New Website
Our new website is here …
Go to www.edinburghbeltane.net
If you are signed up to receive emails from our rss feed, we’ll transfer you across to our News and Forums rss feeds on the new website, which is where we will be posting similar things.
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New-look website
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Our website will soon be changing. We will be evolving it into a vibrant community website, with more resources and information. Come along to our launch event on 16 March, 4pm-6pm at InSpace to find out more about the new website and the Edinburgh Beltane project, and network with others interested in public engagement too. Register to attend. It would be great to see you there! |
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EISF 2010
With more than 220 events over 14 days this years science festival will be bigger than ever.
To download a day-by-day guide to what’s on at the Edinburgh International Science Festival visit www.sciencefestival.co.uk where you can also buy event tickets. You can also buy tickets:
By Phone:
Our Booking Hotline can be reached on 0131 553 0322, from 16 February – 2 April, (Mon-Sat) 9am-5pm, 3-17 April (daily) 9am-5pm.
From the Box Office:
You can purchase tickets in person at several sales points during the following dates:
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Shop
180 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1QS.
17 February – 17 April (Mon-Fri) 10am-5.30pm, (Sat) 11am-5.30pm.
University of Edinburgh Visitor Centre
2 Charles Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AD.
16 February – 17 April (Mon-Fri) 9.30am-5.30pm.
City Art Centre
2 Market Street,Edinburgh, EH1 1DE.
April 3-17, (excluding April 11) 9.30am-4.30pm.
Informatics Forum
University of Edinburgh, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB.
3-17 April from 30 mins before the first event of the day.
Adam House
University of Edinburgh, 3 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1HT.
8-17 April, 10.00pm-5.00pm.
At the Venue:
Tickets for an event may also be available at the venue. Please check the event descriptions for details.
For talks, tickets are available at the venue 20 minutes prior to the start of the talk, subject to availability.
Click below for a selection of events run by our partners this year…..
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NCCPE Engagement Conference
7 December 2010 (All day) – 8 December 2010 (All day)
London
The NCCPE are hosting their first national conference in December 2010. The conference will focus on the broad theme of why and how universities should engage the public. Day one will focus on HEI public engagement. Day two will feature student volunteering, informed by our vinspired students project.
The aim of the conference is provide an opportunity for people passionate about university public engagement to come together to share effective practice and to explore how to embed public engagement within HEIs. The conference is for university staff (including senior managers, academics, researchers, teaching staff, support staff), community partners, and students.
Content will include
*Launch of our Public Engagement Manifesto and associated resources – to help inspire universities to embrace engagement as part of their mission, and equip them to do so
*Case studies from the Beacons – focussing on embedding public engagement
Workshops exploring relevant themes including: evaluation, impact, culture change, effective practice, funding etc
*Launch of our vinspired student manifesto and associated resources
*Case studies from the vinspired students pilot projects, national partnerships and research
The NCCPE would be interested to hear from anyone wanting to contribute a workshop to this event. Workshops should address one of the following themes:
*How universities have approached embedding public engagement (eg: reward and recognistion, support and infrastructure etc)
*Public engagement in practice: examples of effective public engagement projects
*How students have been involved in public engagement projects.
Please fill in the following form if you would like to take part, and send it to Sophie Duncan by 31 March 2010.
Booking for the conference will open in April 2010.
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Beacons for Public Engagement Initiative: Online survey of UK higher education staff, and researchers
The Initiative The Beacons for Public Engagement (BPE) initiative was launched by the UK Higher Education Funding Councils, Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust in January 2008.
The initiative aims to:
• Encourage a change in culture within Higher Education with regard to engaging with the public.
• Support the development of public engagement across all subject areas and activities.
This ongoing work is to be achieved through building on and refining existing work, and through the development of new practice. There are six Beacons for Public Engagement based around the following universities:
• Beacon North-East (Newcastle and Durham)
• CUE East (UEA)
• Edinburgh Beltane (Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh Napier, UHI Millennium Institute, Edinburgh College of Art, Queen Margaret)
• Manchester (Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan, Salford)
• UCL (UCL and Birkbeck)
• Wales Beacon (Cardiff and Glamorgan)
There is also a National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) involving the universities of Bristol and UWE.
The Evaluation
Oakleigh Consulting Limited are evaluating the Beacons for Public Engagement (BPE) initiative on behalf of the funders. An online survey was completed in 2008 forming part of our baseline assessment for the evaluation. A similar survey is now available to allow us to identify any changes in perceptions relating to public engagement.
This survey is for all staff working in:
• UK higher education institutions.
• UK research institutes or centres.
We are interested in the views of staff within both BPE institutions and those who are not in BPE institutions because we want to see what is happening across the sector, so please complete the survey wherever you work.
Completing the questionnaire
The questionnaire will be available online from Monday 15th February to Friday 2nd April 2010.
To access the online questionnaire, please use the following link:
http://www.oakleighsurveys.co.uk/bpe2010/
If you have any queries regarding the completion of the e-survey, please contact Zeb Nash at Oakleigh ( zebnash@oakleigh.co.uk ).
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Bang Goes The Theory – 2010
Last summer, more than 150 academics, representing all the Beacons and the Open University, teamed up to answer questions from viewers of BBC1’s family science series Bang Goes the Theory. Along with presenter Dr. Yan Wong we addressed more than 100 questions, and the BBC came away hugely impressed with the enthusiasm, skill, professionalism, and sense of fun mustered via the Beacons’ partner universities.
Bang returns to BBC1 in March, along with the touring roadshow. The website will also return, featuring an expanded and revitalised Ask Yan. Last year, one of the most effective ways of pointing the audience from the TV show to the website turned out to be ‘scripted calls to action’. These were short ‘teaser’ items recorded in the studio and dropped into the BBC1 broadcast, typically involving something the viewer could ponder over. The ‘expert answer’ was provided on the website, via Ask Yan. Lots of viewers followed up on the puzzles, and for both the teasers used last year (breaking spaghetti and lateral inversion in mirrors), answers were provided by Beacons folks, at commendably short notice.
The series editor is keen to feature similar teasers in at least every other show this year. However, for that to happen… they need ideas. From us. Now. The plan is that over the next few weeks, we reassemble the Beacons Q&A community, bounce some ideas around, and present a selection to the BBC. There’s a bit more to it than that, but I’ll leave the details to: http://beaconsqanda.com/2010.
Please encourage your academics to get involved in the Beacons Q&A – we are happy to welcome back original contributors at http://beaconsqanda.com as well as newcomers at http://beaconsqanda.com/start page for a gentle introduction to what we’re doing.
In addition the BBC are keen to encourage students to help them run the roadshow. With over ten venues across the UK there are lots of opportunities to get involved supporting members of the public to engage in science. If you have any ideas of where we could publicise the opportunities to students who would like the opportunity to take part please let me know. (Likely venues include Manchester (The Big Bang); Edinburgh (8-10 April), Nottingham, Wales, Southend, London (*2), Hartlepool, Plymouth, Great Yarmouth)
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Popular Science Conference 2010
Symposium on Science Communication in the 20th Century: The “Booms” of Popular Science Publishing
Imperial College, London. 31st March 2010Registration now open. For details, please download the registration form. Please note spaces are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If you want to come, you are advised to apply as soon as possible.
This event should help foster connections between the wide range of people who study and think about popular science: historians, science communication researchers, professional scientists, science writers and literary critics.
DRAFT PROGRAMME
11:00 – 11:30 Opening Remarks, Peter Bowler, Queen’s University, Belfast.
11:30 – 13:00 Session One
- Demyan Belyaev, Lusophone University, Lisbon
Heterodox Science: Popular Science or Pseudoscience? The Three Corners of a “Bermuda Triangle” - Brandon Smith, University of Cambridge
Indeterminate Metaphors in Late Twentieth Century Popular Physics - John Preston, University of Reading
Wittgenstein, Mach, and Popular Science Writing
14:00 – 15:30 Session Two
- Maggie Jack, University of Cambridge
A Scientific Toy for Red-Blooded Boys: The Gilbert Chemistry Set and Non-Journalistic Popularization of Science - Caitlin Donahue Wylie, University of Cambridge
Nature Teaching on the Blackboard: How Early-Twentieth-Century Teaching Manuals Addressed a New ‘Public’ in England - Charlotte Sleigh, University of Kent
Atomic bodies: From children’s cartoons to Don DeLillo
16:00 – 17:30 Session Three
- Tom Lean, British Library
“Mastering Your Home Computer in 24 Weeks:” Computer Magazines and the Birth of Everyday Computing - Tom Aechtner, University of Oxford
Science for Persuasion: Propaganda and Counterpropaganda in the Evolution Wars - Oliver Hochadel, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Atapuerca – the Making of a Magic Mountain. Popular Science Books and Human-Origins-Research in Contemporary Spain
Draft Programme [pdf]
Registration form [pdf]
Queries to alice.bell@imperial.ac.uk
Symposium on Science Communication in the 20th Century: The “Booms” of Popular Science Publishing
Imperial College, London.
31st March 2010
Registration now open. For details, please download the registration form. Please note spaces are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If you want to come, we advise you apply as soon as possible.
We are keen that this event should help foster connections between the wide range of people who study and think about popular science: historians, science communication researchers, professional scientists, science writers and literary critics.
DRAFT PROGRAMME
11:00 – 11:30 Opening Remarks, Peter Bowler, Queen’s University, Belfast.
11:30 – 13:00 Session One
· Demyan Belyaev, Lusophone University, Lisbon
Heterodox Science: Popular Science or Pseudoscience? The Three Corners of a “Bermuda Triangle”
· Brandon Smith, University of Cambridge
Indeterminate Metaphors in Late Twentieth Century Popular Physics
· John Preston, University of Reading
Wittgenstein, Mach, and Popular Science Writing
14:00 – 15:30 Session Two
· Maggie Jack, University of Cambridge
A Scientific Toy for Red-Blooded Boys: The Gilbert Chemistry Set and Non-Journalistic Popularization of Science
· Caitlin Donahue Wylie, University of Cambridge
Nature Teaching on the Blackboard: How Early-Twentieth-Century Teaching Manuals Addressed a New ‘Public’ in England
· Charlotte Sleigh, University of Kent
Atomic bodies: From children’s cartoons to Don DeLillo
16:00 – 17:30 Session Three
· Tom Lean, British Library
“Mastering Your Home Computer in 24 Weeks:” Computer Magazines and the Birth of Everyday Computing
· Tom Aechtner, University of Oxford
Science for Persuasion: Propaganda and Counterpropaganda in the Evolution Wars
· Oliver Hochadel, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Atapuerca – the Making of a Magic Mountain. Popular Science Books and Human-Origins-Research in Contemporary Spain
Draft Programme [pdf]
Registration form [pdf]
Queries to alice.bell@imperial.ac.uk
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Be a Science Communicator at the EISF
The EPSRC is sponsoring two events at the 2010 Edinburgh International Science Festival on the science and engineering involved in healthcare technology and the mechanics of blood. The second event consists of two themed interactive workshops covering the engineering aspects of blood and how this is used in healthcare technology (e.g. topics such as complex fluids and nanotechnology, non-invasive optics and medical imaging – but demonstrating these in an accessible way that children can understand).
The EISF are seeking science communicators for these workshops and will train successful applicants over two days prior to the start of the Festival. Details of the applications process can be found in the documents below. You will be auditioned by EISF and will need to attend the training days and be available for the full duration of the Festival (3 – 17 April). You will be paid a daily rate of £47 per day.
EISF Science Communicator Job Description
EISF Science Communicator Application Form
If you are interested please send a completed application form to Lindsay Coulton at the EISF, email: Lindsay@scifest.co.uk and also mention that you have been referred by EPSRC. The deadline for applications is 26th February.
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Introducing Our Newest Public Engagement Fellow
Dr Sue Milne Researcher Centre for Research on Families and Relationships The University of EdinburghSue Milne is a childhood sociologist with a specific interest in child-adult relations and relationships, including children’s participation in schools and in the adult world. She is based at the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) which is a consortium research centre based at the University of Edinburgh, with partners at the University of Aberdeen,
University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University, UHI Millennium Institute and the University of Stirling. In addition to producing research relevant to key issues in families and relationships, the centre promotes and facilitates a network for all those with and interest in research on families and relationships. The centre aims to make research more accessible for use by policy makers, practitioners, research participants, academics and the wider public.
The aim of Sue’s Public Engagement Fellowship is to work with a local education authority at officer and school levels to use the GLOW Intranet to disseminate the findings from the ‘Having a Say at School Research Project’. The findings of this research project, which mapped and examined the workings of pupil councils in state and independent schools (primary, secondary and special) across Scotland, suggest that pupil councils would benefit from improved communications between pupils and with staff within and beyond individual schools. During her public Engagement Fellowship Sue will work together with pupils and staff to develop pupil council pages on GLOW over a number of months. The learning from this academic and local authority partnership will be applicable to other schools and local education authorities and enable research knowledge to make long term impacts in the development of other areas of local authority policy and practice in addition to that of pupil councils.
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EDINBURGH BELTANE 