Look into my eyes: I could be a scientist!

We will engage primary age students with the subject of light through a series of activities in their classroom. Through exposure at an early age, our intention is to inspire the students to think about science as a real career and life choice. We will educate the children about important, counter-intuitive properties of light and will familiarize them with the nature of scientific work, in places such as the Central Laser Facility.

We will educate the students about important properties of light that underpin the PI's research work, such as the spectrum of light and frequency mixing processes. We will also explain how these properties are crucial for Astronomy. For instance, by analogy with the Doppler Effect in sound, we will demonstrate how the Relativistic Doppler Effect in light can be used to discover exo-planets. This will be done with the help of a humanoid robot. Moreover, we will emphasize that the Relativistic Doppler Effect constitutes the only real way for us to measure distances beyond the local Universe, to study the expansion of the Universe and the rotation of galaxies.

Furthermore, we aim to provide a hands-on introduction to the principles behind, and the work involved in, operating systems such as the Astra laser at the Central Laser Facility in the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. The children will be involved in building laser setups and in various activities to help them develop an understanding of light's wavelength/frequency and frequency mixing.

Our activities aim to appeal to both genders. We will increase the confidence and skill of the children in successfully handling real scientific equipment and tools, regardless of gender. We will also improve awareness of scientific careers as, during the visits to schools, the PI will be accompanied by both a female and a male PhD student.

In the present context of government funding restrictions, the public needs understanding and trust in publicly-funded science. Often, the science being developed at publicly-funded facilities may seem remote and counter-intuitive. We aim to show that counter-intuitive science can be not only understandable but also fascinating and accessible to primary school children. Our message is thus not only limited to the classroom but to their families as well, which we believe is very important for the sake of scientific accountability and transparency. Moreover, parental influence plays a strong role in students' subject choices, and hence engaging parents will contribute to engaging children too.

An important aim for this project is to motivate our PhD students by engaging them in this public outreach project, in order for the students to feel valued and recognized. They will also improve their communication skills and will be taking a leading role in the outreach by supervising/guiding individual activities and asking/answering questions.

We aim to create partnerships between scientists at the University of Bath and educators within local primary schools. In the future, these partnerships are expected to grow through additional outreach activities (by the PI and his colleagues) and through Royal Society Partnership Grants projects. This project will lead to more participation from local schools in the yearly Bath Taps into Science festival, which is aimed at primary schools. Working with teachers increases the reach of students and can give a more embedded impact in schools.

MARKETING FOR THE PROJECT
Advertisement for the project can be done directly to local schools by the PI. So far, the PI has a network of 14 schools, who are very enthusiastic and positive about the project. We will seek to increase this network.

Beyond these personal contacts, the university public engagement team and the department of Physics have also contacts with local schools, through which marketing for the project will be pursued.

Also, locally, the project will be advertised within the framework of the Bath Taps into Science festival, which is aimed at primary schools. The PI I participated in three consecutive editions of the festival and he is familiar with its functioning. Contacts with science teachers will be made in person during the festival, and these will result in visits to the schools, as this has happened in the past. Additionally, the project will be advertised through the mailing list of the festival, which too can result in invitations to visit schools, as it has happened already.

Contacts with local schools will also be sought through the Bath & North East Somerset Council. The PI has already contacted the Family Information Service there, in order to inquire preliminarily about the local authority's ability to assist in establishing such contacts. Marketing for our project will happen through "the hub", which is a website accessible to schools to inform them about, for instance, training opportunities. This website is not public.

The project will also be advertised by the University of Bath. The public relations' office will be advertising through their social media accounts and webpages.


DISSEMINATION OF THE RESULTS:
The PI is a URF of the Royal Society. The project outputs will be disseminated via the Royal Society to the general public (e.g. the Inside Science blog) and to other research fellows.

Moreover, the PI is a member of the Royal Society public engagement committee. Therefore the outcomes of this project will very naturally be disseminated to this committee.

In his role as CDT-CMP Public Engagement/Outreach Co-ordinator, the PI will disseminate the learning outcomes and outputs from the project to the CDT students and to the University of Bristol.

Because the PI is a member of the Public Engagement Work Group, at the Department of Physics, resources and outcomes of the project will be shared with colleagues within the department of physics. For instance, last year, a colleague took equipment for two of our activities to an after school science club.

Additionally, the project and its results will be disseminated locally, to the general public, schools, teachers and families by the University Media Services through press releases to Bath Chronicle and Bath Magazine.

The progress of the project will also be disseminated via our webpage, Facebook and Tweeter. These are followed by local teachers and parents.

The results of this public engagement activity will be disseminated through participation in the "Engage" conference, by the National Coordination Centre for Public Engagement.

An important part of dissemination for the project will be to produce two videos. One video will present the educational activities to other scientists, educators, communicators and to the public in general. The second video will be for training purposes. It will consist of a series of six individual videos, each covering an activity within our workshop. These videos will be particularly important for scaling up the project. Both videos will be advertised by the University of Bath.