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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.

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