It’s time to cast your nominations for the two major awards in Sci Comm, each recognising an individual, at different stages of their careers, who’ve made a significant difference to the industry.
The Josh Award is the UK’s national Award in science communication, established to recognise and encourage early professional career, talented innovation and creativity in science communication and engagement. The Award is inspired by and named in memory of Josh Phillips who was the first Science Communication Officer at the Museum of Science and Industry and also Chair of BIG at the time his passing. The Award provides the opportunity to become resident science communicator at the Manchester Science Festival 2019. To find out more, please visit here. The Beetlestone Award is now in its second year and was established to recognise leadership and legacy in the field of ‘informal science learning’ (in memory of Professor John Beetlestone, the founding Director of Techniquest Science Discovery Centre. To be considered for this Award, nominees must be actively engaged and well-established in the field of ISL. They must be currently in a leadership role in the UK and able to demonstrate strategic vision and the creation of a legacy. You may nominate yourself or someone else for this Award by Wednesday 1 May 2019. For more information, please visit here.
Registration is now open for the best conference in the STEM Communicator's calendar - and we are thrilled to let you know that we’ll be in Scotland! We’re traveling to the city of Edinburgh and our hosts are Dynamic Earth. DE’s exhibits and shows offer the chance to experience the primeval forces of nature as they shaped our planet, to journey through space and time and even go on a 4DVENTURE around the world. Opened in 1999, Dynamic Earth was the UK’s first Millennium Commission funded project to open to the public and has since welcomed over 4 million visitors.
Our early bird rate is open until 23rd April and a full early bird conference place will set you back just £185 (for a speaker) or £250 (for a non-speaker) which includes annual BIG membership, the conference dinner on Thursday evening and lunches! You can find out more or book your place here
Do you have any news, research, projects or tips that you'd like to share with 500-or-so members of the STEM community? Or maybe you'd like to have your profile featured in our "BIG Members" section?
The Spring edition of the BIG newsletter is due for publication on March 1st and this is a call for articles and contributions. NO PRESS RELEASES PLEASE - please make sure your editorial and content is written for our members! You can see examples of past newsletters on our website www.big.uk.com/newsletterarchive
Please send your article of between 250-500 words plus an image to admin@big.uk.com by close of play Tuesday 26th February to be considered for inclusion.
The deadline for session proposals for this year’s BIG Event in Edinburgh is just 3 days away - closing on 6th February! Those whose sessions are accepted will qualify for reduced-cost attendance at the Speaker's Rate.
If you have an idea for a conference session, you can propose something here: http://bigevent.info/wp-login.php.
The BIG Event is a truly participatory conference where STEM engagement practitioners of all kinds showcase their materials and activities and exchange ideas with others in the field. BIG encourages delegates to use the Event for peer review, sharing ideas and renewing enthusiasm for the work they do.
Bring a show, a workshop, something needing tweaking, something you think is fab; bring your skills in evaluating, managing, developing, presenting, fettling; bring your planetarium, your STEM tap-routine, your busks, your IPad session. But whatever you do, make it hands-on, make it collaborative, make it a truly sharing contribution.
Thanks to financial support from UKRI, BIG is able to offer financial and material support for our Training Researchers in Public Engagement Skills Day (York, 12 February) in the following two ways:
1. BIG is offering 5 bursaries to cover the cost of registration, membership and any reasonable expenses associated with attending this Skills Day. These bursaries have been set up to facilitate greater diversity in the people who attend our events so that we are more representative of broader society. This diversity includes, but is not limited to: age, gender, health, geography, cultural heritage, career path, salary or educational background. Apply online here: Training Researchers in Public Engagement Bursary Application - 2019 The deadline is 6pm Thursday 17th January, 2019.
2. BIG is also able to support ANY delegate with costs associated with access to this Skills Day. For example: a translator, care costs, carer travel costs etc. If this applies to you, please email event@big.uk.com and tell us what you need and we will endeavour to meet your needs.
BIG is thrilled to announce a return to Scotland for BIG Event 2019. The highlight of the STEM communicator’s annual calendar will see our conference held at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh 17-19 July 2019. Dynamic Earth is a wonderful venue – lots of space and lots of spaces. Indoors, outdoors and fantastically placed for access to the airport, rail station and city centre.
CALL FOR SESSION PROPOSALS - OPEN!
If you have a session proposal you’d like to submit, you can pop your ideas on the BIG Event session proposals site www.bigevent.info (you'll need to register for the site; tip: this isn't the same registration as when you log into the BIG website)
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.
So now is your chance to fling your session ideas into the ring. Once we have a ring-full we flirt the programme together, put people together who might like to work together, and ask a few people to do something a bit different. Your session ideas can be put forward now until 6th February.
Bring a show, a workshop, something needing tweaking, something you think is fab; bring your skills in evaluating, managing, developing, presenting, fettling; bring your planetarium, your STEM tap-routine, your busks, your IPad session. But whatever you do, make it hands-on, make it collaborative, make it a truly sharing contribution. BIG members really don’t like to be spouted at – we like to have a go at a thing so bring the thing, not a picture of the thing or a talk about the thing.
STFC is pleased to announce that the 2019 call for applications to the Leadership Fellowships in Public Engagement is now open. The closing date for receipt of applications is 21st February 2019.
As part of BIG's role in promoting excellence in science communication we are pleased to announce our upcoming skills day.
TRAINING RESEARCHERS IN PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Tuesday 12th February, 2019 - (coffee and registration from 9.30am)
National Railway Museum, York
Do you work in a university to support public engagement with research?
Have you been asked to develop and deliver training or professional development for scientists?
If you said yes to either question, then this BIG Skills Day is for you!
In this highly practical day, we’ll share our experiences of developing training and professional development specifically for researchers. We’ll look at what makes for effective training, different types of intervention, participants’ needs and evaluating the effectiveness of training. Bring your experiences to share and any challenges you’re encountering.
During this Skills Day you will:
Who is the day for?
Your Trainers
This skills day is part of the University of Bath’s ChallengeCPD project. Helen will share findings from this work which is looking at why training for public engagement can be a challenging area.
Costs
£45 for BIG members including lunch and coffee
Non-members will need to join BIG first at an annual cost of £30 and then come back to register for the day as a member.
To find out more or register visit www.big.uk.com/york
The Little Event is BIG’s one-day training session for people who are relatively early in their STEM communication career, whether they work in a science centre or museum, volunteer for a festival, are involved in university outreach, or do anything else to engage people with sciences.
It’s a lot like the BIG Event, but a bit smaller, and all crammed into one busy day. There will be several sessions, each focusing on developing a different skill, including sessions on Networking, Managing Projects, Presenting, Audience Analysis and Careers.
Each bursary is worth approximately £100 and covers annual BIG membership, registration fees and reasonable expenses. Applying for one of the 10 free places is simple.
Click here to apply and tell us in no more than 200 words, why you would like the opportunity to come to the Little Event and how you think it will benefit your personal and professional development.
Applications close at 6pm, 5th December, 2019. Applicants will be notified of the outcome the week commencing 17th December, 2019.
The Little Event will take place again on Thursday, 24th January, 10am - 4:30pm at Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum.
The Little Event is BIG’s one-day mini-conference for people who are new to STEM communication, whether you work in a science centre or museum, volunteer for a festival, are involved in university outreach, or do anything else to engage people with science, technology, engineering and maths. The day is crammed with introductory sessions focusing on developing the different skills that are useful in STEM communication; they are delivered by experienced science communicators following BIG's usual hands-on approach.
But of course, it isn't just about the sessions, it’s the people you meet there, too. The Little Event also presents a great opportunity to meet people from across the UK working in similar roles and sharing similar experiences. The programme for the day includes sessions on Networking, Managing Projects, Presenting, Audience analysis and Careers.
The Little Event costs £45 for BIG members. If you are not a member, you need to join BIG at an annual cost of £30.
Register or find out more by clicking here or visiting www.big.uk.com/littleevent19
Contact BIG: admin@big.uk.com
