Who said chemistry wasn't fun?

A University College Cork video has been shortlisted by Times Higher Education (THE) as one of the best videos submitted for the World University Rankings.

The video features Declan Kennedy's fantastic Chemistry Magic Show which is a regular feature of Science Week at UCC and other outreach events. Filming and production is by Stephen Bean, also of UCC. Here's a short clip:

Mallow Science and Maths Fair

The Teaching and Learning Dept. of University of Limerick will host Mallow Science and Maths Fair this Sunday 16th October from 12 noon to 3.30pm.

And what is the Mallow Science and Maths Fair?
An action-packed fun day for all the family, with many attractions:
Chemistry Magic Show
Planetarium
Live demonstrations and interactive displays
Stars and Planets Show
Superheroes Talk…
Who wants to be a Maths Millionaire/..
Balloon Rocket Car...
Give-away items, entertainment and lots, lots more ….

This event is free of charge and booking is not necessary
For further information contact: the NCE-MSTL at 061 234786

Check out the poster for the event here (pdf).

My Robot is Better Than Your Robot

Public and Private Science: It's all about perception

The recently published results of the Public Attitudes to Science (PAS) survey in the UK suggest that industry needs to do more to promote science.

The PAS survey, conducted by IPSOS MORI in association with the British Science Association and the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, found that there was a major disparity between the trust that the public placed in scientists working in the public and NGO sector and that placed in private-sector scientists.

When asked whether they trusted scientists to "follow any rules and regulations" 83% said they trusted scientists working in a university. There was also a large amount of trust placed in scientists working for the Government (72%), environmental groups (72%) and charities (76%).

However, when asked about industry scientists, just over half (56%) had the same amount of confidence in scientists doing the right thing.

This trust in university-based scientists is, as the PAS survey notes, in spite of the involvement of academics in the recent "climategate" controversy. It also doesn’t necessarily recognise the fact that while researchers may be based in a university, they may be paid by funding from industry sources.

Interestingly, in workshops to tease out the detail from the survey, participants tended to express the opinion that industry scientists were more interested in making money than in making genuine scientific discoveries. When the general public had the opportunity to speak with scientists in industry though, many of them viewed those scientists more positively.

The cliché of the crazy, money-mad scientist working for big-business is clearly just that: a cliché. However, trust is all about perception and while some would reasonably argue that nobody should trust a person simply based on their profession, there is no doubt that professionals do sometimes get ‘lumped in’ together as a homogenous bunch.

The general trend of a decreased level of trust in private versus public science though is not new. In the last PAS survey in 2008, 78% of respondents agreed that it was important that some scientists were not "linked to business" and 72% agreed that the independence of scientists is often "put at risk by the interest of their funders".

Indeed, the PAS survey from 2005 shows that people trust university-based scientists 48% less if they are funded by industry sources.

On the positive side, when scientists are compared to other professionals in the IPSOS MORI 'Trust in Professions' tracker, consistently more than 60% of respondents trust scientists to tell the truth. The latest survey of this type (2009) showed that 70% of the adult population of the UK generally trusted scientists to tell the truth. This was behind Clergy (71%), Judges and Professors (both on 80%), Teachers (88%) and Doctors (92%). Incidentally, Government ministers (16%) and politicians generally (13%) come bottom of that list.

So there is convincing evidence for a lack of trust on the part of the general public in industry-based scientists which is not mirrored in scientists working and funded from the public purse. There is a significant need then for private enterprise working in the sciences to ramp-up their communication with the general public and how they promote the sciences through their outreach work.

That isn't to say that some parts of industry aren't making significant contributions to the communication of science and the promotion of science amongst the general public. L'Oreal's support of the Women in Science programme is worthy of mention and a huge list of industry names have supported the Big Bang science and engineering fair, including Shell, Siemens and BAE.

Nevertheless, these new results suggest that nearly half of the general public mistrust scientists in industry. A concerted effort to communicate the value of privately funded scientific research to society is needed if we are to increase the levels of trust in science as a whole.

Building "A Real Passion for Science" - STEM Conference 2011

The communication and promotion of science is alive and well in Ireland ahead of next year’s Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF2012) in Dublin and the country’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) communicators have the strong backing of the new Irish government.

That’s the message that came from the recent Communicating STEM conference held in Cork and organised by Discover Science and Engineering and Engineers Ireland.

Ireland’s new Minister Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock, visited the conference on Thursday last and welcomed the exchange of ideas going on from around Europe and expressed the view strongly that these ideas could be transposed to the Irish setting to compliment the strong record in STEM communication already in place.

“This government is very serious about the potential for projects like this”, Minister Sherlock announced. STEM outreach work was he said “vital to our economic interests”.

The Minister seemed particularly impressed, along with many of the delegates, by the JET-NET model used in The Netherlands. JET-NET is a partnership between Dutch companies and pre-college schools in the Netherlands which sees one-on-one collaboration between the school and an industrial partner with career days, debate competitions and lab trips all on the agenda.

The scale of the programme particularly impressed, with André van Aperen, coordinator of the scheme for Shell, outlining the 70 companies taking part in 2010, along with a total of 353 school s and more on a waiting list.

The theme of the conference was Success Through Synergy and a number of industrial partners were in attendance to outline their involvement and commitment to STEM outreach and their motivation for involvement. Chris Enright from Hewlett Packard Ireland emphasised the increasing speed of technological advancement and said that new STEM graduates were ‘fundamental’ to their business objectives.

Enright also made the point that the strong record of Irish branches of multinationals collaborating with national centres of excellence in research and education along with a close relationship with relevant governmental agencies makes Ireland stand out ahead of other locations. People were “blown away” when they visited Ireland and saw such close partnerships.

“A real passion for science” is what is needed in STEM graduates of the future, said Enright, not just knowledge of the curriculum.

There was much on display at the conference to inspire and motivate. Katherine Jensen outlined the work of Abbott in promoting science in Ireland and mentioned their Operation Discovery programme for 14-16 year olds where scientists from the company lead students in experiments related to Abbott’s work in the locality and also involves a day-long visit to the facility.

Before taking part in Operation Discovery, just 41% of participants thought that they would enjoy studying science. Afterwards, that figure had reached 80%. Encouraging also was that 73% of participants thought working in science would be fun after taking part in the programme.

With presentations by the Galway Education Centre and by the Cork Outreach Community, the nationwide picture was painted before David Fahy, Project Director for ESOF2012 in Dublin gave an intriguing presentation on the current state of planning for Europe’s largest general science conference.

ESOF2012 will take place from Wednesday 11th July to Sunday 15th July 2012 in Dublin, however the organisers are keen to make it both a nationwide and year-long event in terms of its scheduling and impact.

The event aims to showcase the latest advances in science and technology along with promoting a dialogue on the role of science in society. It also aims to provoke public interest, excitement and debate of scientific issues.

A public engagement programme will run throughout the year and the call for proposals has just recently closed. Judging by the enthusiasm, novel ideas and inspired thinking on display amongst Ireland’s STEM communicators, it is evident that ESOF2012 in Ireland will be a huge success.

Lifetime Lab Wins Again

Well done to Lifetime Lab at the Old Cork Waterworks, which has been selected as “Best Industrial Museum/Site” by the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland. The accolade was presented to Lifetime Lab at a special ceremony at ESB headquarters recently.

Lifetime Lab was selected by the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland (IHAI) for the successful integration of Victorian architecture, including three enormous stationary steam engines, with the modern requirements of a 21^st century visitor experience.  Manager of Lifetime Lab Mervyn Horgan commented “Recognition by the IHAI is a fantastic achievement; each year we try to expand the heritage value of Lifetime Lab for our visitors, for example we have introduced an audio visual experience this year that recreates the working life of  a waterworks employee”.

Speaking at the presentation, Colin Rynne, president of the IHAI Heritage said, “The judging committee identified Lifetime Lab as a clear winner for the award, the scale of the restoration and conservation are a credit to Cork City Council”. He added “These awards are an opportunity to recognise the tremendous achievement in developing and sustaining industrial sites as tourist and educational amenities".

Lifetime Lab is located at the old Cork City Waterworks on Lee Road. The Victorian buildings were restored to accommodate a visitor centre with interactive environmental exhibits, a steam centre with preserved boilers and huge steam engines and a schools science centre. Lifetime Lab also has a coffee dock, a picnic area, a children’s playground, is fully wheelchair accessible and opens every day until 5.00pm.