SUPA Public Engagement Forum

 

Speech bubbles with the event title and date, followed by text that reads "Bringing together centres of scientific public engagement, science festivals and SUPA researchers to connect and be inspired

The SUPA Public Engagement Forum, held in 2021, brought together those with an interest in public engagement across SUPA and beyond.  Over 80 people from within SUPA, other research pools, Scottish Government, and Public Engagement Professionals took part, from undergraduates and up.

The event opened with a Welcome address from Prof Julie Fitzpatrick, Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland.

In the morning, we heard from key Scottish science centres about what platforms and audiences they can provide for researchers:

  • Abi Ashton, STFC Public Engagement Manager at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
  • Dr Stephen Breslin, Glasgow Science Centre
  • Dr Hermione Cockburn, Dynamic Earth
  • Bryan Snelling, Aberdeen Science Centre

In the afternoon we heard from a number of science festivals about how they work, what they look for in an activity and who to pitch to:

  • Howie Firth, Orkney Science Festival
  • Laura McLister, Edinburgh Science Festival
  • Mikey Jarrell, The Big Bounce (IOP)
  • Dr Suzanne McEndoo, Explorathon

We also heard from a vast array of  SUPA researchers and physics-based projects throughout the day, that have all engaged with different areas of the public. First, Prof Martin Hendry (University of Glasgow), Chaired an exemplar session that included:

  • Dr XinRan Liu, Remote3
  • Katelin Donaldson, HYPED
  • Dr Aurora Sicilia Aguilar, University of Dundee

Prof Catherine Heymans (University of Edinburgh) Chaired an exemplar session that included:

  • Dr Margherita Mazzera, TEDxAdventure
  • Erin Broberg, Dark Matter Day
  • Dr Martin Dominik, Royal Society Summer Exhibition
  • Dr Carol Trager-Cowan, Strathclyde
  • Prof Aidan Robson, Glasgow

The event took place on Zoom, clips of the sessions above will appear on this website shortly, please check back.