A science festival has got underway this week at the University of Derby, Buxton, which has seen some famous faces and celebrated exhibitions from the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
Aimed at Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire secondary school students, Science in the Peak is an exciting event which combines a fun-packed programme of popular STEM activities with interactive exhibitions and talks from many leading scientists. The festival kicked off on Tuesday 30 June and runs through to Saturday 4th July 2009, with free entry to the general public.
It is supported by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) through its £9m STEM programme, Derbyshire County Council and the Institute of Physics Midlands.
Andrew Morgan, Skills and Communities Director at emda said: “It’s great that so many partners are working together to help more young people across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire discover how exciting the practical application of science can be. We’re delighted to support such an imaginative event as part of our vision for a flourishing region.”
Presenter of Radio 4’s The Material World – the UK’s most listened to science programme – Quentin Cooper, plus Blue Peter’s resident astronomer, Anton Vamplew, along with one of TV’s original and best-loved scientists and mathematicians, Johnny Ball, have all been involved in Science in the Peak.
Quentin Cooper has been informing and entertaining sixth form students at his “tongue-in-cheek” titled masterclass – Geeks, Freaks and Eggheads: The image of scientists.
“For all that science has done to transform our world, the popular image of scientists remains largely unchanged – male, white, usually bald, often with glasses and lab coats!” he explained. “With help from young people from the audience, we’ve explored why this view of scientists persists around the world and looked at what, if anything, can be done to change it.”
Celebrated exhibitions such as Darwin Today - an interactive celebration of the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, together with the National Space Centre’s Moon Landing Exhibition highlighting the 40th anniversary of the Apollo Moon Landing, are just two of the attractions that have been on show during the week.
Dianne Campbell of SciTec – part of the Derbyshire Education Business Partnership and event organiser, added: “This event is informing, inspiring and exciting young people about all the potential careers available to those studying the areas of science, technology, engineering and maths.”
Visit http://www.scienceinthepeak.co.uk/ for more information.