Engagers' Digest - 25/3/10

Dear all,

Phew and hooray - Discover 2010 is over and thanks must go to many of you for making it such a success. Download a range of photos via FLUFF here. If you took part as either a stallholder or volunteer and haven't responded to our online survey, please take 5 minutes to do so:

• volunteers
  
• exhibitors
  

In the Digest this time:

1. NCCPE 'Perceptions' questionnaire - deadline 2 April 2010
RCUK and HEFCE are conducting an interim evaluation of the Beacons project to understand how the higher education sector currently supports and values public engagement. Please take 10 minutes to complete their survey for university staff - thanks.

2. Small grants funding for the arts and humanities - open applications
Two funds have come to my attention - Old Possum's Practical Trust aims to increase the knowledge and appreciation of any matters of historic, artistic, architectural, aesthetic, literary, musical or theatrical interest, by supporting organisations with grants of between £500 and £5,000.
The Idlewild Trust supports excellence in the performing and fine arts and the preservation for public benefit of buildings and items of historical interest or national importance. Occasionally it also supports projects that conserve the natural environment. Grants up to £5,000; next deadline 24th September 2010.

3. STFC Small Public Engagement Awards - deadline 15 April 2010
STFC Public Engagement Symposium - 19 May 2010
Small awards for amounts up to £10,000 cover a range of STFC-related research topics. More detail here. Also, a public engagement symposium for research users of STFC facilities - more detail here.

4. Science Communication Conference - 24/25 May 2010
Registration is still open for this year's conference, organised by the British Science Association and the Wellcome Trust - more detail here

5. British Psychological Society - Public Engagement Small Grants- 2 July 2010
A £14,00 fund open to members of the society to support public engagement activities. More information here

Other news:

UoB launches YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/UniversityOfBristol
Broadcast your research, teaching and engagement activities

Check out the NCCPE's latest newsletter and suggest contributions to their conference - 7/8 December 2010 (needed by 31 March)

A company called the Backdoor Broadcasting Company is offering academic podcasts for 'research with impact'. Their rates seem reasonable and we will have academics' feedback about their services soon; more information here or from Rene Wolf

Best wishes,

Philippa

Engagers' Digest 11/3/10

Dear all,

'Discover' is underway as we speak - a fantastic, free celebration of the University's research, from archaeology and ancient history to engineering, neuroscience and carnivorous plants. Not to mention the ice penguin! To see for yourself, make sure you get to Broadmead before Saturday at 6pm, otherwise you'll have to wait until 2012...


Thanks to all Engagers who forwarded my last-minute emails and recruited volunteers - much appreciated. And an even bigger thanks to all who are taking part in the exhausting and exhilarating marathon of Discover!

In the digest this time:

1. NCCPE/ESRC research synthesis - deadline 15 March 2010
The NCCPE and ESRC have joined forces to commission a literature review into using Audience Segmentation for Public Engagement. The closing dates for applications is 12 noon, 15th March 2010 and the value is up to £15 000. Details here


2. NCCPE 'Perceptions' questionnaire - deadline 2 April 2010
RCUK and HEFCE are currently conducting an interim evaluation of the Beacons project to understand how the higher education sector currentlysupports and values public engagement. Part of this involves a survey of University staff. The NCCPE would be very grateful if you could fill in the survey, which should not take more than 10-15 minutes to complete


3. Gulbenkian Foundation funding for intergenerational projects - deadline 26 March 2010
As part of their ageing & social cohesion programme, the foundation is seeking new ideas to encourage contact across generations and to promote greater cohesion within communities by combating linear generational divides . The Foundation is looking to award up to 18 projects in the UK and Portugal of £30,000/€30,000 each to develop intergenerational pilot projects. More here

4. Science Communication Conference - 24 and 25 May 2010
Organised by the British Science Association, this year's conference will focus on 'Audiences for Engagement'. Earlybird deadline 19 March 2010. More here

Next week is also National Science and Engineering Week and the Festival of Social Science - lots of interesting events for all ages, including:

In Her Shoes - a free, work-in-progress performance from Qualia Theatre with University of Bristol social scientists. Supported by Bristol Ferment at Bristol Old Vic, performances will be on Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th March at 6pm in the Basement Studio at Bristol Old Vic. Free tickets from tickets@qualiatheatre.co.uk

Bristol Social Scientists - 2 public events - 'Social science and bad behaviour' and 'What can economics offer the third sector?' More here

What on Earth - a nature-spotting project, launched by the British Science Association in conjunction with iSpot.org.uk. More here

And finally - congratulations to Tim Harrison from Chemlabs on the receipt of a prestigious Hauksbee Award from the Royal Society. More here



Best wishes,


Philippa

The penguin has landed !

University of Bristol's Discover exhibition
11 to 13 March 2010

Free, interactive, educational and fun!

A public celebration of the latest research at the University of Bristol is taking place right now at the Mall Bristol, Broadmead. With a wide variety of interactive exhibits covering arts, science, medicine and engineering, along with teams of researchers on-hand to discuss the research, there's lots to learn and enjoy.

Today is the first of two special schools days, when groups of Bristol school children get a chance to find out more at close quarters.

Making music from the Department of Music's giant penguin ice sculpture as it slowly melts is proving popular. With an electric drill buried deep within the sculpture representing man's over-use of resources, this stimulates thinking about climate change and our impact on our world. The drill also changes the pitch and tone of the sounds of the ice melting.

Finding out about bats and how they 'see' in the dark by way of echolocation is also a hit - as children can test out their own echolocation skills with a bat mask and set of headphones!

"I enjoyed looking at bats, they're cool - this is a once in a lifetime experience!" commented one school pupil.

"My favourite game was when we shone lights over the cars and raced" said another, referring to the Engineers Without Borders' solar-powered cars. This opens up their eyes to exciting ways in which the earth's resources can be used sustainably.

But it's not just school children finding out about University research today.


"I'm 74 years old and I have enjoyed the exhibition tremendously" said one passer-by. "Keep it up!".

By mid-day, around 300 children had already visited Discover. "The response has been fantastic" said University events officer Diane Thorne. "The children have been so enthusiastic and inspired by the research on display. They are really enjoying themselves."

With lots more to explore including DNA, sonic tweezers, being a palaeodetective, reliving history in virtual world Second Life and discovering how animals use camouflage to survive, there's so much to discover at Discover! Thank goodness it's on for a few more days!

See: www.bristol.ac.uk/cms/cpe/discover2010/ or follow us on twitter for updates.

Volunteers for Discover 2010 - 11-13 March

Calling all volunteers!

We are recruiting volunteers to help with Discover, an exhibition and programme of activities celebrating research across the University of Bristol. Discover website

The exhibition is a three-day event, from Thursday 11 to Saturday 13 March, in The Mall Bristol in Broadmead and Cabot Circus. We anticipate over 3,000 people attending Discover over the three days, including several hundred school children. The festival is open to the public from 9am until 6 pm and we need people throughout the day.

This is a great opportunity to be involved in a high-profile event and to meet people from across the University.

You can help in any number of ways, including guiding Bristol schools around the exhibits on Thursday or Friday, talking about your university experiences, explaining our work to the public, or helping out with the event organisation on any of the three days.

We are planning this free event to be interactive, educational and fun, and the experience in public engagement and working with children will look great on your CV. You'll be given refreshments throughout the day and you can take home the T-shirt. This is also a great way of meeting people from all sorts of backgrounds including researchers, teachers, pupils, professional communicators and fellow students.

For staff and postgraduates:

Please contact Dane Comerford, Centre for Public Engagement; tel: 0117 331 8315 (internal 18315), email: dane.comerford@bristol.ac.uk. We will hold briefing sessions on Monday 8 March at 1pm and 5.15 pm.

For undergraduates:

Please contact Rachel Miller, Community Engagement Co-ordinator; tel: 0117 954 5768 (internal 45768), email: rachel.miller@bristol.ac.uk. We will hold briefing sessions on Monday 8 March at 1pm and 5.15 pm.

Qualia theatre - new production at Bristol Old Vic

Qualia Theatre has a new project for Spring 2010! As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science Qualia will be working with social scientists from Bristol University to create a work-in-progress performance exploring the experiences of growing older, how we relate to different generations of people around us and what ageing means in today's society. The project currently has the working title of In Her Shoes.

In Her Shoes is being supported by Bristol Ferment at Bristol Old Vic and performances will be on Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th March at 6pm in the Basement Studio at Bristol Old Vic. The events will consist of a performance followed by a discussion with the the artists and scientists. Tickets are free and can be reserved by emailing tickets@qualiatheatre.co.uk. Please note, tickets cannot be reserved through the Bristol Old Vic box office.

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Qualia are a core aspect of consciousness. They are the subjective properties of sensations, feelings, perceptions, thoughts, ideas and desires.A quale is utterly personal. No one will ever understand your qualia and you will never understand another person’s because the only way to know is to experience.What is it like to feel the touch of cotton, see the colour white, or hear a cello playing? What does it feel like to have an idea, to be excited, or to long for something? We can describe these sensations through metaphor but we can never truly know whether what we feel is the same as what everyone else feels.
Qualia Theatre www.qualiatheatre.co.uk