Thanks to financial support from UKRI, BIG is able to offer financial and material support for our Training Researchers in Public Engagement Skills Day (York, 12 February) in the following two ways:
1. BIG is offering 5 bursaries to cover the cost of registration, membership and any reasonable expenses associated with attending this Skills Day. These bursaries have been set up to facilitate greater diversity in the people who attend our events so that we are more representative of broader society. This diversity includes, but is not limited to: age, gender, health, geography, cultural heritage, career path, salary or educational background. Apply online here: Training Researchers in Public Engagement Bursary Application - 2019 The deadline is 6pm Thursday 17th January, 2019.
2. BIG is also able to support ANY delegate with costs associated with access to this Skills Day. For example: a translator, care costs, carer travel costs etc. If this applies to you, please email event@big.uk.com and tell us what you need and we will endeavour to meet your needs.
BIG is thrilled to announce a return to Scotland for BIG Event 2019. The highlight of the STEM communicator’s annual calendar will see our conference held at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh 17-19 July 2019. Dynamic Earth 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.
CALL FOR SESSION PROPOSALS - OPEN!
If you have a session proposal you’d like to submit, you can pop your ideas on the BIG Event session proposals site www.bigevent.info (you'll need to register for the site; tip: this isn't the same registration as when you log into the BIG website)
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.
So 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 6th February.
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.
STFC is pleased to announce that the 2019 call for applications to the Leadership Fellowships in Public Engagement is now open. The closing date for receipt of applications is 21st February 2019.
As part of BIG's role in promoting excellence in science communication we are pleased to announce our upcoming skills day.
TRAINING RESEARCHERS IN PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Tuesday 12th February, 2019 - (coffee and registration from 9.30am)
National Railway Museum, York
Do you work in a university to support public engagement with research?
Have you been asked to develop and deliver training or professional development for scientists?
If you said yes to either question, then this BIG Skills Day is for you!
In this highly practical day, we’ll share our experiences of developing training and professional development specifically for researchers. We’ll look at what makes for effective training, different types of intervention, participants’ needs and evaluating the effectiveness of training. Bring your experiences to share and any challenges you’re encountering.
During this Skills Day you will:
Who is the day for?
Your Trainers
This skills day is part of the University of Bath’s ChallengeCPD project. Helen will share findings from this work which is looking at why training for public engagement can be a challenging area.
Costs
£45 for BIG members including lunch and coffee
Non-members will need to join BIG first at an annual cost of £30 and then come back to register for the day as a member.
To find out more or register visit www.big.uk.com/york
The Little Event is BIG’s one-day training session 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, including sessions on Networking, Managing Projects, Presenting, Audience Analysis and Careers.
Each bursary is worth approximately £100 and covers annual BIG membership, registration fees and reasonable expenses. Applying for one of the 10 free places is simple.
Click here to apply and 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.
Applications close at 6pm, 5th December, 2019. Applicants will be notified of the outcome the week commencing 17th December, 2019.
The Little Event will take place again on Thursday, 24th January, 10am - 4:30pm at Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum.
The Little Event is BIG’s one-day mini-conference for people who are new to STEM communication, whether you work in a science centre or museum, volunteer for a festival, are involved in university outreach, or do anything else to engage people with science, technology, engineering and maths. The day is crammed with introductory sessions focusing on developing the different skills that are useful in STEM communication; they are delivered by experienced science communicators following BIG's 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 also presents a great opportunity to meet people from across the UK working in similar roles and sharing similar experiences. The programme for the day includes sessions on Networking, Managing Projects, Presenting, Audience analysis and Careers.
The Little Event costs £45 for BIG members. If you are not a member, you need to join BIG at an annual cost of £30.
Register or find out more by clicking here or visiting www.big.uk.com/littleevent19
Once upon a time...not too far from here, an awesome event was happening...
Do you talk about your business?
Would you to like get more engagement?
Would it be great if your messages where remembered?
Then this session is for you.
You hear a lot about business storytelling at the moment – it’s somewhat in Vogue. But what does it actually mean?
In this session Duncan will take you through the reasons storytelling can be exciting in business, and how you can apply this centuries old art to transform your ideas, projects and products.
Concepts from storytelling are crucial to creating engaging communications, particularly in presentation but also in marketing, social, and in business processes. We’ll create a compelling business story, explore some techniques and take the time to think a little differently.
There will be cake... Book here: Presentation, business and storytelling by DY Training
If you have any questions drop us an email to info@duncanyellowlees.com or check out the website at www.DuncanYellowlees.com
The UK science festival ecosystem is diverse and constantly evolving, but we rarely take the time to celebrate what we have achieved or to look ahead to some of the challenges and opportunities for the sector. This is where the UK Science Festivals Network come in - they bring together science festivals and non-science festivals with scientific content to consider the highs, lows and future of festival organisation and management.
Following the success of the first UKSFN conference in Edinburgh last year, the UK Science Festivals Network are re-lighting the fire again, this time in Swansea on 21st November. Join them to discuss best practice in diversifying audiences and speakers, workshop new approaches to programming and learn what else is happening beyond the UK, amongst other topics. Most importantly, there will be plenty of opportunities to network and socialise with other conference attendees - if only it serves to reassure you that you're not alone in this crazy little science engagement bubble!
Hosted by the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. Please arrive at 9.30 for a 10.15 start, the day will end at 17.15. Delegates are also invited to a drinks reception from 17.15 onwards. The venue will not be open before 9.30 so do bear that in mind.
Tickets + more info available here.
The National Forum for Public Engagement with STEM, a group that comprises Government, funders of STEM engagement across the UK, and the key national networks (ASDC, NCCPE, BSA) are hosting a national networking event on November 1st from 11am to 5.30pm in Central London.
This event is aimed at:
The event will provide the opportunity to learn more about the activity of the National Forum and to feed into collective priorities moving forward. The event will focus on the following priority areas:
Places are limited (and we may need to restrict to one per organisation). Please indicate your intention to attend by completing the expression of interest form by 12th October:
https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/national-forum-public-engagement-with-stem-networking-event
Background
The National Forum is a collective of key funders and organisations involved in setting the national agenda for public engagement in STEM. Established in 2014, our goal is to improve collaboration, co-operation and learning across the sector. We want to make better collective decisions and accelerate improvements across the science engagement system. The Forum was established to help tackle sector-wide challenges that can’t be solved by people working in isolation. For instance, how to address the balance of our funding across different purposes and audiences for engagement; identifying priority areas for sustained public engagement; exploring how we can gather more useful intelligence on the long-term impact of our work; and better supporting professional development and recognition.
You can find out more about our work here: http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/national-forum
If you can’t attend but would like to input into the Forum’s work moving forward we will shortly be circulating a sector survey. We want to hear from a wide range of people and professions, who are in some way involved in public engagement with STEM. This includes science journalists and writers, broadcasters, gamers, community practitioners, teachers and researchers. The full survey will be circulated shortly.
The Autumn edition of the BIG Members' e-newsletter is now available to read here.
Contents
Contact BIG: admin@big.uk.com
