchers (including PGRs, ECRs and established researchers) to work with Dr Burns to explore topics and approaches to deliver science related to SCMH research in a fun and engaging way. Dr Burns will then work with a small number of PGRs/ECRs to develop the event more fully, and then the event will be delivered across a range of schools in Spring/early Summer.
The ultimate aim is for us each year to train new PGRs/ECRs to deliver the already developed events to a broadening range of schools and to also develop a pipeline of further new events covering different aspects of SCMH research, to provide a sustainable legacy.
We need your help to do this. If you are interested in participating in a 2-hour ‘ideas’ workshop facilitated by Dr Burns to explore ideas for a schools-based science event (date and time to be arranged depending on everyone’s availability), please contact Jason Gill. This will hopefully be an engaging learning experience which provide new insights into how to explain complex research topics in a clear and appealing manner to non-experts.
First published: 23 February 2023