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Now is the time to throw your hat in the ring - enter this year’s Best Demo Competition while you're at the BIG Event and you’ll be the better for it*

The Best Demo Competition presents a lighthearted look at some of the demos you think are worth sharing; it invites you to demonstrate the maths, science, engineering and so on that really lights your fire and you just can’t help but show off to your peers. You have up to three minutes, a warm and welcoming audience and more eager volunteers than you could ever wish for.

Maybe you’ll be going home with the prestigious Best Demo Award to display on your desk, in your shed or sliding across the dashboard of your van.

There's no money to win, it's not an Oscar, it's not a Nobel Prize. But within BIG we think it is worth having because it’s worth joining in.

The Competition takes place 5pm Thursday 20 July as part of the BIG Event at The Centre for Life in Newcastle. Any registered delegate attending the BIG Event can join the running order. The competition is not scary, intimidating or harsh in any way – the main purpose is to enjoy what we do.

It’s very simple: demos presenting STEM subject matter must be no longer than 3 minutes** (shorter, if that suits your demo), you must bring all of the equipment you need and you must sign up in advance.

HOW TO ENTER:

Please email Rachel Mason event@big.uk.com with your name, short demo title and a short (50-80 word) description of the demo. Please also give a brief list of the equipment you intend to use and note any safety issues we should consider. You may be asked to provide a risk assessment so if you have this already, send it along too. This information is for the event organisers and venue only and will not be published (that would spoil the demo now, wouldn’t it?)

DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ENTRIES: 11.59 FRIDAY 30 JUNE

More detail about the BIG Event

If you have any questions about the format, structure, or need a bit of support in putting your entry together, please contact…

Rachel Mason, BIG Event Organiser

BIG - STEM COMMUNICATORS NETWORK

event@big.uk.com

 

* Maybe

** Don’t drag it out - if it's a 30 second demo, take 30 secs

Do you work in the field of Science, Technology & Innovation?

Would time overseas meeting others working in your area and sharing ideas and good practice benefit your work? Would you be prepared to share your findings for the improvement of your sector, and the UK as a whole, on your return?

If the answer is yes and you would like to visit innovative programmes abroad so that you could transfer or adapt them to the UK, a Churchill Fellowship could be for you.

Applications are welcome from across this wide field, but we are also interested in:

• the communication of science and technology by any means
• the fusion of the arts and science
• efforts to encourage interest and participation in science by the public
• the use of the internet to hold dialogues

Find out more

Deadline for applications: Friday 5 May, 11:59pm 

Again this year, BIG is offering a few lovely bursary places to attend the BIG Event in July. This is ideal for people working in and around science communication, who think they might benefit from making some more professional friends by attending BIG’s three-day conference in Newcastle.  

Find out more here.

The Josh Award is the UK’s national award in science communication, established to recognise and support up-and-coming talent in science communication. Find out more here

Early Bird registration for the BIG Event 19-21 July 2017 at Life Science Centre, Newcastle UK is now open. Early Bird prices offer a significant reduction on standard so if you know you're coming, it's worth registering now.

Go to BIG Event 2017

If aren't a member of BIG but you'd like to be kept up-to-date with BIG's activities, events and skills days, you can now sign up for our mailing list here. We promise that these updates are very infrequent and you can unsubscribe at any time!

Every year, BIG members get together for a three-day bash to exchange ideas, compare disasters, find their next employer and have a grand time with the work and the colleagues they love. STEM engagement professionals from all over the UK (and some more besides) take this opportunity to step out of their offices, museums and science centres, vans and sheds, universities and research institutions, to plan their next career steps, pick the brains of like-minded people or just have a bit of a professional think.

The content for the BIG Event is created by the members. And the people who say they get the most out of it are the people who contribute the content.

Now is your chance to fling your session ideas into the ring. Once we have a ring-full we flirt the programme together, put people together who might like to work together, and ask a few people to do something a bit different. Your session ideas can be put forward now until 19 February on the BIG Event session proposals site www.bigevent.info

Bring a show, a workshop, something needing tweaking, something you think is fab; bring your skills in evaluating, managing, developing, presenting, fettling; bring your planetarium, your STEM tap-routine, your busks, your IPad session. But whatever you do, make it hands-on, make it collaborative, make it a truly sharing contribution. BIG members really don’t like to be spouted at – we like to have a go at a thing so bring the thing, not a picture of the thing or a talk about the thing.

The Centre for Life is a wonderful venue – lots of space and lots of spaces. Indoors, outdoors and fantastically placed for access to the airport, rail station and city centre. You might even give some serious thought to using the BIG Event to take your summer holidays in beautiful Northumberland

As ever this time of year, we are very much looking forward to seeing your session ideas gush on to the proposal site www.bigevent.info

If you’re not sure what the BIG Event is or if it’s for you, go to big.uk.com/bigevent17

For people who are relatively early in their STEM communication career, whether they work in a science centre or museum, volunteer for a festival, are involved in university outreach, or do anything else to engage people with sciences. It’s a lot like the BIG Event, but a bit smaller, and all crammed into one busy day. There will be several sessions, each focusing on developing a different skill, delivered by experienced science communicators following our usual hands-on approach. But of course it isn’t just about the sessions, it’s the people you meet there too. The Little Event presents a great opportunity to meet people from across the UK working in similar roles and sharing similar experiences. The programme for the day will include sessions on Learning & evaluation, Interacting with the public, Managing your engagement project, Presenting and careers.  Each bursary worth £100 covers an annual BIG membership, registration fees for the Little Event and £25 towards travel expenses.  If you wish to apply for one of the 10 free places, applying is simple. Just email event@big.uk.comby noon on Wednesday 16th December with the subject line "Bursary application Little Event" to tell us in no more than 200 words why you would like the opportunity to come to the Little Event and how you think it will benefit your personal and professional development.  Successful applicants will be notified by by email. For more information about the day click here

BIG needs a  Conference and Events Coordinator

BIG is looking for a self-employed contractor to join its small-but-perfectly-formed team of supporters of BIG’s aims and activities, to improve its service of training provision to members. You will develop and deliver BIG’s Skills Days and – over time – take over the coordination of the BIG Event too.

Find out more on our jobs page

Welsh Support Coordinator (Fixed Term)

Department: Outreach and Engagement
Location: Cardiff, Wales
Salary: £21,500 – £22,575 pro rata

We are looking for a proactive and dependable individual to join our Outreach and Engagement department as a Welsh Support Coordinator.

Go toLatest Jobs