I'm A Scientist comes to Ireland

The wonderful I'm a Scientist, get me out of here (IAS) will take place, for the first time, in Ireland this Autumn.

As I posted back in July, IAS will run in conjunction with Science Week and will consist of five zones where school-goers can ask scientists anything they like!

It's been described as an 'X-Factor for scientists' and allows the sort of relaxed interaction between scientists and potential scientists that provides for a wonderful learning experience for everyone who takes part.

I took part in IAS in the Spring of 2011 when it was a predominantly UK event (and got the mug to prove it!). If you're a scientist and think you might like to participate or a teacher who might like to get your students involved, the following posts I wrote on the subject might be a useful read:

Here's a 'before' post talking about what I wanted to achieve from participating.

Here's a post detailing how it all worked and the types of questions I was asked.

And finally, a post I wrote after I was booted out. A reflection on the whole event and it's value to student and scientists alike.

I really enjoyed taking part in IAS and it gave me a view of science outreach that I hadn't had before. If you're interested in taking part, I can highly recommend it. Find out more information on the IAS Ireland website.

I'm a Scientist - GM Food

Regular readers will know that I'm a fan of I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here and that I've previously taken part in the unique science outreach project.

I'm a Scientist (IAS) allows school children to ask real scientists what ever comes to mind. The questions generally range from the well-informed and well-thought-out to the truly bizarre and firmly tongue in cheek. No matter the question, it allows students to get to know what scientists really do and the project even allows the students to vote out scientists until one winning scientist remains.

This time round, along with a range of specialist and general zones, the organisers have introduced a GM Food Zone to deal with some of the issues which have hit the headlines again recently. This zone is also unique, in that everyone can take part - not just school students.

Regarding the motivation between such an event, the organisers have said: "We simply got fed up with accusations being slung around the media in articles, in opinion pieces and in comments. We wanted to create a space where experts in all relevant areas could answer questions from the public and be able to give their points of views alongside each other.

For most people this is not a black and white issue (GM good or GM bad). We’d like to create a space for a discussion with a bit more nuance. Whatever ends up happening with GM Foods we all of us on the planet will have to deal with the consequences. It may be difficult at times, but we believe it’s worth all trying together to explore the issues and consider other points of view."

To take part and to ask a question of the expert panel, you'll need to register, but you can read the questions and comments without registering. The event continues this week and concludes on the 6th July.

In more IAS news, the event will be coming to Ireland in the Autumn, running up to 5 zones during Science Week (11-18th November). The event will be part of Dublin 2012.

I’m a scientist, not a freaky nerd

It was a tense, nervous fortnight of probing questions and judgemental teenagers, but I’m a Scientist, get me out of here may well be the future of science communication in Europe.

It seems that some of the students like it too. As one student wrote after the 2010 event: “I’m a scientist is a website aimed at all teenagers – interested in science or not (but believe me, by the time you finish the project, science will have taken over your brain and made you love it for the rest of your life)”. High praise indeed!

Read the rest of this post here in the Euroscientist, the official publication of the Euroscience organisation. It publishes articles on a variety of topics based on science and science policy.

Scibernia - a new Irish science podcast

Scibernia is a new bi-monthly science podcast, with a particular interest in the goings-on in the Irish scientific community.

The podcast is put together by a (self-confessed!) 'loose collective of science enthusiasts, tech nerds, wandering journalists and radio lovers' and the podcast has just posted it's third episode.

As they spoke to Ben Goldacre in episode two, who else could they turn to but yours truly to take part in the latest episode! :)

I talk to Sylvia Leatham about my time taking part in I'm a Scientist, get me out of here!

Also featured in the latest episode of Scibernia:

• What neuroscientist and Memory Lab curator Prof Shane O’Mara plans to do with all the data collected during the recent Science Gallery exhibition.
• A debunking of Moon myths with Astronomy Ireland’s Lee Hurley.
• What Prof Jim Al-Khalili has in common with Sinead O’Connor in the BBC astrophysics programme ‘Everything and Nothing’, and why Prof Brian Cox‘s ‘Wonders’ reminds us of 1990s pop videos.
• Upcoming events, including student science festival SciFest and a talk about atom-smashing by CERN’s Dr Stephen Myers.
• News from Ireland and abroad, including how robots are set to become more human-like and the latest developments in ‘lab on a chip’ technology.

The latest episode of Scibernia is here.

I'm a Scientist and I'm out of here!

As I'm a Scientist, draws to a close for now, I'm sorry to report that this scientist has been evicted before the final on Friday next.

Over 2200 students across the UK have been voting in 6 different zones on the fate of 30 scientists and the democratic will of the students has been implemented in all its devastating abruptness!

I've really enjoyed my time on IAS. The camaraderie of the inmates/scientists, the joviality of the eager students, the bizarre, weird and almost universally thought-provoking questions have all been a contributing factor in this enjoyment.

I've taken part in about 11 live chats with individual schools and in many ways, these have been the best parts of the whole experience. Though challenging and frustrating in parts, the live chats provide for the sort of student-scientist interaction which is at the heart of the IAS project.

From an Irish point of view, it would be great to see more Irish schools and scientists taking part. Gallomar, who organise the project, and the Wellcome Trust, who provide much of the funding are open to Irish involvement - they have had Northern Irish schools take part previously and there is currently a school from Singapore taking part.

Australia now has its own IAS event and it would be nice to see an Irish event taking place. Perhaps Dublin 2012 might be an opportunity for developing such a project?

In the meantime, teachers and scientists who wish to sign up for the next IAS event (in June) can sign up to take part by going to www.imascientist.org.uk

I'm a Scientist: The story so far

Day Seven in the Big Brother house....So, things are going well over on I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here. We've all been receiving large volumes of questions to our inbox over the past seven days. Some of these are more scientific in nature than others.

For example, I've had "How are diamonds formed?" and "Is there other life in the universe?"; both very valid questions, but I'm stretching it a bit as a plant scientist trying to come up with a half decent answer. On the other hand, I've also been asked "What makes types of flowers different?" and "is it true that with some plants, the colour of their petals depends on the ph of the soil? and if so why?", which are right up my street!

Broadly speaking, the type of questions seem to be falling into a number of categories:

• Questions about my research area (plants, soils, etc.)
• Questions about life as a scientist: Are you married to a scientist? Do you have any social life, etc.
• Questions about the sun/earth/universe ending (we all blame Prof. Brian Cox for these questions).
• Questions about fantastic biological fights/races: Who will win in a fight -  a 30ft Grizzly or a Giant Squid?
• Questions about our preferences for xbox, playstation, Call of Duty, etc.
• General questions about all kinds of science topics.

In reality , there are lots more interesting and well thought out questions than strange ones - as we tell the kids: there is no such thing as a silly question; and I imagine the moderators do a very good job of weeding out some of the more obvious ones!

We've also been doing daily live chats with some of the classes taking part in I'm a Scientist. These feature many of the same types of questions, but it is fast-paced and edge-of-the seat-stuff as you get quizzed on a range of topics almost simultaneously by a classroom full of eager students. These chats are actually great fun, but you do feel a little 'shaken' afterwards!

All in all, I'm thoroughly enjoying my time as a member of the team. This coming week is when things get a little more interesting, with daily evictions voted for by the students. I'm happy to stay for as long as I can - but that's up to the students - the power is in their hands.

I'm a scientist - what I hope to achieve

I'm surprised at how caught-up I'm getting in the preparations for "I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here!" I literally can't wait for it to start.

It's a mixture of nervous anticipation and just wanting to get on with it, something akin to the feeling before a race or going on stage, I suppose.

The event kicks off properly on Monday next, but we've been told that we may well start early because of the huge numbers of questions submitted by eager students wanting to interact with the scientists they've been assigned in individual zones. So far, the whole thing seems to have been organised fantastically well, with the website being easy to use for editing my profile, adding images, etc.

So why am I doing it? As you can probably tell, I have a huge interest in communicating science to the general public. Not just the facts of science but also the role, function and process of science. It's important to communicate about new scientific breakthroughs, but it is equally important, I believe to speak about how these breakthroughs come about, how scientists work and how that work is evaluated and peer-reviewed.

Hopefully, I'll get across some of that during the next two weeks.

The feedback from previous scientific participants has been good. Joanne Buckley, a winner from 2010, described the event as her "flat out fortnight" with a slow start but an "intense" final week.

I'd be lying if I said that the competition element didn't hold an attraction for me. I'm fairly competitive by nature, and I think the competitive edge will push each of the scientists participating on to give their all for the relatively short event, ensuring that both the students and the scientists themselves get the most out of their experience.

I'd be interested in finding out what the students themselves think of the event. Do they enjoy the live chats and online interaction with scientists? Does it encourage any of them to study science or to become scientists themselves? After all, it would be pointless in investing time and resources into such an event if it didn't have a real effect on student perceptions of science.

For the record, I'm sure it does. Having taken part in numerous open-days and career days, promoting science at third-level, I'm convinced of the value in potential young scientists meeting and chatting with 'real' scientists and having a few of their questions answered. Face-to-face is great, but social media and the internet is often where the new wave of young potential scientists are influenced and do their communicating. So, why not bring science to them!

Even if you're not taking part in the event, anybody can follow the process and view the questions and answers on the event website. If I have time, and I'm told that the event gets pretty frantic and all-consuming, then I'll update you on how the process is going next week.

I'm a scientist update

As I've already announced on this blog, I've been asked to take part in the "I'm a scientist. Get me out of here!" event from next Monday. 

In the last few days I've been spending some time preparing my profile which the students will see when they log on to the site. I've been trying to strike a balance between giving some useful information about what I do, without coming across as boring or stuffy. For many of the students taking part, this will be one  of the first times they will have interacted with working scientists. It's important that the interaction is a good one.

The organisers tell me that it's important to have a smiley photo, hence my most smiley photo; and that the joke be a good one.

During the first week of the two-week event, students will be able to post questions for me to answer. Looking at the question archive for previous events, these can be quiet diverse:

Why is science so complicated?
Why can't we time travel?
If Homer Simpson was a real person, would he be dead by now?
Do you agree with the creation of nuclear weapons?
Do you think global warming will happen?
Do you like sudoku?
If you had to perform an experiment on Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus, which could you choose? They might die from this.
Do you have a social life?
Do you believe in God?
Are you a good scientist?

Students and scientists will also have the chance to interact on live group chats during the event. In the second week, students will begin to vote for their favourite of the group of five scientists and those with the lowest votes will be evicted. Last scientist standing at the end of the week gets £500 for science communication work.

I'm a scientist... no, really!

Some great news this morning - I've been asked to take part in the I'm a Scientist, get me out of here! event in March.

According to the organisers, I'm a Scientist is "an award-winning science enrichment and engagement activity, funded by the Wellcome  Trust. It takes place online over a two  week period. It’s an X Factor-style competition for scientists, where students are the judges. Scientists and students talk online on the website. They both break down barriers, have fun and learn. But only the students get to vote".

I think this is a really great idea and I'm really looking forward to taking part. I'll keep you posted on how things go right here. The event runs from March 14th - 25th. The video below gives a flavour of what's involved.