A Scientist Like Me

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Yes, I got to learn a lot about battery modelling, hone some of my MATLAB skills, and contribute to a product that aims to extend useful battery life, which was great.

STEM Person of the Week is a set of five carefully chosen STEM role models that reflect diversity in the skills needed in the STEM workforce and the people who work in STEM. The intervention is 5 weeks long, and each week a new STEM worker is showcased to the children in classrooms and across the school. Each STEM person has 3 characteristics that they think are important for them to do their job. In each set of cards, the children are exposed to 15 characteristics (see table), to provide a counter-stereotypical vocabulary which better reflects the realities of working in STEM. CIR releases COVID-19 immunology animations to aid quality science communication during the pandemic This resource aims to equip teachers with everything they need to effectively run this 5-week intervention in their school setting. The resource is simple to use and suitable for children and young people. Primary schools have used the resource for children aged 5 – 11, and secondary schools have used the resource with young people aged 11 – 14. Are you interested in sharing your research, practicing your presentation skills, or getting help on a particular research question? Express your interest in one or more of the below presentation methods:

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In fact, we recommend that you run STEM Person of the Week with your whole school or whole year groups; this way, children, young people and teachers can share what they’re learning beyond the classroom and into their social spaces and staff room.

Welcome to STEM Person of the Week – a STEM engagement activity that’s been shown to reduce children’s stereotypes of science and scientists by providing counter-stereotypical character attributes through a set of diverse STEM role models.So yeah, I had a great few months, I learned a lot about battery modelling, but I also learned a lot about the type of work culture I want to be part of when I finish my PhD.

CIR researchers launch ‘Intensive-Share’ – a patient and public involvement group for paediatric critical care research I've just finished a three month placement at Elysia - Battery Intelligence from WAE as part of my PhD, and I wanted to post something about my last three months that goes beyond the work I was actually doing.I find that discussing sustainability still comes alongside discussing profits. It still feels like an afterthought to 'customer' or 'industry' demands. I hope I'm wrong. And if I'm not, I hope I can be part of changing that narrative. The slideshows are intended to be used as discussion prompts, guided by a teacher. They can be used in different ways and for different purposes, for example: We know from our own research that, when asked to describe scientists, children use a limited and very stereotypical vocabulary. In our surveys, when asked to write 6 words to describe a scientist, over 40% of the total words used were some sort of stereotype: crazy hair, explosions, lab coats, genius, etc. The SPOTW resource is designed to counter this vocabulary through a more nuanced set of attributes that scientists themselves use to describe their characteristics. STEM Person of the Week (SPOTW) has been created by the NUSTEM Group at Northumbria University. We’re a group of STEM Outreach practitioners and researchers who are looking to increase diversity within STEM. We do this through evidence-informed practice, working with children and their key influencers (parents and teachers) from pre-school to post-16. SPOTW was created in partnership with one of our partner primary schools, who piloted the first iteration of the resource. But really, I got to experience working in a team that genuinely acted as a team. A team that celebrated each other's victories and sat together in frustration when faced with challenges. I felt part of this team from the first day - being included in things like professional headshots and getting my fair share of merch too.