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Sign up for I'm a Scientist, Get me out of Here!

10 Jan 2014

I'm a Scientist, Get me out of Here! is an online event where school students get to meet and interact with real scientists. It's an X-Factor-style competition between the scientists, where students are the judges.

Calls for scientists and engineers to take part for the following dates are now open:

  • 10-21 March 2014 - I'm a Scientist and I'm an Engineer (during National Science and Engineering Week)
  • 16-27 June 2014 - I'm a Scientist and I'm an Engineer

How does it work?

Students challenge the scientists over intense, fast-paced, online live chats.  Students submit questions which the scientists try to answer by the next day.  The students then have live online Facebook style chats with the scientists, when they can ask questions, learn more about the scientist and let scientists know their opinions over a two week period.  Once the students have asked all the questions they want to, they vote for their favourite scientist to win a prize of £500 to communicate their work to the public.

And the winner was.....

Dr David Briggs, Research Associate in the Faculty of Life Sciences, took part in the competition last June and was voted a winner in the Crystallography Zone.  He said, "I really enjoyed taking part.  You don't just get questions about science, some of the students are more interested in the day-to-day life of a scientist.  It really makes you think about how best to explain what it is you do to people who want to know what goes on behind the closed door of a laboratory."  Questions fielded by David included 'What would happen if we put a million tonnes of salt on the North Pole?', 'What is the speed of darkness' and 'When was the last time you blew up a laboratory?'.

Still not sure?

Watch the video introduction here - I'm a Scientist!

Ready to apply?

If you are up for the challenge of working with students in this online X-Factor-style competition, then please sign up at: