Dr Dom-Cairns Gibson, BioQuarter Education and Community Manager, profiles science outreach programes taking place in our communities.
The BioQuarter Community Team works with all Edinburgh BioQuarter partners (University of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian, Scottish Enterprise and City of Edinburgh Council) to deliver transformational opportunities to the neighbouring communities of Craigmillar, Niddrie, Moredun and Gilmerton. This could not happen without the support of hundreds of staff and students from across the site. Here’s a snapshot of some of the activities that have taken part in the past year.
Science mentors
ScienceMentors@Castlebrae was back in full swing for the academic year. Over 40 members of staff and students from across the BioQuarter joined in to deliver the mentoring programme at our neighbouring Castlebrae Community Campus. While many of the school pupils came for the free pizza, they stayed for the homework help, advice on their school projects and honest conversation about what life was like at university. From mentors being able to use their own CT scans to teach pupils about the brain, to pupils stumbling upon ideas for innovative tumour immunotherapy, our mentors and mentees have had an utterly unique experience that has inspired and motivated on both sides.
Science buddies
Back for its second year running, Science Buddies has been a marvellous success. Teams of scientists worked within five local primary schools to deliver top quality activities to five of our local schools. From PCR relay races to elephant’s toothpaste (a firm favourite), the Science Buddies have become science best friends by visiting their schools regularly through the year.
“The children loved having their buddies in, definitely a highlight of their weeks! They were very motivated to listen and learn more about science.” – class teacher
Community Science Festival
The Community Science Festival returned for the first time since before the pandemic and was hosted in its new home, the Castlebrae Superlab. Twelve different activities were delivered by ten partners from across the BioQuarter in a science packed afternoon.
The Lothian Birth Cohort brought along amazing 3D printed brains, to ignite conversation about brain development with the community. Two of our partner primary schools were supported by their science buddies to host a super fun (and slightly messy) slime and Oobleck station. Further activities were delivered by the School of Biological Science, School of Chemistry, RoslinCT, LifeArc, the Biomedical Society, and the Lab22. Over 130 young people and their families came along and 100% said they would come again next year!
Internships
The internship programme at Edinburgh BioQuarter began in 2016 in the Centre for Regenerative Medicine. Since then, the programme has grown dramatically, and this year Edinburgh BioQuarter were able to offer four-week paid placements to seven pupils from three local high school; Castlebrae Community Campus, Gracemount High School, and Liberton High School.
The interns joined research groups and core facilities in the Institute for Regeneration and Repair (IRR), Centre for Clinical Brain Science (CCBS) and Centre for Cardiovascular Science (CVS). The level of support for the programme this year was unprecedented. Over 50 members of staff were involved, from colleagues in admin and HR who processed the paperwork, Health and Safety who carried out inductions, to research and technical staff who shared their passion for science. The overwhelming feedback from the interns was how welcomed and inspired they felt at Edinburgh BioQuarter.
A huge thank you goes to every single person who took part, and to the Institute for Regeneration and Repair, Centre for Clinical Brain Science and Centre for Cardiovascular Science for providing funding for the programme.
Discover programme
Discover has become a regular part of the annual community programme. Run by the City of Edinburgh Council, Discover provides support for families at risk of social isolation or food poverty during the holidays. Families are provided with breakfast and lunch, as well as a range of fun filled activities. Science has become a firm favourite with the families, through activities, such as creating sustainable artwork with ‘Jars in Action’, extracting their own DNA, and learning chemistry themed magic tricks.
Vaccination awareness
Working in partnership with the NHS Lothian vaccination team, University of Glasgow and University of Aberdeen, a workshop on the HPV (Human Papillomavirus) vaccination was developed and delivered. In a pilot project, the workshop was delivered to every S1 and S2 pupil at Castlebrae Community Campus. This saw an increase in confidence in the vaccination, with the NHS team reporting that vaccination day was significantly more relaxed than in previous years. There was an increase in the number of pupils who opted into having their vaccination and who turned up on the day. Due to the success of the programme, it will be extended to all the schools local to Edinburgh BioQuarter for the next academic year.
Get in touch
Thank you so much to everyone who has been involved over the past year. If you would like to get involved with any of the programmes listed above, or you have your own idea for a project, then please get in touch at community@edinburghbioquarter.com
