Explaining the Chemistry/Biology Interface (ECBI): Networking & Evaluation Phase

Most members of the UK public depend for their everyday life on products such as washing powders, 'comfortable' clothing, medication etc. all of which result from chemical research, however, it is clear that most of them do not relate the positive aspects of their life styles compared with say that of their grandparents to the results of chemistry research. In fact it is more likely that they will blame chemists for the world's ills. Furthermore, there are many subjects of keen interest to many people which can really only be addressed by chemists or teams involving chemists. These include the what, why and how of cancer, alternative medical approaches to disease, materials design etc.Warwick and Imperial aim to put forward a three-year public engagement bid to provide an integrated strategic communication programme to increase public understanding of the contribution of molecular science to the significant lifestyle, health and safety improvements available in the modern world. The current proposal is aimed at establishing the groundwork for the full programme. It will not have any direct audiences in its 9 month run, but well set the scene for presenting chemical/biology interfacial science as the final stage of the young researchers training in science communication. These audiences will include small audiences of 10's of school children, 10's of teenagers and youth, 10's of members of volunteer groups, 100's to thousands in local media. The full programme will also meet very large audiences via national TV, national newspapers and general science writing which will be undertaken largely by senior scientists whose efforts will be facilitated by the programme.Concurrent and integrated activity in the full programme will be grouped into four main streams:1. Groundswell and awareness activity to bring molecular science to the forefront of people's minds.2. Creation of an infrastructure for i) delivery of broadcasts using presentation media available in the Home or Business ii) competent and educated advice teams nationally who can advise scientists and publics on suitable delivery methods and channels to achieve engagement.3. Delivering a training programme for current students at the Life Science Interface (LSI), which is further adaptable into CPD and Lifelong Learning opportunities.4. Delivering a training programme suitable for media professionals wishing to improve their communication skills in science.