We announced a few weeks ago that I’m a Scientist is returning to Ireland in November, from Monday 11th – Friday 22nd November, as part of Science Week Ireland.

It will run with 4 zones – that’s 20 scientists talking with over 1,000 school students around Ireland.

We’re looking for scientists to take part. It’s open to any practising research scientists (academia and industry) who were educated in Ireland (North and Republic) or are working there currently.

Apply at imascientist.ie/scientists/scientist-apply

To get a feel for how it works and what it’s all about, have a listen to last November’s Space Zone winner, Paul Higgins, talking on sciencecalling.com – Paul explains perfectly the purpose and point of I’m a Scientist; the importance of outreach, that it’s not just beneficial for students, but for scientists too.

What does it involve?

Students ASK scientists questions about science and beyond, have live CHATs with them and VOTE for their favourite scientist to win €500 to spend on science communication. It all happens online at imascientist.ie.

Students become more enthused about science, see how what they learn in science lessons relates to real life and see that scientists are normal people. It’s completely free for schools to take part.

Scientists develop their communication skills, get quick and iterative feedback, can take part from their lab or office, and have fun! It takes around 2 hours a day – 1 hour of live chats booked by teachers during the school day, and 1 hour answering questions on the site whenever suits you.

Students ask questions on anything and everything, some examples:

How can we be sure that you are all not figments of my imagination or a dream????

Do animals have the same basic needs as humans? e.g shelter sunlight shelter love and affiction.

how long can a flamingo stand on one leg?would you be able to stand that long?

have you been to space?

If you had to choose to invent anything to help how we see and learn about space, what would you invent and why?

What zones?

Scientists and students are grouped into zones – 5 scientists and up to 20 classes of students in each zone. Last November we ran a general Hydrogen Zone and themed Space & Health zones. We’ll decide the zones at the end of July once we see what types of scientists apply.

How?

Scientists, apply at imascientist.ie/scientists/scientist-apply

The most important part is the 1 sentence summary of your work, which students and teachers will rate to help guide who gets in.

Teachers, sign up at imascientist.ie/teachers

And follow @imascientist on twitter to find out more.