Promoting everyday science with a fortnight of outreach events in Ireland
175 minutes for chemistry - Chemistry Week
Our Ireland education coordinator John O’Donoghue reports on the activities of our members supporting Science Week and Chemistry Week in Ireland this year.
This year’s Science Foundation Ireland Science Week celebrated 21 years of outreach, fun, discovery and plenty of experiments! Running from 13-20 November, Science Week 2016 ran just before Chemistry Week with events overlapping. Annually the fortnight of activities gives people across Ireland the opportunity to explore and discover how science and chemistry is a part of their everyday lives. Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) coordinates Science Week every year and this year I put together a packed programme of chemistry events for both Science Week and Chemistry Week, supported by 20 RSC member volunteers.
Taking science out of the classroom
During Science Week, our members were involved in four of the eight science festivals held across the country and ran numerous standalone events during the fortnight. The festivals highlighted the exciting world of science and how it shapes the world around us, and featured a wide range of events including family open days, careers talks, workshops, school tours and much more.
Launching Science Week 2016, minister of state for training, skills and innovation, John Halligan TD said; “Science Foundation Ireland’s Science Week makes science, technology, engineering and maths fields a pleasure to investigate and discover. STEM fields are vital for Ireland’s future, both socially and economically. Capturing the interest of the nation is crucial to attract and encourage the next generation of future Irish scientists and engineers.”
Dr Ruth Freeman, director of strategy and communications at Science Foundation Ireland, said: “Science Week is a wonderful opportunity to explore the world of science and technology around us. Taking science out of the classroom and highlighting how it impacts and transforms the world allows people to become fascinated with the wonders of science in the everyday. This year we have lots of events that will allow you to explore the science behind your coffee in the morning; how athletes reach their ‘peak performance’; how we can all sleep better and; whether Shakespeare can ‘make you fall in love’! I would encourage everyone to take part in any of the hundreds of events happening nationwide and be dazzled by the advancements and discoveries that have been made by the Irish scientific community.”
Showcasing careers in chemistry
Our fortnight started in University College Dublin with the SFI supported RSC Spectroscopy in a Suitcase (SIAS), which was adapted to provide a geo-chemistry workshop for local schools along with careers talks about chemistry and geology held in conjunction with iCRAG (the Irish centre for research into applied geosciences). The following day RSC members volunteered their time talking about their careers in chemistry to 150 secondary school students at the annual RSC Careers in Chemistry talks at Trinity College Dublin. We had members from Henkel, college lecturers and the National Science Gallery chatting to lots of different students. We also had postgraduate members conducting tours of Trinity College Dublin’s school of chemistry, giving participants a first-hand look at research labs, analytical instruments and college lecture halls.
The annual Institute of Chemistry (ICI) awards also took place during Science Week. The academic award this year went to longstanding RSC member John Sodeau whose talk entitled ‘Every breath you take’ brought environmental chemistry and climate change to the fore. Imelda Shanahan won the industrial award for her hard work in establishing her company TMS Environment Ltd.
‘Mission: Starlight’ crosses the country
Science Week continued with the massive Global Experiment Day (#GlobalExpDay) at the Limerick Institute of Technology. We had over 200 secondary students taking part in the 2016 RSC global experiment, ‘Mission: Starlight’, along with a number of careers talks, all assisted by local RSC members. We also had RSC members volunteering to deliver the global experiment to primary and secondary schools nationwide, from Cork to Carlow. One of the largest exhibitions of this year’s global experiment took place at IT Sligo where our members made the UV beads into bracelets to keep track of when to put on more sunscreen to protect against UV light.
Science Week then gave way to Chemistry Week with the massive Primary Science Quiz at University College Cork, organised by RSC members and Lifetime Lab primary science outreach centre. We had 56 teams made up from over 160 primary students across the entire county of Cork. The prizes were sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the deputy Lord Mayor of Cork presented the winning team with the quiz trophy.
Chemistry Week concluded with the National Secondary Science Quiz, featuring 45 teams from secondary schools all over Ireland competing for the annual trophy. Organised annually by the Irish Science Teachers Association and sponsored by BioPharmChem Ireland with a selection of spot prizes provided by the RSC Ireland Local Section, the quiz was a massive success and a great way to finish Chemistry Week 2016 in Ireland.
Further information
You can find more information on the events held during Science Week Ireland on their Twitter page, @ScienceWeek and further tweets by John O’Donoghue of all events at @johndhodonoghue.
175 minutes for chemistry
As the oldest chemical society in the world, we celebrated our 175th anniversary in 2016. We wanted to mark this milestone by recognising the important contributions our community makes to the chemical sciences. We asked our members and supporters to dedicate 175 minutes to chemistry in 2016 and share their stories with us. We featured these stories throughout the year on our website, in print in RSC News, and on social media using #time4chem.
Tell us your story
If you've been involved in an event or activity, or just have an interesting story to tell, we want to hear from you! Please get in touch using the online form or tweet us @RoySocChem using #time4chem.
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