[ELECTRON] Fw: National Science and Engineering Week Newsletter

Thu Jul 16 19:50:43 UTC 2009

There is funding for NSEW events. they paid for the maker fair i did this year.

Regards 
Nina Baker 

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"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"

Being a councillor: http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/YourCouncil/Council_Committees/Councillors/w10c2694.htm
My steampunk blog:  http://greensteampunk.blogspot.com/
Maker fair blog: http://mcmadsat.blogspot.com/

--- On Thu, 16/7/09, National Science and Engineering Week <nsew at britishscienceassociation.org> wrote:

From: National Science and Engineering Week <nsew at britishscienceassociation.org>
Subject: National Science and Engineering Week Newsletter
To: nina.baker1 at btinternet.com
Date: Thursday, 16 July, 2009, 11:01 AM

National Science and Engineering Week
Newsletter - July 2009

1) The theme for NSEW this year is ‘Earth’
2) Free information sessions available across the country
3) Funding from ESRC available for events!
4) Did you run a successful event with ~£150 budget or less?
5) We are looking for partnerships for National Science and Engineering Week 2010
6) Responses to your comments and evaluation report
7) Would you like to host an IgNobel event?

1) The theme for NSEW this year is ‘Earth’

Each year NSEW has a theme and for 2010 (March 12-21st) the theme will be ‘Earth’. This is a broad representation of Earth and means many things related to all science subjects (engineering, biology, chemistry, physics, maths and social science). The theme ‘Earth’ is meant to be all encompassing so that it fits well with many ideas, for example some concepts linked to Earth are;

Earth's amazing phenomenon - wild weather, volcanoes, northern lights
Earth and it's wildlife - mass migrations, strange creatures, biodiversity 
Earth's place in the Universe - space travel, planets, satellites 
People and the Earth - climate change, biofuels, booming populations, world food production

The theme this year also allows us to support International Year of Biodiversity which occurs in 2010. 

2) Free information sessions available across the country

NSEW is the perfect opportunity to take science to the masses. Come along to a National Science and Engineering Week info session. Hear from other event organizers, find out how you can get involved, network and collect free resources to get you started.

Information sessions are currently happening in:

London

Coalville - Leicestershire

Guilford

Llanberis - North Wales

Bournemouth

Carlisle

Aberdeen

Belfast

Milton Keynes 

Sunderland

For more information go to www.britishscienceassociation.org/informationsessions. All events are free but pre-booking is required - please email Natalie.broadhurst at britishscienceassociation.org giving your name, the organisation you are from and the event you wish to attend. Food and drink are provided.

3) Funding from ESRC available for events!

Applications for events in the Economic and Social Research Council's Festival of Social Science has now opened.  This is part of National Science and Engineering Week, and the festival will run from 12 – 21 March 2009. 

There are two types of application forms available: 

1) For those who wish to apply for sponsorship funding forms are available on- line at www.esrcfestival.ac.uk (select the Organise an Event tab). A maximum of £2,000 can be applied for and applications are due 8 OCTOBER 2009.

2) For those who wish to hold an event but not apply for funding, a non- funding form is also available on-line at www.esrcfestival.ac.uk (select the Organise an Event tab). This form needs to be completed to alert us of your event to be included in the Festival Programme. Non-funded applications are due 15 OCTOBER 2009. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Melanie and the ESRC Festival of Social Science Team at esrcfestival at esrc.ac.uk.

4) Did you run a successful event with ~£150 budget or less?

We know that getting funding can be a major obstacle to organising events. However we know that many fantastic events are organised with very little money each year and the impact that they have on both adults and children is well worth it! 

We are looking to make it as easy as possible for people to organise events. For 2010 we aim to produce a document for event organisers called ‘Science on a shoe string’. This document will contain a section with advice and ideas for producing engaging events with limited funds and we want to include ideas and advice directly from you – the organisers.

Have organised a successful event on a small budget? What ideas did you have? What materials did you use? What tips do you have for other organisers? 

We would love to hear from you. Please email jenny.beard at britishscienceassociation.org.

5) We are looking for partnerships for National Science and Engineering Week 2010

For NSEW 2010, we are currently brainstorming ideas for our national projects. For 2009 we worked closely with a number of organizations including; The Wellcome Trust centre for Human Genetics for ‘How unique are you?’, the British Beekeeper’s Association and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust for ‘Save our Bees’ campaign, and ‘The Future is Wild’ for Darwin in Space. 

If you have an idea or activity that links in with our theme ‘Earth’ and would like the opportunity and support to run this on a national scale, please get in touch.

6) Responses to your comments and evaluation report

Thank you for sending back your evaluation forms. We use your evaluation to produce a report on the success of National Science and Engineering Week (please go to www.nsew.org.uk to see the full evaluation report). This report is presented to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and is important in securing funding for the next National Science and Engineering Week. 

We received some comments from National Science and Engineering Week organisers this year. We are grateful for your feedback and we listen to your comments and aim to answer and respond to all your concerns. Our responses to the comments may be useful for all organisers so we have produced a response sheet. Please click here to read this.

7) Would you like to host an IgNobel event?

Your institution can host an event on the 8th annual Ig Nobel Tour of the UK , for National Science and Engineering Week in March 2010. 

The stars are scientists whose discoveries make people LAUGH then THINK. In each show, several Ig Nobel Prize-winning scientists (and a few others who've done things just as stunning) will explain their discoveries briskly, with disarming deadpan, and will also answer questions. "Indeed, the audience were as ebullient and eccentric as the speakers," said the reviewer from Nature magazine about last year's tour. 

Marc Abrahams, organizer of the Ig Nobels, editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, and weekly "Improbable Research" columnist for the Guardian, will shepherd a unique mix of scientists to each of six to ten cities. Some shows may also include a scientific mini-opera. For more details see:
http://improbable.com/improbable-research-shows/ig-uk-tour/

Kind regards,

Jenny Beard
National Science and Engineering Week Officer
Jenny.beard at britishscienceassociaiton.org 

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