Support from the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation will help a centre at Imperial in its mission to spark school students' interest in science.

In recognition of the support, the Reach Out Lab was officially renamed the Wohl Reach Out Lab on 19 June at an event hosted by the President & Rector Sir Keith O’Nions.

The lab is championed by Professor Winston, the College’s first Chair in Science and Society. When it opened in 2010, the pioneering initiative was a first for the sector, providing a state-of-the-art laboratory, designed specifically to engage school children in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities. Since it launched, thousands of students from schools across London and more widely, have visited the lab.

Professor Robert Winston and Professor Debra Humphris, Pro Rector (Education), chatted to school students who were visiting the Wohl Reach Out Lab

Professor Winston said: “Scientific literacy is of enormous social and economic importance. If the UK is to be at the forefront of science and innovation we need to engage them by showing them how exciting science is. One way to do this is seems to be with practical work and the programme is evaluating this. Unfortunately many schools don’t have good laboratory resources, and this affects the number of children who study science at A Level and at university.”

Professor Winston added: “Schemes like this are vital in ensuring all children have the opportunity to really engage in science; and we’re delighted that the Maurice Wohl Foundation is supporting us in this essential initiative”

Professor David Latchman, Chairman of the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation and nephew of the late Maurice Wohl said: “The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation is delighted to support The Wohl Reach Out Lab at Imperial. We know that good education systems worldwide place huge importance on science and technology education. We can therefore think of no better place than Imperial, with its long tradition of excellence in science, from which to reach out to primary and secondary school children to imbue them with the wonders of science and encourage them to continue on this path.”

Based at the College’s South Kensington campus, the lab aims to inspire children aged six to 18, encouraging them to study STEM subjects at A Level and at university. The dedicated space gives children the opportunity to take part in hands on experiments in five key areas: physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology and engineering. 

Guests attending the renaming event, were also given a guided tour of the lab, and met Year 6 students from Earlsfield Primary School, Shaftesbury Park Primary School and Honeywell Junior School. They took part in a number of activities, including doing operations with Professor Roger Kneebone at his pop-up operating theatre.

Sofie Jones, aged 10 from Earlsfield Primary School was one of the students to visit the lab. She said: “I really liked the pop-up surgery; we got to see what it would be like to do an operation. I’ve never really been in an environment like that before and it did feel real, especially at one point when some blood spurted out. That made everyone jump!”

Sofie Jones, one of the school students who visited the lab

Sachith Silva, aged 11 from Honeywell Junior School also attended. He said: “The lab was really fun, I did an experiment to find out about strawberry DNA and I also got to see some bugs including a millipede which I held, it was quite tickly.”

The funding supports the lab’s programme of activities for school children across London.

Professor Winston is researching the effect that the lab may have on the thinking and long-term opportunities of pupils who attend, tracking their progress over a ten year period. The research will also look at whether involvement in the lab develops the skills of teachers, and whether Imperial students volunteering as lab mentors become more likely to consider teaching as a career.

Alongside the Wohl Reach Out Lab, the College’s Outreach Office also offers summer schools, school mentoring programmes, demonstration lectures and school visits. 

Photos courtesy of Gordon Kam