• Question: Why should I vote for you?

    Asked by flipper to Dalya, Derek, Sarah, Tim, Tom on 14 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by lauren1997, munaiba, fabgurlb6, amisazaman, aisha111, thesalma.
    • Photo: Tim Millar

      Tim Millar answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      You should vote for the person you would most like to win based on their answers, or for any other reason that seems okay. I don’t think anyone will be offended if you don’t vote for them. Hopefully you’ll have a fun time reading al the science and learn something new (I already have).

      But if you do want to vote for me then it might help me get the funds together to improve my props box, the equipment that I take with me to schools as at the moment, it would be great to take some microscopes in for students to use. To do that I need some money to fix the ones I have found in cupboards gathering dust.

      So yes, vote fo me.

    • Photo: Tom Crick

      Tom Crick answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hi flipper — hopefully you will vote for the scientist who you think has answered the wide range of questions well! Remember that we are all specialists in our own science areas, so it has been an interesting experience thinking about the wide range of science covered at school — I think we are (re-)learning stuff too!

      However, I would be very happy to have £500 to spend on running activities/events to promote computer science in schools and also to raise awareness with the general public, so please vote for me!

    • Photo: Sarah Thomas

      Sarah Thomas answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      I think that you should vote for me because I am already running workshops for students in schools and at public events, but the amount of workshops I can do is limited by the funds I have available for science communication. I have created a Cancer Research workshop that is aimed at Years 8-10, to show people about the causes of cancer and the fantastic research that scientists are doing to fight it. I want to show people how they can be healthier so they can pass the message on to their families and hopefully avoid getting cancers in the first place. I also want to encourage young people into science and show them how important it is in every day life. And hopefully when students meet me, they can see that I am a normal person, and that you don’t have to get straight As to do something in science.

      I made a video clip of one the experiments that you can do in my workshop. Please take a look if you’re interested!

      I firmly believe that science workshops should be free to schools and that they enhance the curriculum and give the students a bit of a day off from all the studying! I have never ever earned any money from doing science communication and the events that I have done have always been completely free to the public.

      The problem is that materials get used up in the workshop that have to be replaced so there is a cost for me to run it. A lot of the materials I can borrow from my lab, but the rest of it I pay for myself.

      At the Dunbar Science Festival this year, I had 2000 visitors to my workshop – that’s a lot of people! And at the Edinburgh Science Festival, I had over 5000 visitors! But I don’t just do workshops in schools and at science festivals. In August this year, I will be hosting lab tours for members of the public to come and see our labs and do some experiments of their own! I’ve done this before for cancer Research UK volunteers and the really enjoyed it! And last month I spent 3 weeks doing demos and science experiments with a local brownie pack (age 7 10).

      So vote for me, because I am very active in science communication, and because I have a set plan for how to spend the prize money, and a brilliant workshop to run in schools this year.

    • Photo: Dalya Soond

      Dalya Soond answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      I think everyone in Chromium is worthy of votes, and I wouldn’t be sorry if I got kicked out because everyone is doing such a great job and I am just having tons of fun.

      The reason why you might want to choose me is because my project is a little different from everyone else’s.
      Many projects in all zones of IAS are for people who attend science festivals or go to visit labs. This is fantastic and I have participated in these things myself, but they target people who are already very interested in science.

      What I would like to do is get people who never think about science to actually start realising it is in their lives and all around them. So I thought if we put a really fun YouTube video up, it might get circulated around the world, and not just to the people at science festivals in the UK, and people who see it will learn something new. As a bonus, you guys would help me write the song and maybe act in it as well, but the details still need to be worked out if the project wins.

      Happy voting everyone!

    • Photo: Derek McKay-Bukowski

      Derek McKay-Bukowski answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Votes should be given to the person you consider to be the best… it could be for the way they describe things, their science conversations in the live chat sessions, their projects or their plans for using the prize money. Hey, that’s the best bit. Power to the students. You get to choose!

      I’m just a scientist. 😉

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