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The Babraham Institute works to deliver impact by translating our science and understanding of fundamental biology to promote lifelong health and wellbeing. Our blogs offer scientists, staff and guests the chance to share their individual views and experiences on the Institute's efforts to deliver research impacts and to build a welcoming and diverse community.

 

 

10/05/2023

Public Engagement: A PIPS perspective

Miriam describes her placement in the Public Engagement team.

public engagement | phd student | education | careers | schools day | secondary schools | work experience
By Guest Blogger

22/03/2023

A day with a difference: Schools’ Day 2023

Our Schools Public Engagement Officer shares his reflections on his first Schools’ Day event (and the 28th in the Institute’s history)

schools day | public engagement | education | careers | events | hands-on science | secondary schools | sixth form | teachers | schools

06/04/2022

Students find out about life as a scientist

‘Meet a Bioscientist’ was the Public Engagement team’s flagship schools’ engagement event for 2022. For British Science Week, we spoke to over 900 young people across 15 schools and sixth forms about our research, careers in science, and what being a scientist is really like. Discover more about the event in this blog post.

public engagement | schools | secondary schools | schools day

23/03/2022

Meet a Bioscientist: a student's perspective

For British Science Week 2022, researchers from 14 of our amazing research groups and facilities held conversations with school groups across Cambridgeshire and beyond so the students could explore more about the research here at the Institute and what being a scientist is like. Eleanor, a Year 12 student at Comberton Village College, shares her experience of meeting the bioscientists from the Hawkins lab.

hawkins | public engagement | pi3-kinases | signalling | schools | schools day | secondary schools | student experience
By Guest Blogger

24/02/2020

30 years of engaging memories

Schools Engagement Officer Mike Hinton looks back at his career in Public Engagement

public engagement | primary | secondary schools | sixth form | teachers | cell signalling | epigenetics | cambridge science festival | schools day | animals in science | careers
By Michael Hinton

10/02/2020

Schools’ Day 2020: Our scientists answer students’ questions (Part Three)

As part of our build-up to Schools’ Day 2020 we asked students to submit their questions to our researchers. This series of three blog posts answers the top four questions. Read on to learn about what motivated our researchers to follow a career in science, their perspectives on the importance of maths and computing skills and whether a degree in science is essential.

public engagement | careers | secondary schools | sixth form | schools day | signalling | epigenetics | immunology | students | education
By Michael Hinton

10/02/2020

Schools’ Day 2020: Our scientists answer students’ questions (Part Two)

As part of our build-up to Schools’ Day 2020 we asked students to submit their questions to our researchers. This series of three blog posts answers the top four questions. Read on to learn about what motivated our researchers to follow a career in science, their perspectives on the importance of maths and computing skills and whether a degree in science is essential.

public engagement | careers | secondary schools | sixth form | schools day | signalling | epigenetics | immunology | students | education
By Michael Hinton

10/02/2020

Schools’ Day 2020: Our scientists answer students’ questions (Part One)

As part of our build-up to Schools’ Day 2020 we asked students to submit their questions to our researchers. This series of three blog posts answers the top four questions. Read on to learn about what motivated our researchers to follow a career in science, their perspectives on the importance of maths and computing skills and whether a degree in science is essential.

public engagement | careers | secondary schools | sixth form | schools day | signalling | epigenetics | immunology | students | education
By Michael Hinton

09/05/2019

STEM Insights teacher placements: Ensuring impact for science

In their third and final blog post, Helen and Mike describe the work of some of the teams who support the researchers in their work.

cpd | grants | impact | public engagement | secondary schools | sixth form | stem insight | teachers
By Guest Blogger

09/05/2019

STEM Insights teacher placements: Getting hands-on with science

Teachers Helen and Mike spent a week in our labs and facilities on a STEM Insights placement week. In the first of a series of three posts they describe some of the research and techniques they discovered.

cell signalling | cpd | epigenetics | lymphocyte signalling | secondary schools | sixth form | stem insight | teachers
By Guest Blogger

18/04/2019

Schools’ Day 25: The students’ perspective

Students from Colchester County High School for Girls who attended Schools’ Day in March describe their experiences in the Babraham Institute and campus company labs

schools day | secondary schools | sixth form | teachers
By Guest Blogger

04/03/2019

Schools' Day 25: From contribution to coordination

Michael Hinton reflects on his involvement with Schools’ Day and how it has changed since his time at the bench

public engagement | schools day | secondary schools | sixth form
By Michael Hinton

26/02/2019

Schools' Day 25: Advances in research

In March, the Institute will play host to our 25th annual Schools’ Day, with 180 15-18 year olds from schools across the country attending to get some hands on experience in our labs and find out more about careers in science. Since 1995, Schools’ Day has been an Institute staple, but while that’s remained the same, so much else has changed.

public engagement | research | schools day | secondary schools | sixth form | teachers

18/02/2019

Schools' Day 25: Changes in science education

In response to this year being the 25th Annual Schools' Day at the Institute, our Public Engagement and Knowledge Exchange Manager, Hayley, explores the changes in science education over the last 25 years.

public engagement | schools day | secondary schools | sixth form | teachers

29/01/2019

My time as a Public Engagement intern at Babraham: Recommendations to prospective students

Samir Morsli describe his experiences at the Babraham Institute during his ‘Professional Internship for PhD Students’ (PIPS) internship

advice | healthy ageing | internship | phd student | public engagement | secondary schools

14/01/2019

New perspectives on challenge projects in the Netherlands

Elizabeth Hampson, a PhD student in the Welch research group, describes her visit to Sophianum School in the Netherlands.

animal research | animals in science | cambridge science festival | epigenetics | ethics | international | secondary schools | signalling | sixth form

08/01/2019

‘Competency through Challenge’ - schools’ partnerships to stimulate creativity and develop skills

Ahead of his workshop at the Association for Science Education Conference, Michael Hinton, Institute Public Engagement Officer, describes his experience of challenge-based learning projects

animals in science | ase | challenge projects | secondary schools | signalling | sixth form | teachers
By Michael Hinton

04/10/2018

A fish out of water: How a zebrafish researcher is discovering public engagement

Public Engagement intern Samir Morsli tells us about his research, his expectations for his three-month placement at the Babraham Institute, and how it complements his PhD at The University of Sheffield.

 

bbsrc | engagement | ethics | healthy ageing | internship | secondary schools

11/09/2018

PhD Students Rise to the LaunchPad Challenge

PhD students Izzy Hampson and Carolyn Rogers describe how they joined forces to create a new project for secondary school students

epigenetics | lymphocyte signalling | secondary schools | signalling

28/08/2018

Epigenetics and English: a 2-week introduction

Epigenetics and English: Jan Deffner, a student from Munich, describes what he learned during two-week work experience placement in Wolf Reik’s group

epigenetics | imaging | secondary schools | genomics | stem cells | work experience

20/04/2018

Looking back and thinking ahead – how student engagement in research is spreading

As sixth-form students at Sophianum School finish their projects and present their ideas, Michael Hinton, who coordinates the project, looks back on the year and describes how the collaboration will expand in 2019.

animals in science | epigenetics | secondary schools
By Michael Hinton

16/03/2018

Passion, enthusiasm and a thirst for knowledge at Schools’ Day

Jo Montgomery, a member of the Babraham Bioinformatics group, describes how Schools’ Day projects bring out the best in scientists and students

schools day | schools | secondary schools
By Jo Montgomery

21/11/2017

Pipetting Workshop at Newmarket Academy Science Club

John Pascall, who is a regular contributor to the Babraham Institute's Public Engagement activities, describes the challenges of going back to school at Newmarket Academy.

science club | secondary schools

17/10/2017

Schools' Day - igniting a passion for science

As he starts to plan Schools' Day for 2018, Michael Hinton, part of the Public Engagement team, looks back at the event in previous years and reports views from students, teachers and from both junior and senior researchers who run projects on the day.

secondary | teachers | schools day | secondary schools
By Michael Hinton