IN CONFIDENCE
Science and Technology Facilities Council Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, Wiltshire. SN2 1SZ United Kingdom Telephone +44 (0) 1793 442000 Fax +44 (0) 1793 442002 |
SCIENCE IN SOCIETY SMALL AND SCIENCE CENTRE AWARD SCHEME
Application form: funding for projects for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
NB: For step-by step help with completing this form please refer to the accompanying ‘Notes for Guidance’. Go to: http://www.scitech.ac.uk/PandS/Fund/Sml/smlnotes.aspx.
APPLICANTS’ DETAILS
1. DETAILS OF ORGANISATION THAT WILL RECEIVE AND MANAGE THE AWARD (the organisation must have audited accounts)
Name of Organisation University of Oxford | Department (if any) Physics (Astrophysics) |
2. PRINCIPAL APPLICANT DETAILS
Title Professor | Initials R. L. | Surname Davies | STFC PIN (if applicable) |
Current Post/Job Title Philip Wetton Professor of Physics | Hours per Week on Project 2 |
Is this your first application to the Council for a Science in Society award? yes no |
As principal applicant, you must complete and attach a ‘Contact Details Form’. This is for STFC administrative purposes only and will not be used as part of the process that reviews the proposal. |
3. CO-APPLICANT DETAILS (if applicable)
Title Mr. | Initials C.E. | Surname Barclay | STFC PIN (if applicable) |
Name of Organisation/Department (if different from 1. above) Marlborough College |
Current Post/Job Title Observatory Director - Physics & Astronomy Teacher | Hours per Week on Project 12 |
Is this your first application to the Council (as a principal or co-applicant, fellow or student)? yes no |
If there are more co-applicants, please give details on a separate sheet in the same format as above. Enter the total number of co-applicants here: 2 |
Each co-applicant must complete and attach a ‘Contact Details Form’. This is for STFC administrative purposes only and will not be used as part of the process that reviews the proposal.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
4. TITLE OF PROJECT (in less than 10 words)
Astronomy Connections: Strengthening Public and Schools Engagement around Hands-on Observing |
5. PROPOSED START DATE | 1 July 2011 | 6. PERIOD REQUESTED Total length of time (in months) that you would like the funding from STFC to cover | 12 |
7. SUM REQUESTED | £8,500 |
8. PROJECT INDICATORS - SCIENCE AREAS AND AUDIENCES
8.1 STFC GRANT FUNDED SCIENCE AREA (S) OR RESEARCH FACILITIES Tick as many as applicable
Particle Physics | Nuclear Physics | Astronomy | Solar System and Space Science |
Accelerator Science | CLF | ISIS | Diamond |
Other (e.g. ILL, ESRF) | Please state |
8.2 TARGET AUDIENCE(S) Tick as many as applicable
5-9yrs | 10-16yrs | 17-18yrs | Family | General Public | Teachers | Other |
If ‘Other’; briefly identify this audience. |
Professionals, academics, policy makers, adult education, U3A, retired businesspeople
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8.3 EXPECTED NUMBERS THAT WILL BE REACHED
1-50 | 51-200 | 201-500 | 501-1000 | More than 1000 |
9. AIMS What are you trying to achieve? What will be the overall impact of your project? |
1. To sustain Oxford and Marlborough as centres of Astronomy public outreach and hubs of Astronomy in Education; 2. To educate and inspire audiences from diverse backgrounds via access to semi-professional telescopes; 3. To promote and demystify current astronomical research and the scientific method; 4. To bring together teachers, pupils and youth groups with graduate researchers; 5. To develop new educational resources for use in schools. |
10. OBJECTIVES Please list as bullet points what your outcomes and deliverables from the project will be. This could include audience numbers and resources produced. |
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11. DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT Please describe of what you intend to do. (Up to two additional sides of A4 may be included for text, diagrams or photographs) Please refer to guidance notes for things to include. |
See attached sheets. |
12. PROJECT PERSONNEL Please list key personnel and how they will contribute to the project (including contributions which will not be funded by STFC) |
Professor Roger Davies - project supervisor, and co-ordinator with Oxford Physics/ Astrophysics
Mr Charles Barclay - project co-ordinator (Marlborough), principal MCBO demonstrator and Marlborough website manager Dr Philip Marshall - project co-ordinator (Oxford), hands-on activity and website design, Oxford website blog editor
Mr Callum Brown - graduate student, developing and maintaining Oxford website
Dr Ian Lewis - research astrophysicist and principal PWT demonstrator Dr Stephen Wilkins - research astrophysicist, principal hands-on activity developer Dr Stuart Lynn - Zooniverse education office, schools programme consultant
Dr Sian Owen - Department of Physics Access/ Schools Liaison Officer |
13. RELATED ACTIVITIES If you are aware of any similar activities to the one you are proposing or if your application is for an extension to or a spin-off from a previous project, please describe them here (See Notes for Guidance) |
The proposed project builds on the 2006-2008 STFC-funded project 'Communicating Astronomy with Telescopes - Outreach in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire'. The final report for this project is attached. |
NB: If the project is an extension or a spin-off from a previous project please attach any evaluation summaries, publicity materials or examples of resources produced from the previous projects to support your application (up to a maximum of four sides of A4)
14a. OTHER AWARDS Do you hold any current STFC Science in Society Awards? yes no |
Please list them (with reference numbers). Note that you should enclose a progress report for any current STFC awards – or explain below if you are unable to supply it. |
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14b. RESEARCH GRANTS Do you or any co applicants hold any current STFC/PPARC research grants? yes no |
Please state the Research Grant reference number(s) and Title(s) |
KMOA - ref PP/E000533/1 “KMOS Work Package 9”
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BUDGET
Total budget required for the project (if different from 7. above) | £22,000 |
15. OTHER INCOME SOURCES (if applicable) If the total budget exceeds the amount requested from STFC, please list the other sources of funding and how much they are providing. This can include in-kind contributions.
Support from University of Oxford Department of Physics: Access Officer £3,000 Publicity materials £1,000 Secretarial Support £2,000 Phone / mail / computing support £500 Audio / visual support £500
Support from Marlborough College: Upkeep of the MCBO £1,500 250 hours CEB outreach work £5,000 Total (inc VAT): £13,500 |
16. BUDGET BREAKDOWN This should be a full breakdown of income through grants, sales etc. and expenditure including office costs, equipment, salaries etc.
Income: STFC Award: £8,500 Other funding sources (if applicable): £13,500 Sales (if applicable): Total (inc. VAT): £22,000 | Expenditure: Grad student demonstrating at schools visits at PWT, MCBO 20 evenings at £150 each £3,000 Open nights at PWT, MCBO 10 evenings at £150 each £1,500 Travel by students, postdocs to schools £1,000 Travel and lecturing by CEB and others £1,000 Website development £1,000 Activity development materials £1,000 Subtotal (inc. VAT) £8,500 Oxford Physics Department costs (Section 15): Access officer contribution £3,000 Publicity materials £1,000 Secretarial Support £2,000 Phone / mail / computing support £500 Audio / visual support £500 Marlborough College Blacket Observatory costs (Section 15): MCBO upkeep £1,500 250 hours CEB outreach work £5,000 Total (inc. VAT): £22,000 |
17. SPEND PROFILE Give estimated annual spend of the Award by Financial Year (FY) 1 April – 31 March.
FY 2011/12 | FY 2012/13 | FY 2013/14 | FY 2014/15 | TOTAL |
£8,000 | £500 |
AWARENESS and EVALUATION
18. AWARENESS RAISING, DISSEMINATION AND NETWORKING STFC are very keen to ensure other educators and science communication practitioners are aware of successful projects. Explain how you intend to distribute any resource that you produce, and how will you inform other scientists, educators and communicators of successful ideas.
Updated and active websites (including blogging by project personnel), advertised via facebook, twitter. BBC Wiltshire website and Radio Wiltshire promoting events at MCBO, Radio Oxford will promote PWT events and Green Templeton College events. Posters at Green Templeton College, Oxford Physics dept., and elsewhere. Events are and will be advertised in local newspapers and magazines both online and in print. Participation in local and national events, including Oxfordshire Science Festival. Also talks at Cafe Scientifique, Oxford college events. We will form collaborations with local amateur astronomy societies, and Science Oxford, when building our web presence. School visits by project participants, as outlined in our objectives. Teacher visits and training days. Online social networking between project team and local teachers. These connections will be used to introduce teachers to prototype online or printed matter educational aids, and gather feedback on them. Distribution of the final products will take place through these web connections, via download and web service. Awareness of the programme in the astronomy and science outreach communities will be raised through articles in 'Astronomy Now', and 'Physics Education' magazines, and various other web-based magazines and blogs. Talks at Royal Astronomical Society Open Meetings and the National Astronomy Meeting will also be given. We also have experience on the international stage, giving talks at Symposia for Education in Astronomy (for example, CEB’s talk at JENAM in Vienna as a member of IAU Commission 46). |
19. MONITORING AND EVALUATION State how you propose to monitor progress of the project and evaluate the effectiveness in reaching your target audience(s). State how you would measure success, in terms of your aims and objectives.
Telescope evenings and other events, in Oxford and Marlborough: Visitor numbers: these steadily increased during 2010-2011: PWT 300 public, 300 schools; MCBO 300 public, 140 schools and youth groups; Green Templeton Lectures 180. Statistically-meaningful subsets can now be defined and investigated. Diversifying the evening lectures, in collaboration with other skilled communicators from Oxford University and beyond is an opportunity to reach new audiences. Goal: to maintain 1000 visitors per year, with 50% first time visitors. Feedback forms and monitoring of letters and e-mails have been used following telescope evenings, proving that the programme to date has had a very positive impact. We will move to online versions of these forms, both to deal with increasing throughput and to facilitate better data collection. Data aquisition will be started at sign-up time with an online automated tracker, allowing us to measure our impact on different audiences. We will extend this monitoring to our outdoor events as well, developing novel ways of measuring impact, in collaboration with teachers. Goal: to quantify the impact of every outreach event, and hence demonstrably improve the programme. Connecting to the community: Website hits: the MCBO and PWT websites generate worldwide interest, averaging 500 hits per week. We will use freely available web analytics tools to explore in more detail the impact of individual events. Goal: to establish a web presence at the center of the local astronomy community, and use it to bring research scientists, teachers and local people into direct contact with each other. Interaction with teachers: working more closely with teachers, we will investigate the impact of our activities on classes throughout the school year, focusing in particular on the decisions made pre-GCSE and A-level. Again, web-based survey tools will allow us to collect and analyse data at low cost. Goal: to be connected to every state-funded school in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. Developing Educational Resources: Prototype activities can be developed at Oxford Astrophysics for the open evenings, and then exported to schools. Goal: to work with local schools to develop 2 new science learning aids based on astronomy, and test them in the classroom. |
20. REFEREE Give name and address of a referee, independent of you and the project, who knows your work related to this proposal (we may contact them at our discretion).
Title Dr | Initials C. | Surname Crawford |
Organisation and Department Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 |
21. HOW DID YOU HEAR OF THE SCHEME? (e.g. Website, email, flyer, magazine etc).
Website | Flyer | Magazine | |
Other Please state: |
22. DECLARATION
I agree that if successful I will abide by the rules stated in the ‘Notes for Guidance’.
Name | Date | |
Principal Applicant | Professor Roger Davies | 12/04/2011 |
Administrative Authority | Ms. Yunley Oakley | 13/04/2011 |
3. CO-APPLICANT DETAILS (continued)
Title Dr. | Initials P.J. | Surname Marshall | STFC PIN (if applicable) |
Name of Organisation/Department (if different from 1. above) |
Current Post/Job Title Royal Society University Research Fellow | Hours per Week on Project 6 |
Is this your first application to the Council (as a principal or co-applicant, fellow or student)? yes no |
DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT:
Astronomy Connections
Strengthening Public and Schools Engagement around Hands-on Observing
Introduction
This unique, STFC-funded programme is centred on two observational astronomy facilities of semi-professional size, and extends outwards via a network of local communities and schools to enable people of all ages in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire to experience astronomy and learn about science. We reach out to a huge diversity of visitors on different levels, from visits tailored to the needs of specific groups, to topic-related open days. Whereas lectures attract larger numbers from regular ‘targets’ such as schools and teachers and already interested members of the public, the smaller visits attract youth groups, community centres, home-educated children, and children in social service care.
The key facilities are the two telescopes, which provide the opportunity for groups spanning a huge range of ages, cultural and social backgrounds to experience `hands on' astronomical observing. This is always thrilling for the participants, and feedback indicates that it is this live contact with large instruments that makes an indelible impresssion on visitors. The two facilities, a 0.25m refractor at Marlborough College Blackett Observatory (MCBO) and a 0.4m reflector in Oxford Astrophysics, the Philip Wetton Telescope (PWT), have been provided privately, representing an investment in excess of £200k.
The combined outreach programme was pioneered by then Head of Physics at Marlborough, Mr. Charles Barclay (CEB), and Professor Roger Davies (RLD) in Oxford Astrophysics. It was initially supported by a PPARC Small Award which enabled publicity material to be produced and websites to be developed. The observatories are maintained by separate small sources, making outreach activities based around them excellent value for money. Continued demand for access to the facilities has driven the expansion of the programme and generated over 1000 visitors a year. The programme is now mature and has several elements:
Telescope-centred events. Evening visits focused on the PWT are scheduled monthly during the Winter with a similar frequency at MCBO. At these observing evenings, graduate students and postdocs from Oxford talk to and inspire visitors about their STFC-funded research, from SKA and ELT technology development to recent observations made with ESO and UK telescopes, including Planck and Herschel. We now have a dozen graduate students and postdocs trained to deliver accessible lectures, and run evening activities developed in house. Both sites have limited space, so that repeated 1 hour slots are scheduled allowing up to 60 to attend in one evening. We co-ordinate with Green Templeton College to provide access to PWT for their `Astronomy at the Radcliffe' events that utilise the iconic Tower of the Winds, an Oxford landmark. In 2009 astronomy featured prominently in the University Alumni week-end in September, as a result of the high profile we generated locally for the International Year of Astronomy (IYA, 2009). The PWT continues to be in demand for this annual event.
Public lectures and broadcasts. The Blackett Science Lectures have run at Marlborough for 5 years, and have featured lectures by Professors Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Brian Foster and Roger Davies. We have established an annual 3 lecture series on "Astronomy for All" at the Radcliffe Observatory site Green Templeton College in the Spring. CEB and RLD both give regular public lectures, together amounting to at least one per month. Events at both sites are now publicised on local radio and BBC County websites. CEB runs an annual lecture near to the Vernal Equinox as part of the NASA Sun-Earth Education Forum. CEB also has a semi-regular drive-time slot 'Our Local Astronomer' on BBC Radio Wiltshire, and had regular input on astronomy during the IYA.
Outdoor events. Several dedicated events were run in 2009 to widen the publicity of the IYA corner-stone projects. Central to this was the “From the Earth to the Universe” (FETTU) exhibit in Oxford in August, on public display in The University Parks. An interactive Universe Height Chart was constructed at the 2011 Oxfordshire Science Festival, prompting engagement and discussion with hundreds of shoppers in central Oxford. CEB has developed a cultural Astronomy lecture on Archaeoastronomy especially relevant to the Kennett Valley, site of the UK's most spectacular standing stones, which is being delivered locally and now forms part of the National Trust 'Avebury in Starlight' public outreach. It has also been given as part of NASA’s The Sun-Earth education forum. Outdoor events such as these have proved very popular, with many hundreds of people reached.
The partnership we have established between Oxford Astrophysics and Marlborough College puts us in a very strong position to deliver a wide ranging programme of public outreach by connecting research students and staff directly with a variety of audiences.
This Proposal
Since 2008, this very successful programme has been largely funded by RLD’s Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award, which expired on 31 December 2010. While committing to £7,000 worth of in-kind contributions, the Oxford Physics Access Office cannot support the telescope evenings at the centre of the programme alone. We now seek funding to maintain the programme at it’s current high level, and also improve and extend our programme, in the ways detailed below.
Telescope Evenings at Oxford Physics Department and Marlborough College
To facilitate access at the two observatories for as wide an audience as possible and on an increased number of occasions, we require funds for publicity (posters, leaflets, adverts etc), and for demonstration and travel costs for those involved. These costs make up a large fraction of the requested budget, in keeping with the hands-on observing being the highest impact activity.
Continuing Engagement with Schools
A key element of this programme is the close interaction between researchers and schools. CEB is a school teacher, and the Chair of GCSE Astronomy Examiners. We have already established strong links with local teachers; Sian Owen (SO), Oxford Physics' Schools Liason Officer, is working to expand these. We propose to enhance our programme by coordinating visits to schools by project participants, to give further talks and run workshops, following visits to the observing facilities: this will capitalise on the impact made by the telescopes. We seek funding to cover travel expenses for graduate students, postdocs, and CEB to visit schools in this way.
Hands-on Activity Development
Closer collaboration with local schools will allow us to measure the programme’s impact in new ways, and hence improve our presentations and activities - including designing new activities for use in lessons. These activities can be prototyped at Oxford Astrophysics and trialled at the two observatories’ open evenings, before being exported to schools. Our focus is on everyday objects and simple printouts, or online web-based activities, for ease of transfer to other venues. A good example of such an activity is the Astronomy Top Trumps card game: this was conceived and first constructed in the Oxford physics department, and used to good effect at telescope evenings when interacting with children. Similarly, we are developing workshop-style activities for schools in collaboration with the Zooniverse citizen science team, who are based at Oxford Astrophysics. The Zoo team is currently developing new features to make these workshops even more interactive and educational by allowing classifications by a group to be analysed in real time during the session. Our visiting schools will provide an opportunity to develop these activities further, and hence provide high quality science education materials based on discussions with teachers. Another example of hands-on activity development is an interactive Universal Height Chart, initially built to prompt discussion at telescope evenings; this was then transferred to an Oxfordshire Science Festival event in the centre of Oxford, which was attended by hundreds of shoppers. We seek funds for materials to build similar prototype astronomical games, toys, demonstrations and posters, and then, where feasible, scale them up to use at public events, or distribute them to schools.
Lecture Series Diversification
We propose to reach even more diverse audiences by developing talks (primarily for the summer when observing is not possible) that cover both astronomy and one other topic, such as poetry, film, classics, environmental science or music. The major benefits of such an “Astronomy+1” series are twofold. First, it will attract a different set of visitors, who may not otherwise have considered attending a popular science event. Second, by working with excellent communicators from around Oxford University and beyond, the students and postdoc speakers will have the opportunity to learn new methods of talking about their subject to non-specialists. Programme funds will be used to cover the costs of the additional speakers and demonstrators.
Web-based Community-Building
We seek support to develop and maintain the two observatory websites, and to provide new web-based social network tools: by writing a weekly astronomy blog, we can inform people in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire about their night sky, upcoming events, and also about the STFC-funded research being carried out at Oxford Astrophysics. We will do this in collaboration with local astronomy clubs and societies, recognising that they can play an important role in stimulating interest in science in their wider communities. We will also explore ways of connecting to networks of science teachers where they exist, and working to provide new links where they do not. The Zooniverse team will provide invaluable web experience here, having already built custom forums and social media systems for their citizen scientists. All websites will be written collaboratively, in the sense that many authors will be able to contribute material: once in place, they will be sustainable at very low future cost.
Summary
- This is a teacher-led initiative giving live access to large telescopes, and covers a wide area with 2 geographical centres.
- The programme will reach unusual and diverse audiences, capitalising on the inspirational value of astronomy and introducing scientific concepts to a wide range of non-scientists.
- It will link school pupils, teachers and the public with research scientists, enabling and encouraging them to promote and explain frontier science.
- The programme team will work in partnership with outside organisations, including schools and astronomy clubs, and with excellent communicators from a variety of non-scientific fields.
- It will enable and support the creation and development of novel hands-on astronomy education activities, that may enhance the teaching of science across the nation.