News

Cutting straight to the point — because you’re not here for clever calendar puns — here is a list of all the events we have coming up in the UK and Ireland in 2015 and 2016. Happy planning! I’m a Scientist (UK): 9th–20th November, 7th–18th March, 13th–24th June I’m a Scientist (Ireland): 9th–20th November I’m an Engineer (UK): 9th–20th November, 7th–18th March, 13th–24th June I’m an Engineer (Ireland): 9th–20th November, 1st–12th February I’m an Astronaut (UK): 5th–16th October, 7th–18th December, 7th–18th March, 13th–24th June — Due to the popularity of this event, places are severely limited. We may not be able to give every school a place. I’m an Astronaut CHRISTMAS LECTURES Zone: Throughout January …keep reading for full details, where to register, and a — super-duper handy — chronologically ordered list. I’m an Events Calendar: 2015/16 October 2015 REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED I’m an Astronaut: Round 1 Round 1 of the I’m an … Continue reading →

After every event we ask the scientists and moderators to select the students who stood out for them; the students they thought asked the best questions, or engaged most in the live chats. Well done to all of the student winners, and everyone who took part. There were so many interesting questions, and comments, but there could only be one winner in each zone. So, for fantastic engagement during the event, for posting brilliant questions and comments, the student winners below will each receive a certificate and a gift voucher. Colour Zone Winner: Freddie, Stanborough School Electromagnetic Zone Winner: Jason, Bluecoat Academy Extreme Force Zone Winner: Harry, Earlscliffe College Health Zone Winner: William, Mount Kelly Hormones Zone Winner: Alexander, Westcliff High For Boys Pharmacology Zone Winner: Radhika, Derby Moor Community Sports College Polymers Zone Winner: Ibtihaj, Rainham Mark Grammar School Thulium Zone Winner: Harry, King Offa Primary Academy Ytterbium Zone Winner: Jasmin, Kesteven And Sleaford High School Lutetium Zone Winner: Niamh, Chulmleigh Community College Hafnium Zone Winner: Nadia, St Gregory’s After taking part … Continue reading →

Some live chats were interrupted this afternoon (18th June). A DDoS attack involved slowing down connections at our hosting company. Please note that no security was breached. The hosting company are working on resolving the issue, and the site is running again. Loading times on the site may be slow until the issue is fully resolved. We are contacting the schools of all chats effected, so they may re-book.

We’re nearing the end of the March round of I’m a Scientist and the office is a-buzz with questions and live chats, furiously clattering keyboards, and the vague worry that we may have used up the internet’s supply of eviction gifs… So we thought, what better time to announce the June events? The next I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here event will run from the 15th to 26th June 2015!! Apply now to take part! We’re still working on the list of zones, and it will be announced in early April. There will be both themed and general science zones, so there will be something for everyone. Teachers and scientists can apply now to take part at the links below. Teachers will get an email in early April asking them to choose their classes’ zones. Teachers apply by Sunday 26th April at: imascientist.org.uk/teachers Scientists apply by Sunday 3rd May at: imascientist.org.uk/scientist-apply More … Continue reading →

I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here is back this March with 70 scientists, and 150 schools from Gairloch to Torquay, and one school from Spain. The scientists will be competing for the school students’ votes in two weeks of fast-paced live chats and questions on everything from genes, to atoms, to space, to pizza. For the latest news and announcements, find us on Twitter, @imascientist, and follow the hashtag, #IASUK. Let’s meet the scientists and schools taking part… Evolution Zone This zone is organised on behalf of the University of Reading. The Scientists Adam Milligam | Postdoctoral at Queen’s University Belfast I play with dogs to see if they are left or right handed and to see if left-handed dogs are less happy than right-handed dogs. Emily Seward | PhD Student at University of Oxford Parasites often face challenging or hostile environments within their hosts; I examine how plant parasites evolve to survive in new hosts … Continue reading →

After every event we ask the scientists and moderators to select the students who stood out for them; the students they thought asked the best questions, or engaged most in the live chats. Well done to all of the student winners, and everyone who took part. There were so many interesting questions, and comments, but there could only be one winner in each zone. So, for fantastic engagement during the event, for posting brilliant questions and comments, the student winners below will each receive a certificate and a gift voucher. Antibiotics Zone Winner: jilsejoshy, Westcliff High School for Boys Big Data Zone Winner: Tiffany5567, Redland Green School Body Zone Winner: Adiboo, Bethany School Careers in Chemistry Zone Winner: Flori, Kingsmead Drug Synthesis Zone Winner: ExplosiveBiskit, Wyvern College Extreme Temperature Zone Winner: science4life, Buxton School Space Zone Winner: Matthew S, Okehampton College Spectroscopy Zone Winner: Joe, Carterton Community College Europium Zone Winner: … Continue reading →

I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here will run for two weeks during British Science Week from Monday 9th to Friday 20th March 2015. With 14 different zones, we’re looking for 70 scientists and have space for almost 5,000 students. Here is a list of the zones we will be running, or if you want to jump straight to the application, teachers apply here:  imascientist.org.uk/teachers and scientists here: imascientist.org.uk/scientist-apply. Evolution Zone In this zone we’ll be looking at everything evolution. We’re after five scientists to talk about what fossils tell us about the living things that inhabited our planet millions of years ago and about evolutionary adaptations and how animals and plants are adapted to suit their different environments. From how best to explain the giraffe’s long neck to why bugs that are resistant to antibiotics are in the news, this zone aims to give children an appreciation of how evolution … Continue reading →

I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here is back this November with 50 scientists, and more than 140 schools from Orkney to Cornwall, and 4 schools from France and Spain. The scientists will be competing for the school students’ votes in two weeks of fast-paced live chats and questions on everything from cells, to robots, to space, to pizza. For the latest news and announcements, find us on Twitter, @imascientist, and follow the hashtag, #IASUK. Let’s meet the scientists and schools taking part…   Antibiotics Zone This zone is funded by e-Bug. The Scientists Sally Cutler | Lecturer at University of East London Bacterial infections of humans and animals – “bad germs” of the UK and beyond. Robert Hampson | PhD Student at University of Nottingham I make chemicals that make bacteria less nasty. Matt Bilton | PhD Student at University of Oxford By zapping cells with lasers, infecting them with bacteria and peering at them down powerful microscopes, I study how … Continue reading →

This November we are so oversubscribed with teachers wanting to take part with their students, that we’re running an extra General Zone, the Gadolinium Zone! As of this morning we had around 150 teachers ask for 431 classes between them. But we only had space for 240 of those classes in our 9 planned zones. Running the Gadolinium Zone gives 25 more classes of students the opportunity to engage with 5 more scientists, who will be working on all areas of science. With 10 zones, this is the biggest November event we’ve run. We’re still oversubscribed, so are limiting the number of classes per school, to allow students at as many schools as possible to take part. It also means that we can’t offer places to schools outside of the UK, as our funding prioritises UK schools. The updated list of all November zones: Antibiotics Zone – funded by e-Bug, for students age 15+ Big … Continue reading →

Of all the emails we get from prospective scientists, the most common are probably: “how will I know if I’ve been selected?” and “how does the application process work?”. So — in our never-ending benevolence — we wanted to give you a peek at the how we choose scientists, and what happens once you send us your application. When do we select scientists? I’m a Scientist runs in March, June, and November every year. We select scientists around a month before each event. What’s the most important part of the form? The most important part is the box that asks for a one sentence description of your work the part into which all your creativity and communication skills should be poured. We email the descriptions to students and teachers who’ve taken part before and they rate the scientists. They get a survey containing only the descriptions. So it’s really important that it (a) concisely … Continue reading →