Contact
For more information about our public engagement activities, please contact:
Dr Joanna Coleman
Head of Public Engagement
+44 (0)1225 385353
Ed Stevens
Public Engagement Officer
+44 (0)1225 385326
Public engagement examples
We are passionate about engaging with the public through a wide range of activities, events and training programmes:
Public lecture series and podcasts at Bath
The University hosts a wide range of public lectures featuring leading names from the worlds of science, humanities and engineering. The lectures discuss the latest research and include the GULP series, Millennium Lectures and the Research in the World Lecture Series. Podcasts of many of these lectures are available and are downloaded around 250,000 times a year by people in 50 countries. The podcasts achieved a European Excellence Award.
Bath Taps into Science Festival
The annual Bath Taps into Science Festival is in its second decade and brings together staff and postgraduate researchers with local and international schoolchildren, both on campus and in the city centre.
Maths master classes
For the past 20 years, we have held weekly mathematical master classes for 100 young people at Key Stage 3. The classes act as a first experience of public engagement for many members of staff in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and are a powerful way for the University to interact with both students and their teachers. The organiser, Dr Geoff Smith, was recently awarded an MBE for organising these events.
Bath Science Cafe
Held monthly, the Bath Science Café meets in a local pub for a short talk and discussion on a topical area of research.
Patients Participate
The Patients Participate project is led by UKOLN at Bath, together with the British Library and the Association of Medical Research Charities. The project explored the potential of developing a useful body of easy-to-understand information for patients and those interested in biomedical and health research.
Doctoral training in public engagement
Supported by mentoring and training from science communication experts, PhD students from the University’s EPSRC Doctoral Training Centre in Sustainable Chemical Technologies learn how to get audiences of all ages excited about science. As part of their training, students contribute to major local and national science events as well as taking part in University open days and visiting local schools.
Residential courses for students and teachers
We run a range of annual residential summer schools and camps to bring students and teachers onto the campus. These currently include two Salters’ Institute Chemistry Camps for young people and a Goldsmiths’ Company Science in Society Course in Sustainable Energy for school teachers.
Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition
Teams of researchers from the University regularly participate in the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition. Our recent exhibits have included: Living in a Complex World (2010); CLEVER - Compact Low Emission VEhicle for uRban transport (2008); and Power to the People: The Molecular Revolution in Sustainable Energy (2006).
Images of Research
Images of Research is a public exhibition held in Bath, where researchers explain their work using just an image and a short description. The exhibition provides an insight into the impact of our wide range of research activity.
