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50 | PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT<br />
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT<br />
The <strong>Wellcome</strong> <strong>Trust</strong>’s Public Engagement activities aim to engage with society<br />
to foster a climate within which biomedical science can flourish.<br />
As well as grants for UK activities, this year the <strong>Wellcome</strong> <strong>Trust</strong> made its<br />
first awards for projects in developing countries. Education and film<br />
making remained priorities, while a major new initiative was launched to<br />
document and track public attitudes to science in the UK.<br />
Grants<br />
Society Awards: Ten large awards<br />
(over £30 000) were made. Two<br />
significant projects, building on previous<br />
successful funding, involve young<br />
people. Tom Shakespeare in Newcastle<br />
is expanding the Junior Café Scientifique<br />
programme, while Tony Gilland and the<br />
Institute of Ideas are continuing the<br />
nationwide Debating Matters schools<br />
debating competition.<br />
People Awards: There were 34 awards<br />
(up to £30 000) made to support a<br />
diverse range of activities, including<br />
performances, exhibitions, talks,<br />
conferences, debates and documentaries.<br />
Arts Awards: Three large (over £30 000)<br />
and 36 small grants were awarded.<br />
Broadcast Development Awards:<br />
Some 18 awards (up to £10 000) were<br />
made to support the development of<br />
early-stage ideas for TV, radio or new<br />
media into compelling proposals that can<br />
be pitched to the broadcast industry. One<br />
large grant was made to Dan Chambers<br />
at Blink Productions to co-produce with<br />
Channel 4 a feature-length programme,<br />
The Great Sperm Race, on the journey<br />
from testicle to conception. In addition,<br />
Jonathan Hall and Hannah Robinson<br />
won the Grand Prize at the American<br />
Screenwriters Association International<br />
Screenplay Competition for Fireworks.<br />
International Engagement Awards:<br />
There were 15 awards (up to £30 000)<br />
made under the new International<br />
Engagement Awards programme.<br />
A notable award was made to Marie-<br />
Louise Newell and the Africa Centre,<br />
aiming to place youth at the forefront of<br />
community engagement in research in<br />
South Africa.<br />
Capital funding: Three major capital<br />
awards were made to the Science Museum,<br />
the science centre At-Bristol and the<br />
Science Gallery Dublin (see page 29).<br />
Education<br />
In September 2008 Primary Science, the<br />
first in a new series of Perspectives on<br />
Education, was published. The series will<br />
provide commentaries from researchers<br />
and policy makers on key issues in science<br />
education. The first volume was well<br />
received and, alongside other work in<br />
education research, reinforces the <strong>Trust</strong>’s<br />
commitment to science education policy.<br />
A review of the first five years of the<br />
National Science Learning Centre<br />
conducted in April 2008 confirmed that<br />
the Centre has made a significant impact.<br />
Its core funding was renewed, while<br />
£27 million additional funding has been<br />
secured through Project Enthuse (see<br />
page 27).<br />
In May 2008 the <strong>Trust</strong> brought together<br />
educational researchers and users of<br />
research to consider how ‘experimental<br />
approaches’, including randomised<br />
controlled trials, might be applied in<br />
educational research.<br />
Two issues of Big Picture were published<br />
this year, on drug development and ‘how<br />
we look’.<br />
Darwin200<br />
To commemorate the 200th anniversary<br />
of the birth of Charles Darwin, a wide<br />
range of projects are being developed<br />
under the ‘Darwin200’ banner. The most<br />
ambitious is to provide new Darwininspired<br />
experiments for every state<br />
school in the UK. Teachers will be<br />
supported by continuing professional<br />
development resources, programmes on<br />
Teachers TV and access to an online<br />
library of evolution-related clips from the<br />
BBC archives.<br />
The <strong>Trust</strong> is als developing multimedia<br />
projects, including an animated version<br />
of the Tree of Life, a website showcasing<br />
the best Darwin resources and an online<br />
game for teenagers.<br />
Supporting researchers and broadcast<br />
Training workshops on narrative<br />
techniques were run for <strong>Trust</strong>-funded<br />
researchers. Among those benefiting<br />
was Hugo Spiers from University College<br />
London, who delivered the BA Award<br />
Lecture at the Annual Festival of Science<br />
in Liverpool.<br />
Through the Science on Film scheme,<br />
scientists were able to partner with<br />
documentary makers to create films for<br />
the Soho Short Film Festival.<br />
Public attitudes<br />
The National Centre for Social Research<br />
was commissioned to conduct the first<br />
phase of <strong>Wellcome</strong> Monitor – a survey of<br />
people’s knowledge about and attitudes<br />
towards biomedical science.