Over the last week, scientists and students across Ireland have been engaging online in I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here. Together they’ve talked about which pharmacological drugs they would destroy, why they love rocks so much, how many trees we really need on the planet, the time spent in labs (or in fields), how climate change affects science research, bringing wolves to Ireland, and even if scientists ever doubt themselves.
There are five zones taking place at once this November, starting in Science Week and finishing on Friday 22 November:
- Drug Discovery Zone, funded by Wellcome.
- Energy Zone, Food Zone, Water Zone and Sodium Zone (general science), funded by SFI.
See all the scientists and schools taking part.
In total, the seven days has seen:
- 1,540 school students logging in to the 12 zones
- 1,450 ASK questions sent in by students sent to the 30 scientists
- 798 votes cast by students for their favourites
- (almost) uncountable levels of conversation in the 45 live chats that have taken place.
Science Week -Climate Action 6th Class on-line with real Scientists@imascientist@PDSTPrimarySTEM@ScienceWeek@DPSM_Activities#BelieveInScience pic.twitter.com/zSjX6mIl4K
— Clara NS Kilkenny (@NsKilkenny) November 14, 2019
My fingers were cramping trying to answer all the great questions from the students in the @imascientist chat this evening!! Such an inspiring thing to be part of! 🥳💃🤟 guys the kids love learning about rocks 😍😍 #scicomm #ScienceWeek2019 #WomenInSTEM https://t.co/HPYcrzdcq2
— Jess Franklin (@jesscfranklin) November 14, 2019
If all this has got you wanting a piece of the action, then apply for next year’s I’m a Scientist, scheduled for November 2020. Or, if you’ve taken part already, tell your colleagues to sign up!
This year, there’s still much more to come. From 3pm on Tuesday the pressure starts to mount as the first scientist is evicted from each zone, with another following each day after. Who will survive to stay in the running for the €500 prize in each zone?
Find out before anyone else from the announcement in the staffroom each day until the winners are announced this Friday 22 November. Best of luck to all the scientists!