Public Engagement Training Day

Envision DTP and STARS CDT students were brought together to take part in a Public Engagement Training Day. This training was held at Lancaster University on the 12th October 2017 with 28 students from both consortia coming to take part.

David Price from Science Made Simple ran the day. David is a professional science communicator and science busker – you can see some of the things he does on YouTube here and here. The Science Made Simple workshop was a lot of fun – the activities aimed to boost students’ confidence in sharing science with broader audiences and to get them thinking of different and innovative ways to present their research. Training and experience in engaging the public is a valuable skill to help improve science communication skills for academic audiences too.

The students’ really enjoyed the course and gave great feedback!

‘The course was particularly valuable as it was so practical and really highlighted how I can present my science better to the public.’

‘It taught me ways to make my research area fun and accessible to the general public.’

‘It made me realise that its easier than I thought to make science understandable to the public. It gave me a lot of ideas to engage people in the future!’

‘It encouraged me to think more creatively about communicating science.’

‘I’d never seen science presented like that. It was a whole new way of looking at engagement.’

The students who attended were also offered the opportunity to put their new skills into practice and get some hands-on experience at the NERC UnEarthed Showcase in Edinburgh from 17-20th November 2017.