Eleven students from the Plastic Electronics CDT recently joined COATED CDT students for a Science Communication Course at the Royal Institution.

In recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on the importance of public engagement and outreach within science, and rightly so. Science is publicly funded and therefore, as scientists, it is our responsibility to inform and engage with the public. There are a multitude of other good reasons for public engagement: inspiring the next generation, increasing trust in experts and, more selfishly, improving communication skills and having fun. These were the themes explored in the first session at the Royal Institution’s Public Engagement Course, attended by Plastic Electronics CDT students from Cohorts 6, 7 and 8.

Across two days, students were given talks and workshops on many aspects of public engagement, building on the first year course given by Dr Simon Foster at Imperial College London. Fran Scott, a CBBC science presenter, gave talks on how to give demonstrations and create effective and interesting videos. There was also the chance to try some experiments for use in schools, in which the students were able to create their own lip balm!

The students who attended the course would like to thank the CDT for providing the opportunity and funding. It is hoped that they can use the skills they have learnt to further add to the CPE’s outreach activities!