DR MELANIE QUIN 1958 – 2025
It is fair to say that without Melanie Quin, BIG would not exist. In the early days of British science centres in the late 1980s, Melanie was recruited by the Nuffield Foundation to run their Interactive Science and Technology Project, which had been set up to provide a support network for the new field. Melanie came to science centres after studying botany at Imperial College, culminating in a PhD on pollen distribution, which included a summer stint on Thames TV’s weather forecast as “pollen count girl”. A talented artist, she initially hoped to be a botanical illustrator, but having been advised there was no money in it, went into publishing, from where she was recruited by Nuffield. Once at Nuffield, she set to with characteristic energy and charm, connecting and advising the new centres and their staff, sending out frequent bulletins made up of an assortment of useful snippets from all kinds of sources, stapled together and mailed out hot off the press, which were an amazing resource for the new field. She also ran important early science centre networking events, including the first of the influential Fabricators Weeks for exhibit builders. It was at Nuffield that I first met Melanie, after joining Leicestershire Museums in mid-1988 to set up the hands-on galleries at Snibston Discovery Park. Having spoken to her on the phone, I was expecting a rather older person, so was surprised to be greeted by a tiny, vivacious woman with spiky hair and huge, lively eyes, about the same age as me. We hit it off immediately and were firm friends from then on.
Melanie’s ability to make friends, to network, and to command universal respect was formidable; she seemed to immediately know and be respected by everyone in the field, everywhere, not just in the UK. It was this, though, that led her to be tempted away in the early 90s to be the first director of the European science centre network ECSITE, based at Heureka in Finland. This left a huge vacuum in the UK, and as a result Bhagwant Singh at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry rounded up a group of us to create a networking organization to continue what Melanie had started, and this was BIG. It is a testament to Melanie that it required a whole organisation to do what she had been doing alone. Melanie’s amazing charm, organisation, and networking skills swiftly got ECSITE on its feet and it was soon a professional body second only in influence to the long-established ASTC in the US. Having achieved this, Melanie decided to have a go at science centre building herself and joined the team developing what eventually became NEMO in Amsterdam, although she continued to edit the ECSITE newsletter for many years – she was one of the best writers and editors I have ever worked with, and we collaborated on several projects.
Regrettably, NEMOs early stages were a fraught affair and Melanie did not thrive there, so returned to the UK to join the much happier ship at Techniquest, where she set up and ran the Science Communication MSc programme with Glamorgan University. This was a triumph, and Melanie swiftly established it as an influential course, unique in its emphasis on science centres and practical face-to face sci comms, as opposed to the media-centred nature of the more academic courses. Many graduates have gone on to distinguished careers in the field, with Melanie as a much-loved mentor. The MSc’s later closure left a gap that has still not been adequately filled. During this time, Melanie also reconnected with UK networking, serving on the BIG committee, mainly as its Chair, or “the BIG Sofa” as she liked to describe herself, during a period that truly established the organisation on the UK sci coms landscape
By 2001, with the arrival of giant Millennium Projects, the lack of a UK organisational network for science centres (BIG was always for individuals) became apparent. As a result, Wellcome and Gillian Thomas set up the semi-autonomous ECSITE-UK (later becoming fully independent as ASDC), and, with the call of networking too hard to resist, Melanie left Techniquest to be its director. This, too, was a Melanie success, and she presided over it until 2006, when she made what was to most of us a startling decision; choosing leave science communication to train as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language. “I just felt it was time for a change” she told me. Melanie’s influence on science centres and science communication in the UK and Europe was vast; the field would be significantly different and distinctly impoverished today had she not been there to guide and support its development, and many of us owe her an immense and lasting debt of gratitude.
As a language teacher, Melanie’s career took her first to Istanbul, and then to Lyon, where she married Andy, an old university friend who was designing the city’s new tramway. She continued to keep in touch with science communication developments via her many friends from the field with whom she remained in contact, and who continued to visit her, even when Andy’s tramway career took them further afield to Sydney, Australia. From there, I enjoyed receiving colourful reports of birdwatching trips and musical adventures, and we had been emailing about meeting up when she was next in the UK. In August 2024, though, Melanie received a diagnosis of terminal illness and was told to expect five to ten years. Sadly, this was not to be, and she slipped away peacefully while receiving palliative care in Sydney on 19th August.
Melanie is survived by her husband, Andy, and her brother Thomas, Abbot of Mucknell Abbey in Worcestershire. A London memorial service will take place in the near future.
IAN SIMMONS
Ian Simmons is a semi-retired science communicator, a BIG founder, and a long serving former committee member. He worked for Science Projects, Techniquest, The Centre for Life, the Francis Crick Institute and the Royal Society, and as an independent consultant. He is now part time news editor for Fortean Times.
Earlier this year I moved to Cardiff from the US. The move was prompted by my partner's career, which meant that I arrived here without a job of my own. In the states I had been working in various capacities at science museums and planetariums and had come to see myself as someone deeply enmeshed in those overlapping areas of informal education, museum work, and science communication, but didn’t have any contacts to speak of in my new home. Fortunately, the founder of museumexpert.org, a group I volunteer with, put me in touch with Colin Johnson, the now retired former CEO of Techniquest. (My contacts had contacts at least!) Following a meeting over tea at the Millennium Center in Cardiff Bay, Colin very kindly helped provide me with a list of resources, including the website for the BIG STEM Communicators Network and introduced me to Wendy Sadler, another Cardiff resident and long-time participant with BIG. This was how I learned about the BIG Event and the serendipitous fact that this year the conference would be held in Cardiff!
Especially without needing to worry about travel costs, I decided that it would be worth the investment to register for the event so I could start building more connections of my own amongst the sci-comm community here in the UK. I quickly decided that one of the best ways to ensure I would be getting some opportunities to really meet and converse with others was to run a session. (That running a session also meant a discount to the admission cost may have also had some influence on the decision making process.) The process for submitting a proposal was extremely straightforward and months before the BIG Event even happened, it helped to propel me towards making more connections here. Ashley Kent, the event coordinator for BIG, helped Rowena Fletcher-Wood, a sci-comm freelancer who had proposed a similar session, get in touch with me and we decided to combine our ideas and also seek a third collaborator with local ties to where the event would be held. Rowena was able to make a connection with Thomas Woolley, a researcher and head of outreach for the maths department at Cardiff University, and the three of us were able to put together our different areas of expertise and put together what I think was an informative and entertaining session about running STEM-based mystery-themed events from varied perspectives.
Already having met, virtually or in-person, Wendy, Ashley, Rowena, and Thomas, I went into the BIG Event without that sense of dread one has when they don’t know anyone at a party. What I wasn’t expecting, was just how open, inviting, and *familiar* this party would be. I’ve been to conferences filled with sci-comm professionals before, in particular ASTC conferences, so I was expecting to encounter an assemblage of enthusiastic professionals from a wide range of positions within their careers who were excited to discuss everything from facilitation techniques to evaluation methods to how to make things literally explode in the most educational ways. And those expectations were met in spades at the BIG Event. In fact, I’d say that the level of enthusiasm and dedication I encountered surpassed my expectations. While most attendees at ASTC are there to represent their institutions and perhaps participate in a little professional development in relation to their specific roles within those institutions, a large percentage of the attendees at the BIG Event were freelance or ran the equivalent of a little mom-and-pop sci-comm shop. They weren’t just there to fulfill an obligation for their jobs, they were there because this was their vocation and their passion!
The other thing that surpassed my expectations was that sense of familiarity that I alluded to earlier. I have had countless friendly conversations at other conferences, but the BIG Event felt like the first time that I was truly being welcomed into a community. Every morning there was a group meeting filled with welcoming announcements and humorous moments, such as reprimands for individuals who had lost their name badges. I felt encouraged to speak up if I had questions or could provide tips for navigating around Cardiff. From the very beginning it was clear that there was a sense of easy comfort in the event that was underscored by a lack of formality in the interactions. To help foster that sense of community, there was scheduled time for a structured mingling event and many scheduled coffee breaks with both time and space provided for some unstructured mingling. Additionally, there were well-communicated plans for after hour meetups at pubs. And rather than small groups or cliques grabbing corner booths in the pub, a mass flock of conference attendees would take over the beer garden continually squeezing closer and closer together to make room for both old friends and complete strangers. Whether it was in a session, at a tea break, at the pub, or during the dinner party hosted by Techniquest, every single person I sat next to was welcoming and not just friendly, but curious and ready to share ideas and learn new ones. Just last week I was volunteering at We the Curious in Bristol and found myself sharing information about the effects of aging on the brain with the visitors there that I had learned during a casual dinner conversation with a neuroscientist at the BIG Event.
Over the course of the three days of the conference, I attended sessions about enhancing accessibility during shows and workshops, how to get involved with science festivals in the UK, how to reconsider the purpose and value of evaluations, ways to incorporate a diverse range of researchers and their work into science shows, and got an immersive look at what’s involved with running a mobile planetarium. All of it felt incredibly valuable and just the knowledge gained from the sessions would make the BIG Event worth attending, but it is feeling welcomed into this community and now knowing dozens more passionate sci-comm professionals, many of whom have already reached out over Linked-In or the BIG channel on Slack, that has made me feel confident in my assessment that attending the BIG Event was the best decision I’ve made since moving to the United Kingdom.
Every year, we elect new members of our Executive Committee, the wonderful group of volunteers who make BIG what it is! The Committee consists of a Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and two General Officers. This year, we will be opening nominations on Thursday 1st May and closing them on Monday 2nd June. We will then open for voting! The winning candidates will be announced at the BIG Event in July. You need to be a BIG member to stand, and to vote. If you are interested in finding out about each role, and possibly putting yourself forward for one, please see here.
Our annual Beetlestone Award recognises those who have created a significant impact in science communication. Applications and nominations are now open and close on 1st May. For full details about the award, and to apply to nominate someone, see here.
This is your sign to apply for The Royal Institution's Family Fun Day.
BIG Event 2025 Delegates are being encouraged to contribute to the RI's Family Fun Day, a day when the RI opens it's doors to approximately 600 people - families with kids between the ages of 6 and 12 - to deliver activities and demonstrations all across the building.
So, if you're planning to come along to the BIG Event this July, why not get involved!
What is Family Fun Day?
Family Fun Day (FFD) is a day where we open up the Royal Institution to families with children aged 6-12 years old and consists of activity and demonstration stalls across the building for families to attend. The whole idea is to engage families with science in an interactive and fun way and encourage adults and children to discover and discuss STEM topics together. While some activities might relate to the school curriculum, a lot of them are outside core curriculum subjects to help expand the science capital of families attending.
There are also two 30 minute shows that happen in the theatre, which get repeated throughout the day.
We expect around 550 – 600 people through the doors throughout the day, with our theatre holding around 150 - 250 people per show.
Theme
July’s theme is all about science communication and engaging with the public. We’ve chosen this for two reasons. The Ri will be celebrating 200 years of our CHRISTMAS LECTURES, a televised science communication lecture that is aimed at 11-17 year olds.
This means you can choose whatever STEM topic you desire! It’s a broad theme and gives you the opportunity to choose a topic that you feel comfortable communicating.
Timings
This FFD will be on Saturday 19 July, 11am – 4pm.
Participants will be able to set up either on the morning of the event from 9am, or during the afternoon the day before.
Lunch is provided and dietary requirements noted nearer the time. We ask, if possible, if you can provide enough volunteers to help cover each other’s lunch. If not, we have a pool of volunteers and staff that can provide lunch cover.
Space available
You will automatically be given a 6 foot trestle table and about 2mx2m in space. If you require more space, or have a large activity, do let us know as we can dedicate more space to you. Items such as TV screens or flipcharts are available but limited so do let us know if you require these.
Anything that involves fire or water will be placed in a certain room due to heritage items and health and safety.
Expression of interest info
Activity and demonstration stalls can range from:
1 – A pure demonstration of a subject that our audience will watch and talk to the presenter about. This will usually mean families spend up to 5 minutes with you. Eg – showing off a new piece of medical equipment.
2 – An activity that involves the audience interacting with objects and either experimenting with them or trialling something. Usually takes 5-10 minutes time. Eg VR headset or investigating objects with an IR camera.
3 – A sit down arts and crafts activity that the audience can take away with them. This can take 5-15 minutes depending on how detailed the crafting is. Eg creating a satellite following origami instructions.
We will ask you to send us information about what you would like to do activity wise and the learning outcomes you’d like to achieve. We will be choosing a mixture of the three types of activities mentioned above and making sure that we have a good variety of demos, activities and arts and crafts. If you have a risk assessment already, please do send this along with your proposal.
If you have an idea, but you’re not sure how to implement it please still let us know! Our demo and lab teams are available to help some people turn their ideas into reality. This will be limited to only a few stalls due to staff capacity.
We’re also accepting applications for the 30 minute shows in the theatre. You will have the lab and demo team helping you as well as providing some consumables.
Timeline
Initial ideas will be received by Friday 28th February.
The team will then work with groups and finalise the participants by the end of May.
Email Lisa Derry lderry@ri.ac.uk with your expression of interest.
BIG Event 2025
Royal Institution, London, UK 16-18th July 2025
Home of the Christmas Lectures, Faraday and Discourses, BIG is thrilled to be returning to The Royal Institution in 2025. It's a triple BIG year for the RI as 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of Discourses and the Christmas Lectures.
In addition to the 2.5 days of sessions on anything and everything to do with STEM Communication, we'll also be taking advantage of the amazing facilities and staff at the RI. Who's up for doing demos in the iconic Faraday Lecture Theatre?!?
What is the BIG Event?
The BIG Event is a three day get-together every summer to share skills and experiences, develop professional links and keep up-to-date with the STEM engagement field. This is the place to hone your skills and recharge your professional batteries, pick up great ideas and show off your talents to peers.
The content for the BIG Event is created by the members. And the people who say they get the most out of it are the people who contribute the content.
This will be a hybrid BIG Event. As many sessions as possible will be delivered as hybrid events, so if you can't get to London in-person, you can still join us online.
View previous year's programmes below: Winchester in 2018: BIG_Programme_2018.pdf Edinburgh in 2019: FINAL_BIG_Programme_2019.pdf Belfast in 2022: BIG_Programme_2022_5.pdf Birmingham in 2023: BIG_Programme_2023.pdf Cardiff in 2024: BIG_Programme_2024_FINAL.pdf
Tips to save money
As amazing as the RI is, it also happens to be in a rather expensive part of London. But, BIG being the frugal organisation it is, has some tips on ways you can attend the BIG Event at the RI for less.
1. Propose a session to become a Speaker! The BIG Event programme is created by the attendees. And we know the people who get the most out of the Event are the ones who contribute the most. And being a Speaker is the CHEAPEST way to attend the Event.
2. Book the BIG Event Early! Booking opens 1st April 2025 and the Early Bird gets the discount, so plan ahead and book early.
3. Save this date in your diary - 23 April 2025. This is 12 weeks before the BIG Event and is about the time that Advance train fares are available. These are generally cheaper than waiting closer to the time to book your train travel. Have a look at this excellent article from Money Saving Expert on ways to save on your train travel: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets/ The article has lots of great tips, even if you are reading this after April 23, so still check it out. Your pocketbook will thank you.
4. Book accommodation early. Like train travel, the sooner you can book your accommodation, the cheaper it will be. BIG is working on sorting out some cheaper University Accommodation. As soon as we've got the details, we'll post them here. However, if University Accommodation doesn't float your boat - BIG would like to remind you that London has great bus and underground services. So don't hesitate to book a hotel/Airbnb that is further out of central London.
5. Get your employer to pay for your ticket. If your employer needs more convincing to pay for you to attend BIG...
6. Apply for the RI's Family Fun Day. BIG Event Delegates are being encouraged to contribute to the RI's FFD, a day when the RI opens it's doors to approximately 600 people - families with kids between 6 and 12 - to deliver activities and demonstrations all across the building. See this page for more details and deadlines.
7. Apply for a Bursary. The BIG Event Bursary will cover your ticket, BIG Membership, accommodation, travel and any other reasonable expenses.
Accommodation
We're in the process of reserving rooms in the student halls for those wanting cost-effective and extremely convenient accommodation at the BIG Event. These rooms will be on a first-come-first-served basis. Watch this space.
Bursaries
BIG bursaries provide financial assistance to enable members to attend one of our events.
BIG offers a handful of bursary places which will:
For full details and to apply, see our Bursaries page
Guess what's back, back again...
That's right, The ever-popular Little Event is returning in January, jam-packed with everything needed for people starting out in the world of Public Engagement. It's a Sci-Comm toolkit you never knew you needed.
Our online training sessions, curated and delivered by members of BIG (some of which started their BIG/SciComm journey at The Little Event!) is a great way to start the new year.
And if that wasn't enough good news, we're also offering bursary places again - so if you are within the first 5 years of your career, get that application in now!
Prices start at £50 for Members.
Book here: www.big.uk.com/event-5935416
Bursaries here: www.big.uk.com/event-5935429
THE COUNTDOWN TO CARDIFF IS ON!
Book 1, 2 or all 3 days of the conference or join us online with our hybrid ticket option.
1. This is not a conference where your days are pre-determined
The first thing you might notice about BIG is that there are roughly a hundred different things happening at once (I’m pretty sure this is factually accurate…). With 4 or 5 different sessions happening in each slot, everything can seem a bit overwhelming when you walk in on day one. My advice would be to have a look at the programme before you get there, and see what you might be interested in for each slot. I don’t think there's a right or wrong way to choose, but it’s useful to remember that you won’t be able to attend everything! I also find that, if you do miss a session you were interested in, people that did attend it will always be happy to share what they learnt!
2. This is not a conference where your mind switches off for 3 days
I know a conference does feel like a nice way to get some days off work (or away from uni in my case), but I can tell you for a fact that you will not leave this conference well rested as if you’ve been on holiday! Everyone I spoke to on Friday was still incredibly smiley, but we all agreed that we were exhausted. Between all the sessions, plenty of coffee and biscuits, the conference meal and everything else happening across the three days, you’ll be kept very busy (so maybe make sure you have very little to do that weekend…)
3. This is not a conference where you’ll be on your own if you don’t know people
I know saying ‘Don’t worry if you don’t know anyone at the conference’ is far easier said than done, but I promise it is true. It was something I was really apprehensive about before I arrived on the Wednesday. The very first session of the conference was enough to quash these worries – the BIG mingle introduced me to a lot of people very quickly. (I am going to qualify this by saying this might not be for everyone, and if it isn’t there’s still plenty of time to meet people in a calmer way!) In the mingle, you have about a minute to introduce yourself, your work and why you’re at the conference, in a group of maybe 4 or 5, and do that 5 or 6 times to try and meet lots of people super quickly. This helped me to find some friends who I spent the rest of the conference with, but also find some people whose research was similar to mine, or whose careers I was really interested to learn more about! My advice, if meeting people is something you’re anxious about, is to work on your quick elevator pitch, so that you don’t panic when you introduce yourself throughout the weekend.
4. This is not a conference where everyone’s coming from the same background, or even the same careers
This is particularly advice for anyone like me, who’s going into the conference as an early career (or for me, yet to begin career) science communicator. You’ll find that there’s an incredible number of people who have come from around a million different backgrounds, doing all sorts of different careers, who all meet at BIG. I think that’s what makes the conference so incredible! But it also definitely can make things feel a bit overwhelming if you’re trying to work your way into the sector. It’s important to remember that while some people have been explainers, some people have done PhDs, some people did teacher training, there is no one path to making it into science communication. Learning what other people have done can give you inspiration for your next steps, but don’t let it make you feel like you haven’t done the right things!
5. This is not a conference where people take things too seriously
I think this is the best news for any new attendees of the conference – this is absolutely not a suit or heels kind of conference (unless that’s how you feel most confident, then I guess go for it!). For most of us though, jeans, shorts, sneakers –whatever floats your boat. But this relaxed atmosphere is also present in so many areas of the conference, from the card of shame for losing your name tag, to the incredibly supportive atmosphere at the Best Demo competition, this is perhaps the most friendly conference you’ll attend (I don’t think I went more than 15 minutes without bursting into laughter the whole conference long). That also means if you ever need a bit of a break, if you want to sit out a session or need to duck out for any reason, everyone is incredibly understanding and it’s not something you need to be worried about!
I hope these 5 tips give you a taste of what the conference might be like, but the headlines are it's an incredible conference where you’ll learn so much, and you’ll meet so many amazing people! The whole BIG team are there to help make you comfortable, so you’ll have a great time. Enjoy it!
Amelia Doran is the Communications and Public Engagement Coordinator for Planetary Health Informatics, a research lab at the University of Oxford. You can follow her on X, Bluesky and Instagram @scicommelia or connect with her on LinkedIn
Look out for Amelia in Cardiff and if it's your first conference this year, or you're also new to your Scicomm career, she will be more than happy to chat!
Congratulations to Chenying Liu!
We are very pleased to announce that the winner of the Josh Award 2024 is Chenying Liu.
Chenying is a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University, working in engineering science.
She has worked on modern structures inspired by origami and uses inspiration from their exceptional mechanical properties to design robots and personal protective equipment.
Her Josh award activity -"Sustainable Origami: Art, Robotics, Construction, and Space Exploration” will get audiences creating origami crafts, robotic grippers, deployable shelters and solar panels, using recycled materials.
The judges were impressed by the combination of an accessible activity with contemporary science and engineering.
A huge well done to our deserving winner!
Clare Harvey, Chief Executive, The Ogden Trust:
“Early-career science communicators have such an important role to play in inspiring future generations as they share their enthusiasm, passion and expertise. The Josh Award provides a fabulous platform for nurturing this emerging talent, and we are excited to be one of the funders for 2024. Huge congratulations to this year’s winner, Chenying - we look forward to seeing their future work and feel sure they will continue to make a real difference to the sector.”
Chenying makes origami in the Special Structures Group in Jenkin Building, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. This later forms part of her video with Oxford Sparks - a platform to enhance the University's digital science engagement.
A note from Chenying
My work and the Josh Award
Having practiced origami since childhood, I never dreamed that the paper folding art could be transformed into practical applications and benefit society in different domains.
After finishing my undergraduate studies in Beijing, China, I relocated to the UK to pursue a D.Phil (Doctor of Philosophy, known as Ph.D. elsewhere) in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. I was fortunate to have two supervisors with complementary expertise: one introduced me to the fascinating world of origami engineering and the other encouraged me to explore its potential in advanced robotics. I ended up with a few exciting projects using origami principles: a gripper that can precisely handle fragile objects, a millipede-like robot that can change its morphology to adapt to the environment, and numerous structures that can morph into given shapes. With origami, the design of those robots has been greatly simplified and it has been much easier and more cost-efficient to synchronise their movements.
Origami also goes beyond robotics and has found its way into other domains such as deployable solar panels and energy absorption materials, the latter of which forms part of my postdoctoral project. I am very keen to impart my passion for origami engineering to the general public via science communication. Having been involved in a series of University's public engagement initiatives and external science festivals, I was awarded an Award Lectureship from the British Science Association and will soon give a talk on my research at the 2024 British Science Festival (BSF)!
Then, how is this related to the Josh Award? It is indeed a tremendous opportunity (both funding and training-wise) for me to further develop my talk into a series of interactive workshops for a wider range of audiences at the BSF and other Science Discovery Centre's programmes. I really hope this project could make science more accessible to the harder-to-reach communities, thereby providing them with fun and informative hands-on experience in engineering.
You can follow Chenying on X @MorningChenying or connect on LinkedIn
Chenying and her peers at the 2022 International Women in Engineering Day, where they contributed to a series of outreach talks to A-level students who are self-identified as female or non-binary and interested in pursuing an engineering degree.
This photo was taken on 23rd June 2022 in Thom Building, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. Left to right: Nadja Yang, Maitha Al Shimmari, Chenying Liu, Misha Patel, Frances Gawne
What is the Josh Award?
The Josh Award is a national prize for early-career science communicators who are passionate about continuing to work in this field in the future, including students, volunteers, researchers or creatives.
The Award is inspired by and named in memory of Josh Phillips, who was the first Science Communication Officer at the Manchester Science and Industry Museum. He proposed and ran the first Manchester Science Festival.
Josh was a much loved, much respected and highly talented science communicator, whose outstanding career is commemorated with this Award. Josh was the Chair of BIG at the time of his death.
The Award is for Science and Showmanship, targeted to help stimulate and lead to a better future: fun with a purpose!
The Josh Award Trophy
What is the prize?
The Josh Award Winner will receive:
£500 to £2,500 depending on funds availability and need, to develop their project or event to be part of a Science Discovery Centre's programme, or at a UK Science Festival. This budget includes all the costs and expenses (i.e. resources, travel, accommodation) for the project, and will be controlled by the sponsoring location and by the Josh Award Committee
The possibility of presenting your project or event at this year's British Science Festival, in East London, and the possibility of presenting it at the 2025 Cheltenham Science Festival.
Non-financial support from the sponsoring venue to further develop your winning proposal, as necessary, to fit logistics and practicalities of working in their setting
Opportunities for personal and professional development via the BIG network
Attending the annual BIG Event (conference fee and annual membership provided by BIG, worth around £300) to network with and present to a diverse range of science communicators from across the sector
The 2024 BIG Event will take place on 24-26 July in Cardiff
Attending professional training sessions with the Science Museum Group's Academy
A personal prize cheque of £2,000 from the Josh Award Fund
The Josh Award trophy, to hold and to hand on to the next winner, at the 2026 BIG Event
Thus, the total prize fund can be up to £4,800 + invaluable support from sci-comm professionals.
The winner is expected to:
Congratulations to all of our applicants
This year saw a large number of very impressive candidates for the Josh Award. Activities ranged from apps, animations and art installations to workshops and shows from a passionate group of applicants with diverse backgrounds. We wish them all well in their science communication careers and will be sharing more about their ideas and proposals on the BIG website very soon.
Guilia Ponti, William Marler, Chloe Trotter, Emma Latta, Max Hughes,
Amelia Doran, Gareth Campbell, Lee Parkin, Abi Fafolu and Danbee Kim.
We would love to see you all as speakers at a future BIG Event!
Thank you to our panel
James Piercy, Former Chair of BIG and Judging Panel Chair
Kirsty Hayward, Chair, BIG
Shaaron Leverment, CEO ADSC
James Brown, Chair, UKSFN
Mat Allen, Programme Manager, Cheltenham Science Festival
Eva Ernstzen, 2022 Josh Award Winner
Thank you also to Timothy Phillips, Family Representative and Steering Committee Chairman.
This message was sent to you by BIG - Stem Communicators N
Booking is now open for The BIG Event 2024!
Join us for just a day or two, the full conference, or online for our hybrid sessions.
Taking place at Cardiff University from 24th - 26th July, come along to one of the best UK Scicomm events in the calendar.
You can view this year's fantastic programme here - it's shaping up to be one of the best thanks to so many of our members contributing such creative session ideas.
As well as our wonderfully curated programme, there are the usual favourites - ISTATOY, Best Demo Competition and the informal Thursday night dinner, which this year takes place at Techniquest.
All booking options and registration details can be found here
We look forward to welcoming you to Cardiff!
Team BIG
Contact BIG: admin@big.uk.com
