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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Mercury: new views on the Sun’s most innermost planet

Posted on Tuesday, 27 January 2015 by David Rothery

Prof. David Rothery, The Open Univeristy, delivering his lecture

Prof. David Rothery, The Open University, delivering his lecture. Photo: Kate Bradshaw

I’m a geologist who now works mostly on other worlds, and the one that is keeping me busiest at present is Mercury. This is the closest planet to the Sun, which means that is always much closer to Earth than Jupiter ever gets.

However, it is harder to study because the Sun’s glare makes it difficult to observe with telescopes, and the Sun’s gravity poses an enormous challenge if you want to get a spacecraft into orbit about Mercury.

NASA achieved this with its MESSENGER orbiter (2011-2015), and I’m on the science team for the European Space Agency’s BepiColombo orbiter 2024-2025, due for launch in later 2016.

2015 Science Matters Lecture
I recently introduced school students, teachers and members of the public from Milton Keynes to my research at the 2015 Science Matters lectures.

You can watch a recording of my talk below.

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Attributes of digital engagers

Posted on Wednesday, 3 December 2014 by Ann Grand

Dr Trevor Collins, The Open University

Trevor Collins and I led a workshop session at the NCCPE‘s Engage 2014 conference this week.

The session builds on our work on digital tools for communication and engagement with the Open University’s Catalyst for Public Engagement with Research.

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From analogue missions to digital communication…

Posted on Friday, 24 October 2014 by Susanne Schwenzer

Dr. Susanne P. Schwenzer, The Open University

NASA astronaut Dr. Stanley G. Love inspired students from local schools and the OU alike

Tuesday, the 21st of October 2014, will be a day well worth remembering, not only for the advice that studying maths and physics is what it takes to have the chance to be selected as an astronaut. And if that doesn’t work, it is stills math that opens doors to the best paid jobs.

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MK students are go for launch…

Posted on Thursday, 11 September 2014 by Leanne Gunn

Dr Leanne Gunn, The Open University

Following the success of last year’s competition, July 2014 once again saw bottle rockets launching from the school field of Denbigh Teaching School in Milton Keynes.

Four teams of six year 9 students, each representing a different Milton Keynes school competed on the day to build two successful rockets 2 litre plastic bottles and simple craft materials.

I was working on the competition as one of the organisers, working with a team that included: Richard Holliman, Ben Dryer, Vic Pearson, and Diane Ford from the Open University, Mark Russell and Val Hawthorne from Denbigh Teaching School, and Jessica Carr who was working as an intern.

Here’s how the day went…

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Engaging Research

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

Category Archives: Events

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!

Mercury: new views on the Sun’s most innermost planet

Attributes of digital engagers

MK students are go for launch…