It’s a good few months since the last I’m a Scientist in June earlier this year, and the time has come to run another event!
From November 14th-25th we are running a smaller I’m a Scientist event with 2 zones. It’s sponsored by the Science & Technology Facilities Council, so the 10 scientists taking part all work with the STFC in different ways, such as using STFC facilities, working for the STFC or receiving STFC funding for their research.
The STFC is one of the 7 Research Councils in the UK, and they address research topics from particle physics to global security. They’re looking at topics as fundamental as the birth of the universe to the solar system we live in, understanding how the heavy elements are formed in the violent explosions of stars, and if it’s possible to complete the ‘Standard Model’ (including the search for the elusive Higgs boson particle).
There will be two zones, one themed Subatomic Zone and one general, named the Zinc Zone. The scientists and schools in each zone are listed below. Have a look to see if you know anyone taking part!
Be sure to check out the site on Monday 31st October, when it goes live and you can find out more about the scientists taking part. We hope the students, teachers and scientists are looking forward to the event as much as we are.
Subatomic Zone
Scientists
| Peter Williams | Daresbury Laboratory | Accelerator Physicist – I design, simulate, commission and experiment on particle accelerators |
| Mark Basham | Diamond Light Source | I work as a software scientist, a job which includes writing software to analysis and visualise synchrotron data for a variety of scientific fields and people. |
| Katharine Schofield | STFC Science Programmes | In short, I give money out to scientists for their research – so I coordinate all the processes and expert advice we need to ensure we make good decisions on who gets the money, and I make sure that once we’ve given it out that it’s spent wisely. |
| Jony Hudson | Imperial College London | I’ve measured the shape of the electron, one of the building blocks of the universe, and shown that it’s very, very, very, very round! |
| Ben Still | Queen Mary, University of London | I am a Neutrino Particle Physicist; I use the very smallest building blocks of Nature to answer the Universes biggest questions. |
Schools
Littleover Community School, Littleover
Sacred Heart, Hammersmith
Smithycroft Secondary School, Riddrie
Ernest Bevin College, Tooting
Great Marlow School, Marlow
St Marys, Worcester
Woodkirk Academy, Wakefield
Thistley Hough High School, Penkhull
Trinity CE High School, Hulme
Buxton School, Leytonstone
Blackfen School for Girls, Blackfen
Carlton Bolling College, Bradford
Lampton School, Hounslow
Budmouth College, Weymouth
Marshalls Park School, Romford
Swindon Academy, Swindon
Zinc Zone
Scientists
| Peta Foster | STFC Central Laser Facility | I work with other scientists to explore extreme states of matter that can only be studied at the focus of an ultra-high intensity laser beam. |
| Natalia Parzyk | University of Warwick | I am trying to understand vortex lattice in superconductors by preparing materials and using muons and neutrons for theirs measurements. |
| Hayley Smith | STFC, ISIS | Accelerator Physics – operational duties and upgrade designs of the ISIS proton synchrotron, one of the particle accelerators which help form the world leading pulsed neutron and muon spallation source. |
| Daniel Scully | University of Warwick | I’m a Particle Physicist studying Neutrinos: the weak but mysterious particles that may answer our biggest questions |
| Andrew Cairns | University of Oxford | I work on materials that break records for both expanding under high pressure (‘NLC’) and shrinking when heated up (‘NTE’), behaviour that is quite bizarre and very unusual; we try to discover new materials and work out why the ones we know about do what they do. |
Schools
The Marlborough School, Woodstock
Kinlochbervie High, Sutherland
Cedars School of Excellence, Greenock
Convent of St Jesus & Mary’s Language School, Harlesdon
Fitzharrys School, Abingdon
Jewish Community Secondary School, New Barnet
Cantell Maths & Computing School, Southampton
Chichester High School For Girls, Chichester
St Mary Redcliffe & Temple School, Bristol
Sanday Community School, Orkney
Alderbrook School, Solihull
Macclesfield College, Macclesfield
King Henry VIII School, Coventry
Al Noor Secondary School, Sparkhill