Local Impact
Working to inspire the next generation of scientists.
PLEDGE.
We pledge to create opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for young people within our local communities. We lend our physical resources and the expertise of those within the Collective to inspire, excite and ignite a passion for STEM, so that young people consider and pursue careers in industry. We aim to remove the traditional view of the ‘sciences’ as being high-brow and unattainable, by improving the visibility of those working STEM.
2019 | HOW DID WE DO?
2019 Goal: Create a programme of STEM-related opportunities and events that provide quality learning and inspiration for school pupils in the local areas.
Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day
We hosted Ada Lovelace Day events at MediCity Nottingham and BioCity Glasgow, in celebration of the achievements of women in STEM . Across both events, more than 150 young women spent the day meeting and learning from our STEM industry partners. Our BioCity-based STEM ambassadors from HGF, Sygnature Discovery, Azotic Technologies and XenoGesis, alongside event partners, Rolls Royce, The British Army, Twycross Zoo and Boots, ran interactive experiences at MediCity, Nottingham, allowing the students to gain insights into the world of STEM. At our Glasgow location, students got to hear speakers from the University of Glasgow, BioAscent and Antibody Analytics and take a look around where they work.
Read about the events here: BioCity Glasgow Takeover | MediCity Nottingham Takeover
LAB_13
At BioCity Nottingham, seven local primary schools have attended ‘LAB_13’ workshops in collaboration with Ignite! Futures. So far we are delighted to have hosted over 150 students and delivered 28 different activities, where a scientist in residence (from the BioCity collective) alongside BioCity and Ignite, lead experiments that let the students find the answers to their own questions.
Here’s how we helped local primary school students find answers to questions including, “Why do we get smelly breath when we don’t brush our teeth?” and “How far can you get in a black hole?”.
We couldn’t have achieved this without the time, expertise and enthusiasm from BioCity-based companies volunteering their time to these projects.
Meet our ‘scientists in residence’ and STEM volunteers.
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- Yvonne Barnett – Ada Lovelace Day 2018
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- Max Bardwell, NTU; Sangita Bhaker, XenoGesis – Ada Lovelace Day 2019
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- Jess Webster and Billie Crowe , Azotic – Ada Lovelace Day 2019
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- Janine Swarbrick, HGF – Lab_13
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- Rosie O’Keefe, Sygnature Discovery – Lab_13
Other STEM ambassadors within our collective:
- Matthew Shannon and Yannick Esvan – Charnwood Molecular
- Margaret Ritchie – University of Glasgow
- Alec O’Keeffe, Adele Lipaviciute, Mykel Evans and Daniel O’Flynn- Sygnature Discovery
- Adriana Oikonomou – NuVision
2020 | WHAT WE SET OUT TO ACHIEVE
2020 Goal: Strengthen the existing programme of STEM-related opportunities and events that provide good quality learning and inspiration for young people in local communities in Nottingham and surrounding BioCity Glasgow.
2020 Objectives:
- Two Ada Lovelace events hosted across the group to mark the celebration of women in STEM.
- Create a STEM projects group with partners in Scotland.
- Run a series of Lab_13 workshops at BioCity Nottingham.
- Increase the number of STEM ambassadors among our client companies.