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The 2025 BIG Event HYBRID Sessions Zoom links for all Hybrid Sessions will be added here. Please note sessions available as hybrid are subject to change. Wednesday 16th July - Day 1 Welcome Session Theatre - 1pm - 1.45pm Join us for our Welcome Session to say hi to the entire conference. This is a chance to find out who everyone is, where they've come from (or are watching from) and find out about the general plan for the BIG Event. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85225053036?pwd=gsPazouGd6aGbGyoMma1NMqQZHaDAz.1 Putting Maths in STEM shows/talks Library - 2pm - 3pm Now’s your chance to ask four mathematicians, and discuss with other STEM communicators, how to bring out mathematical content in your STEM talks and shows. Bring along your existing or planned talks/sessions, and we’ll give you some ideas for how to get your audience thinking in mathematical ways. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85225053036?pwd=gsPazouGd6aGbGyoMma1NMqQZHaDAz.1 Science Communication Spaces – Sharing Round Table Sunley - 2pm - 3pm What makes a brilliant building for science communication, and how has this changed over the years? Science communication happens in all kinds of buildings, and many science centres have been built over the years. How have these spaces and places for science communication changed? What went in to getting them built and developed? What do you remember about your early experiences of science centres, as a visitor or working there? What’s changed, and can that help us plan for the future? Share your memories as we look back, to get a feel for the future of the sector. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85290570340?pwd=ffEbR8gd5vLBnVqTELFbyOAQwyGimu.1 Why do we need to worry about disability in science? Conversation Room - 2pm - 3pm Science is all around us but is science inclusive for all? Disabled scientists are underrepresented in STEMM. People are more than one aspect of their identity, and we need to take an intersectional perspective when looking at diversity and inclusion in science. Join us to watch our short documentary on Marginalisation in Science: Disability and Inclusion followed by a reflective, creative workshop exploring why is it important that disabled scientists are at the forefront of science and new discoveries and how can we achieve it? Like an alloy, together we are stronger. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88619546963?pwd=COe3mlJanjAkpZQ3Yx34zCtEAbfjBR.1 Allyship, Advocacy & Activism in SciComm Library - 3.30pm - 5pm How do allyship, advocacy and activism differ? How do they overlap? How and when do we embed these practices into our science communication? With examples from our own practice, and plenty of time to share your experiences - this session will explore these questions and more. Along the way we’ll consider intersectionality, the successes and challenges we’ve all faced, and the importance of focussing on continuous action. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85225053036?pwd=gsPazouGd6aGbGyoMma1NMqQZHaDAz.1 Science on Socials Demo Room - 3.30pm - 4.30pm Join a panel of social media specialists who between them have established a community-backed first-of-its-kind museum, brought a 200-year-old institution online, turned science research into thousands-of-views videos, and have even made a sheep go viral (in a good way)! Reaching people online is no easy feat, so now is your opportunity to learn from those who have uncovered the secrets of connecting with audiences and cracking the algorithms. We'll delve into the good, bad and bizarre of social media, from savvy content creation tools to the dangers lurking in the DMs, this is the ultimate AMA (ask me anything)! https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85290570340?pwd=ffEbR8gd5vLBnVqTELFbyOAQwyGimu.1 Whose Science Is It Anyway? Conversation Room - 3.30pm - 4.30pm Get ready to think on your feet! In this session we’ll be discussing the transferable skills that one can learn from both improv theatre and tabletop role playing games to help enhance your skills as a science presenter. This session will include 15 minutes of discussion followed by break-out groups to explore different skill-building exercises in a round robin format with each of the presenters. Attendees are welcome to be active participants or to sit back and observe the fun. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88619546963?pwd=COe3mlJanjAkpZQ3Yx34zCtEAbfjBR.1 Thursday 17th July - Day 2 Voicing your science and self through short form video Library - 9.30am - 10.30am Short form videos on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube can help you deliver the science you share to millions. It provides the chance to reach new audiences, bring STEM subjects you care about right to them and have fun doing so! This session will explore why short form videos are important, how short form video can be used to help break down barriers, be a platform to explore advocacy, and discuss the experiences of being online. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85225053036?pwd=gsPazouGd6aGbGyoMma1NMqQZHaDAz.1 It’s All About the Demo (or is it?) Demo Room - 9.30am - 10.30am Are demonstrations a frivolous way to engage the audience shoe-horned into a talk? Yes. Should they be? Absolutely not. Here, our panel share the methodical process they use to ensure their demonstrations enhance the audience’s educational journey rather than distract from it. Full of tips and tricks on selecting the right demonstrations, and ways to ensure they are successful on-stage. Bring along a theory or explanation you would love to be able to use a physical demonstration to show. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85290570340?pwd=ffEbR8gd5vLBnVqTELFbyOAQwyGimu.1 Working with Sports Organisations Conversation Room - 9.30am - 10.30am Sports clubs have deep ties to the communities that they are part of, and often their work in these communities extends far beyond sport. In the Ri Compturer Science Masterclasses programme, our partnership model has traditionally extended to schools, universities, science centres and industrial partners. By working with sports organisations, we have been able to bring our workshop programmes to whole new audiences who would previously have been less likely to engage. In this session, we will give both sides of the story - from members of the Masterclasses team and from community workers within sports organisations - about how this opens up new avenues for science communication, and what sports organisations are looking for in STEM partners. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88619546963?pwd=COe3mlJanjAkpZQ3Yx34zCtEAbfjBR.1 Welcome Session Theatre - 10.30am - 11.30am Join us for a welcome to Day 2, plus a chance to hear from Katherine Mathieson, Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain who will talk about the anniversary celebrations and history of the Ri. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85225053036?pwd=gsPazouGd6aGbGyoMma1NMqQZHaDAz.1 Co-creating a guide for excellent online engagement Demo Room - 12.00pm - 1.00pm Online science engagement events can reach a large, non-local audience. When done well, they can create a sense of community, providing for people who might not otherwise be able to participate. However, engaging people remotely and sometimes without visual feedback can be tricky, plus there are access challenges to consider. In this interactive session, we want to develop a guide on how to deliver excellent online engagement, drawing on our recent successful experiences alongside your valuable perspectives and insights. Join us in co-creating a best practice resource that everyone can share and learn from. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85290570340?pwd=ffEbR8gd5vLBnVqTELFbyOAQwyGimu.1 Making the A in STEAM work for you: scientific storytelling Conversation Room - 12.00pm - 1.00pm Discover how arts, humanities and telling a good story can enrich and enhance your science communication in this interactive session. From the very beginning of our lives, we are taught about the world through colourful storybooks, and traditionally stories have always been used to explain and teach. Why should that stop at a young age? This session explores how to explain a scientific concept through story, with a chance to make and share your own stories. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88619546963?pwd=COe3mlJanjAkpZQ3Yx34zCtEAbfjBR.1 Imagining and Creating Better Worlds Library - 2.30pm - 4.00pm Storytelling can change the world through how it inspires, invigorates and challenges us. Taken a step further, collaborative storytelling through games and play allows us to explore meaningful subjects in a safe environment, learn new skills and contribute to positive change. This can facilitate discussions about the ethics, practice, and dissemination of science in society. Join Science & Sorcery, a team of science communicators and roleplay performers, as they host a discussion alongside some of the UK’s finest tabletop game designers, and design your own simple game concept in a quickfire prototyping exercise. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85225053036?pwd=gsPazouGd6aGbGyoMma1NMqQZHaDAz.1 Working Outside Your Comfort Zone Sunley- 2.30pm - 3.30pm Looking for a new challenge? Maybe we can inspire you! Hear from Lucy, who has been taking science into care homes, so their elderly residents can do activities with younger visitors. Naomi used her personal experience to take a multicultural group of families to a remote youth hostel. Eloise is leaving the safety of a desk job in medical writing and stepping into the spotlight of live science communication. Sarah, who works with young children, was challenged to write a popular science book for adults. Come and share your own experiences and see if you can inspire us too. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85290570340?pwd=ffEbR8gd5vLBnVqTELFbyOAQwyGimu.1 Failing to Learn / Learning to Fail Conversation Room - 2.30pm - 4.00pm We’ve all had experiences where something has gone wrong – whether for a participant in an activity, or for us. In this session, we’re going to explore failure in all its glory, giving you a chance to reflect on different experiences of failure. We’ll combine some time for individual reflection with different perspectives on failure from both literature and lived experience, giving you some ideas of how to approach stuckness, challenges or problems in different areas of your work and through an in session example – all while also letting you fire things at each other, courtesy of some table tennis catapults. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88619546963?pwd=COe3mlJanjAkpZQ3Yx34zCtEAbfjBR.1 Best Demo Competition Lecture Theatre - 5.00pm - 6.30pm BIG members line up to compete for one of the least valuable and yet most highly prized honours in UK science communication. The Best Demo Competition presents a lighthearted look at some of the demos you think are worth sharing with your peers. There’s no money to win, it’s not an Oscar, it’s not a Nobel Prize. But within BIG we think it’s worth winning. Each competitor has no more than three minutes (and a warm and welcoming audience) to demonstrate the maths, science, engineering and so on that really lights their fire and they just can’t help showing off to their peers. The audience decides. If you’re in the audience, don’t take it too seriously. If you’re competing, take it seriously, but not too seriously. Join the Best Demo Competition Livestream - https://www.youtube.com/live/JwpCb4xe-fQ Friday 18th July - Day 3 Build your own science festival Library - 9.30am - 10.30am Science festivals come in all shapes and sizes with processes and budgets that baffle even the organizations running them. They're all looking for something different, often with vague ambitions mixed with seemingly arbitrary requirements. A panel of existing festivals invite BIG members to help design our ideal festival, to bring together the creativity of the sci-com providers with the needs of the organisers. Rather than pitching your products to a panel, we'll work together ways to bring your creative offer into our programming needs. We can also go through the dull stuff like how to get in touch, and how to pitch too, but festival programming is an art not a science, so this session will help freelancers get inside the minds of the festival programmers, work out what makes them tick, and give you the best chance of getting booked! https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85290570340?pwd=ffEbR8gd5vLBnVqTELFbyOAQwyGimu.1 Paper, Props and Pizzazz Demo Room - 9.30am - 10.30am Many science shows and workshops are full of explosions, experiments and high tech stuff. Our shows and workshops on the other hand, are full of painted paper pieces, items found in nature, costumes cut and crafted with highly debatable sewing skills, and props that you can buy for pennies! In this session, we will chat through some ways you can integrate props and costumes to create memorable and engaging demonstrations on a budget but leave you with a memorable and engaging science show. We will share our fears, motivations, and thoughts on accessibility. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85225053036?pwd=gsPazouGd6aGbGyoMma1NMqQZHaDAz.1 Communities unseen in STEMM Outreach Conversation Room - 9.30am - 10.30am Science communication isn’t just about facts. It’s a reflection of the scientists and technicians that have been involved in the research, and the backgrounds from which they have emerged. Whilst diversity in STEMM has increased, certain communities are always overlooked. Have you ever reached out to Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showman or Boater (GTRSB) communities through your engagement activities? This interactive session led by a Romany Gypsy scientist, will challenge perceptions of these communities and illustrate that by working alongside GTRSB communities in STEMM we can break down barriers. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88619546963?pwd=COe3mlJanjAkpZQ3Yx34zCtEAbfjBR.1 Science Communication in the Age of AI Lecture Theatre - 12.00pm - 1.00pm Artificial intelligence is reshaping many aspects of life and science communication is no exception. Yet, it cannot replace our capacity for innovation, storytelling, and genuine connection. I will explore whether AI can alleviate writer's block, streamline workflows, and amplify creativity, considering the critical challenges of mitigating bias, ethical use, and the risks of misinformation. You’ll leave with practical strategies for successfully integrating AI into your workflow whilst steering clear of common pitfalls. Can AI really summarise documents and lengthy recordings? Are custom GPTs good personal assistants? Come find out how to harness the power of AI ethically and effectively. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85225053036?pwd=gsPazouGd6aGbGyoMma1NMqQZHaDAz.1 Truth, Lies and Power: Health communications and global politics Library - 12.00pm - 1.00pm Science communication is often a battleground where politics, power, and public health intersect. Join us to explore how political forces shape global health narratives and how science communicators can navigate these complexities to ensure accurate, inclusive, and effective messaging. Through this practical workshop, we'll take a deep dive into case studies of good practice for engaging global communities about their health in a turbulent political climate. Prepare to share your experiences, take part in discussion (if you'd like) and build a toolkit of how to navigate the ever changing climate. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85290570340?pwd=ffEbR8gd5vLBnVqTELFbyOAQwyGimu.1 How to Engineer Memorable Interactions Conversation Room - 12.00pm - 1.00pm When we dream up new shows and exhibits we are aiming to rewire peoples brains. In this session we will be looking for the tools and techniques that help to support memorable interactions. Shows, workshops, videos and exhibits are very different but we will be looking for the intersections and opportunities. If you are thinking about how to craft engaging experiences, bring along your brains and we will use the session to map out some best practice, what transfers and what doesn't. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88619546963?pwd=COe3mlJanjAkpZQ3Yx34zCtEAbfjBR.1 Engaging LGBTQIA+ Audiences Lecture Theatre - 2.00pm - 3.30pm In recent years, we have seen an increase in LGBTQIA+ visibility in STEM. Alongside this, we have seen a worrying rise in bigotry aimed at our community, with science used as a weapon. It is vital as a sector to challenge this and to embed LGBTQIA+ inclusion into our practice. In this session, we will explore the experiences of LGBTQIA+ people with science, and showcase how we have developed activities, events and best practice for engage LGBTQIA+ audiences. Attendees will have opportunities to share their own practice, identify opportunities and barriers, and plan next steps forward. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85225053036?pwd=gsPazouGd6aGbGyoMma1NMqQZHaDAz.1 Lessons in Origami Library - 2.00pm - 3.00pm This session begins with a brief overview of Chenying’s journey in science communication since winning the Josh Award in 2024. They reflect on what they believe works well, areas for improvement, and provide suggestions for different outreach scenarios. Attendees are encouraged to participate in an open discussion, sharing their thoughts and experiences on topics such as finding outreach opportunities, developing effective sessions, and gathering meaningful feedback. This session may be particularly helpful for individuals who have another job but are also interested in developing their skills or pursuing careers in science communication. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85290570340?pwd=ffEbR8gd5vLBnVqTELFbyOAQwyGimu.1 As Clear as Mud Demo Room - 2.00pm - 3.00pm Do you feel your blood boil when people don’t follow directions? Tear your hair out when they skip steps in your carefully crafted instructions? This is the session for you. At best these miscommunications are annoying, but at the worst they can be dangerous, so how do we get better at getting it right? Join us on the path to acceptance that people just aren’t the mind readers we want them to be, and explore some of the ways our minds interpret information through a neurodiversity lens. Along the way we’ll deliberately misinterpret instructions, identify potential pitfalls and discover how we inadvertently create confusion on our quest to craft clear, concise, repeatable instructions. The accessibility of our work and our first aid records depend on it! https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88619546963?pwd=COe3mlJanjAkpZQ3Yx34zCtEAbfjBR.1 Sharing the low hanging fruit Lecture Theatre - 4.00pm - 5.00pm Every method of communication comes with a bunch of tips and tricks that seem obvious in hindsight and allow us to achieve better results with minimal effort. This session will bring together expertise from attendees to share those little game-changers that make everything better. From hidden features in PowerPoint to working with stage equipment or posting on social media, there are tonnes of simple things that could take years to figure out on your own but which could be explained to you in just a few minutes. Our goal is to do the latter! https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85225053036?pwd=gsPazouGd6aGbGyoMma1NMqQZHaDAz.1 |