Researchers from one of the NIHR Newcastle BRC’s research themes have been commended for their work to engage children in science in Newcastle University’s Engagement and Place awards.

Laura Jardine, Emily Stephenson, Simone Webb and Olga Gumenyuk are part of the BRC’s Skin disease, oral disease and immunogenomics research theme.

They were recently commended for their project, Spy School, in the ‘Early Career Researcher’ category at the Engagement and Place Awards, which showcase great examples of collaboration with the public.

Their project saw a whodunnit science fair for 420 students aged 4-11 at Cragside Primary School. Its mission was to promote widespread, early, and diverse enthusiasm for STEM subjects.

Laura Jardine said:

“I’m passionate about public engagement, especially for young people. I’ve done engagement with secondary schools but wanted to engage them at a younger age and enthuse them about science.

Spy School was a mystery for them to solve using scientific instruments such as microscopes and pipettes. The idea was that the crown jewels had been stolen.

The children had to solve who had committed the crime using different experiments including looking at a pretend soil sample under the microscope, dusting for fingerprints and separating ink using chromatography. We took in equipment such as microscopes and pipettes.

The children were so excited and asked some brilliant questions – everyone got a sticker that said ‘I solved the case’.

It was a good way of making science interesting and accessible.”