Mountains under the microscope

Posted on Tuesday, 3 January 2017 by Eleni Wood

Eleni Wood, The Open University

Unlocking the secrets of the Himalaya

I’ve always been a bit of a mountain addict, so when I began my studies in Earth Sciences, I was overjoyed to find that I suddenly had a legitimate reason for being a bit mountain mad. I discovered that, in detail, the geological processes responsible for the formation and evolution of mountain belts are fascinatingly complex. I also found that there are likeminded people, who are, like detectives, conducting research that aims to uncover the million year old mysteries of the mountains.

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Been there, Dunedin that

Posted on Monday, 14 November 2016 by Richard Holliman

Professor Richard Holliman, The Open University. Credit: Michael Francis.

It has been a very productive couple of weeks in New Zealand. Thanks to my wonderful host Nancy Longnecker (and family) I’ve had a chance to explore the local environment. New Zealand is clearly a very beautiful place, interwoven with many cultures.

I’ve had opportunities to meet with staff and students from the Centre for Science Communication during my stay in Dunedin, and more widely from the University of Otago as we’ve explored aspects of culture change in relation to engaged research.

We have discussed aspects of New Zealand’s National Science Challenges, at a time when these islands and their citizens have been facing the very immediate challenge of responding to a series of earthquakes.

Collectively, these challenges require us, as science communicators, to re-double our efforts to create a reflective culture of evidence-based practices as we connect scientists, citizens and other stakeholders in ways that are meaningful and relevant.

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Connecting Science and Society in New Zealand

Posted on Wednesday, 28 September 2016 by Richard Holliman

Professor Richard Holliman, The Open University. Credit: Michael Francis.

What is the role of publicly-funded researchers in the 21st Century? What are their responsibilities in relation to how their research relates to the stakeholders, end-users and members of the public who will be affected by the outcomes?

These are live questions for all researchers wishing to improve the quality of their research and its social and economic impact on wider society.

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Milton Keynes students are out of this world

Posted on Wednesday, 20 July 2016 by Richard Holliman

Professor Richard Holliman, The Open University. Credit: Michael Francis.

On Tuesday 12th July seven teams of Year 9 students from five local schools across Milton Keynes battled it out to win the fourth annual Water Rocket Competition.

Inspired by the OU/BBC co-production Rough Science, each team of six students was provided with the same kit. From this they were asked to design and build two water rockets, one to fly the furthest horizontal distance, the other to hit a target.

Guided by two OU postgraduate researchers from the School of Physical Sciences, Alice Dunford and Matthew Lewis, the students adapted their designs incrementally based on data collected from each test launch.

Alice Dunford and Matthew Lewis (The Open University) deliver the briefing to students and teachers. Credit: Gareth Davies.

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Appropriating Social Media: Public engagement with science and technology online

Posted on Thursday, 28 April 2016 by Trevor Collins

Trevor Collins, Ken Skeldon, Rick Holliman, Heather Doran and Ann Grand.

Today at the Public Communication of Science and Technology conference we’ll be running a workshop on the use of social media channels to support engaged research. We’ll discuss the challenges and benefits of using social media as part of an engagement strategy, and consider the roles digitally engaged researchers adopt and the motives that drive their activities. Richard Holliman (standing in for Jamie Dorey), Ann Grand, Heather Doran and Ken Skeldon are bringing a set of example scenarios to discuss, along with related case studies that demonstrate how these challenges have been played out in practice. We’re hoping that this session will provide an opportunity to hear about the diverse experiences across the PCST community in order to consider effective practices in a range of contexts.

Resources

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Engaging with neuropharmacology research

Posted on Monday, 4 January 2016 by Ellie Dommett

Dr Ellie Dommett

The Science Matters talk towards the end of last year (2015) was important for me to do for two reasons. Firstly, it was the first ‘TED-style’ talk I’d be asked to. I spend a lot of time giving talks to schools but these are often much longer so I have more time and slides to explain tricky concepts.

This was just a handful of slides to explain neuropharmacology. I had been on a course earlier in the year on presentation skills and have been trying to put this in to practice all year in my undergraduate lectures but this felt like a good opportunity to test out the same skills to a new audience (not in the unpopular 9am lecture slot).

Dr Ellie Dommett, Kings College London and the Open University. Photo: Dr Kate Bradshaw.

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Children’s Science Television: Then And Now

Posted on Monday, 5 October 2015 by Sai Pathmanathan

Sai Pathmanathan. Photo: Huw James.

We all watched children’s television growing up, and many of us still do (for ‘research’ purposes!). Some of us watched children’s science and technology programmes, and can attribute particular shows or presenters as the reason for why we pursued a science (or STEM: science, technology, engineering and mathematics) career.

But these days, how effective is children’s science television? Back in the early ‘80s, children would come home from school, put down their lunchbox and sit in front of the television to watch one of four channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV or Channel 4) as part of children’s tea time programming. Now, audiences are much more fragmented – there are hundreds of television channels, everyone’s viewing via different devices and ‘on demand’ services. So, is television still the best method to get science to young audiences?

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ON AIR – a sound installation

Posted on Monday, 23 March 2015 by Caroline Devine

Caroline Devine, Composer and Sound Artist

ON AIR was commissioned by the Open University to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Harold Wilson’s University of the Air speech. Four artists were commissioned, one in each of the UK’s component nations, each with a different remit in terms of the academic knowledge to be represented. I was selected to make the work for the English commission, the theme of which was Design and Technology.

I conceived ON AIR as a multi-channel sound installation that would form an acoustic layer throughout the campus. I wanted to present fragments of the knowledge, ideas and voices of the Open University floating throughout the campus – as though vestiges of the output of the OU are always present on the air currents throughout the site and are made temporarily audible by the work. By using a large number of hidden sound sources, the work would completely transform the experience of the space without visual trace.

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Celebrating excellence in engaged research

Posted on Tuesday, 3 March 2015 by Richard Holliman

Dr Richard Holliman, The Open University

The winners of the Open University’s 2015 Engaging Research Award Scheme were announced in early February 2015.

The scheme was devised as part of the Open University’s RCUK-funded Public Engagement with Research Catalyst. It was designed to find and celebrate high-quality engaged research at the OU, demonstrating the different ways that researchers meaningfully interact with various stakeholders over any or all stages of a research process, from issue formulation, the production or co-creation of new knowledge, to knowledge evaluation and dissemination.

As the Chair of the Assessment Panel, I was extremely grateful to the six judges for their careful assessments of the entries. I was particularly delighted that two of the winners for the 2014 Engaging Research Award Scheme, Thea Herodotou and Natalia Kucirkova, agreed to act as judges for this 2015 competition.

2015 Engaging Research Award Winners: L-R: Richard Holliman, Paul Stenner, Katy Jordan, Graham Pike, Rosa Hoekstra, Francesca Benatti (on behalf of Elton Barker), Alan Bassindale, Verina Waights, Martin Weller, Cindy Kerawalla, Saskia van Manen and Fiona McKerlie

2015 Engaging Research Award Winners and Highly Commended Entries: L-R: Richard Holliman, Paul Stenner, Katy Jordan, Graham Pike, Rosa Hoekstra, Francesca Benatti (on behalf of Elton Barker), Alan Bassindale, Verina Waights, Martin Weller, Cindy Kerawalla, Saskia van Manen and Fiona McKerlie. Photo: Chris Valentine.

The standard of the entries to this round of the scheme was very high, with the judging panel awarding prizes to three winners of the scheme as well as recognizing six further highly commended entries.

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Back to the future II: Mad for mud!

Posted on Thursday, 26 February 2015 by Encarni Motoya

Dr Encarni Montoya, The Open University

I am an ecologist (environmental biologist) interested in studying the vegetation dynamics of tropical forests. Given the magnitude of the tropics, I have focused my research efforts on different forests from Venezuela and more recently, Ecuador.

A single tropical tree can live more than 1000 years, so for studying the dynamics of the tropical forests in the time scale or range in which they live, I have to look for evidence of how these forests have interacted with the environment from the past until the present day. To do this I use the fossil record in what it is called palaeo-ecological approach. In other words, I’m interested in the ecology of the past.

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Engaging Research

An Open Research University: Embedding public engagement within the research culture of the OU

Category Archives: Events

Mountains under the microscope

Been there, Dunedin that

Connecting Science and Society in New Zealand

Milton Keynes students are out of this world

Appropriating Social Media: Public engagement with science and technology online

Engaging with neuropharmacology research

Children’s Science Television: Then And Now

ON AIR – a sound installation

Celebrating excellence in engaged research

Back to the future II: Mad for mud!