It’s countdown time! I’m a Scientists, Ireland is running from 12th – 23rd November, and with only a few weeks left it’s time to announce the scientists and schools taking part! Schools So far there are 28 schools across Ireland taking part in the event. There are still a few places left and teachers can sign up here to take part!. Space Zone The Space Zone is sponsored by the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO) Ireland. Scientists Paul Higgins Trinity College Dublin I study sunspots and try to find out which ones are likely to erupt and send super heated gas hurtling toward the Earth! Eugene Hickey Institute of Technology Tallaght Dublin Astrophysicist – we look for new planets orbiting distant stars. David McKeown University College Dublin I work on ways of moving spacecraft about so they point the right way. Colin Johnston Armagh Planetarium I explain the amazing … Continue reading →

This weekend Shane made his debut on Irish radio, on NewsTalk‘s science and technology programme Futureproof. He talked to Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin (PhD student in Mathematics Education at Trinity College Dublin and former Rose of Tralee, no less) about I’m a Scientist running in Ireland for the first time this November. You can listen to the interview online at http://media.newstalk.ie/listenbacks/popup by selecting ‘Futureproof’ under Listen Back. We’re just after 18:30 minutes in. If you listened to it what did you think? Are you interested in taking part, either as a teacher or a scientist? If you’ve got any questions just leave a comment here, or on twitter (@imascientist) with the hashtag #IASIE.

We’ve decided the 3 zones that will run in I’m a Scientist this November. Choosing the zones is important as we need to make sure the topics are relevent to the curriculum, and that there are scientists researching in that area! So we’ve gone for: Space Zone Health Zone Hydrogen Zone The Hydrogen Zone isn’t just for scientists working with hydrogen, but is a general zone, named after the first element in the period table. The 5 scientists in this zone will be working across all areas of science, rather than all researching round the zone theme like the other 2 zones. The Space Zone is sponsored by the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO), who use space as a theme to inspire and engage young people in Science, Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects. We’ve run space zones in the UK event before which have gone down really well with students. … Continue reading →

We’ve set up the I’m a Scientist site and agreed the dates it will run, the 12th – 23rd November. The next step is to decide on the zones. And for this we need your advice. What zones would you like to see in I’m a Scientist? Zones? Let me explain. We split the event into ‘zones’ – groups of scientists and students. Each zone has 5 scientists and up to 350 students in 20 classes. We’ll be running 3 zones in November – 2 will be themed and 1 will be general. The scientists in the themed zones will have some connection to the theme, whereas there will be a spread of scientists in the general zone. We’ve come up with a longlist of 10 themed zones but want to know what teachers and scientists think will, and won’t, work. We’ll use your comments to decide on the final 2 themed … Continue reading →

We’ve been running I’m a Scientist in the UK since 2008 and in that time we’ve had a fair few Irish scientists take part, and a handful of Irish schools. But that’s not enough. We want to involve lots more. So this November we’re running an I’m a Scientist event as part of the Dublin City of Science 2012. I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here! will be one of the 160 events that “showcase the best of Irish culture, arts and science”. What can I’m a Scientist offer? It gets students and scientists talking, simple as that. It runs online over 2 weeks from 12th-23rd November, tying in with Science Week Ireland. 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. Students become more enthused about science, see how what they learn … Continue reading →