果冻影院

The 果冻影院 STEM Participation and Social Justice research group, based at IOE, 果冻影院鈥檚 Faculty of Education and Society, aims to make STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) more inclusive, accessible and equitable for all young people. Its research projects range from working with primary school teachers in developing a 鈥渟cience capital鈥� teaching approach that helps children find more meaning and relevance in science subjects, to a longitudinal research project following young people鈥檚 career aspirations from age 10 to 23.

The team was awarded the Royal Society Athena Prize 鈥�for their cutting-edge research and development projects which have increased understanding, transformed practice, and led to more equitable participation in STEM鈥�. The prize recognises teams who have contributed most to the advancement of diversity in STEM.

Professor Louise Archer (IOE), who leads the group, said: 鈥淚t is wonderful to have the STEM Participation & Social Justice group鈥檚 work recognised by the Royal Society and the scientific community. We hope that winning this award can further our messages of social justice within science education and help us to continue to improve equitable STEM participation for young people.鈥�

Professor Richard Ellis (果冻影院 Physics & Astronomy), who has tracked ever more distant galaxies over his career in a quest to find the moment of 鈥渃osmic dawn鈥�, when stars first lit up the Universe, was awarded Royal Medal A, the Society鈥檚 highest honour for the physical sciences.

Professor Ellis was awarded the medal for 鈥渕otivating numerous advances in telescopes and instrumentation, and exploiting these facilities to revolutionise the understanding of cosmological evolution鈥�. The Society noted that Professor Ellis 鈥渉ad foreseen the importance of applying new technologies, motivating him to raise funds, design and then exploit innovative instruments that have greatly accelerated progress [in the field]鈥�.

Professor Ellis said: 鈥淚 am greatly honoured to be the recipient of this major Royal Society award, joining a distinguished list of previous awardees, many of whom have been my personal scientific heroes.鈥� Previous recipients of the award include the Nobel laureates Professor Abdus Salam and Professor Sir Roger Penrose. At 果冻影院, previous winners have included Professor Sir Harrie Massey and Professor Sir Michael Pepper (果冻影院 Electronic & Electrical Engineering).

Professor Tiago Branco (Sainsbury Wellcome Centre at 果冻影院) was awarded the Francis Crick Medal and Lecture for 鈥渕aking fundamental advances in the molecular, cellular and circuit bases of neuronal computation and for successfully linking these to animal behaviour鈥�.

Professor Branco鈥檚 current research investigates how the mouse brain implements escape behaviour, helping to improve understanding of how the brain performs computations and of areas of the human brain that are involved in anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, with the hope of finding new ways to treat these mental health conditions.

He said: 鈥淚 am honoured to receive the Francis Crick Medal and Lecture. It is a great privilege to have our work recognised by the Royal Society and through this award become associated with Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner 鈥� two giants of science whose work has been such a source of inspiration over the years.

鈥淚 feel extremely grateful for all the support I have had in my career so far and for all the amazing colleagues that I work with, especially the young people who keep injecting new ideas, excitement, and pushing science in the group beyond our comfort zone. The body of work that this award recognises is a truly collaborative effort across many incredible people. I am excited that this award might increase the visibility of our field and of the importance of curiosity-driven science.鈥�

Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, said, 鈥淥n behalf of the Royal Society, I offer my congratulations to the outstanding researchers, individuals and teams whose contributions to our collective scientific endeavour have helped further our understanding of the world around us. I am proud that we can celebrate outstanding scientific contributions in all their forms.鈥�

Links

• 果冻影院 STEM Participation and Social Justice research group
• IOE, 果冻影院鈥檚 Faculty of Education and Society
• 果冻影院 Physics & Astronomy
• 果冻影院 Mathematical & Physical Sciences
• 果冻影院 Life Sciences

Image

• Clockwise from left: STEM Participation and Social Justice team; Professor Tiago Branco; Professor Richard Ellis.

Media contact

Mark Greaves

T: +44 (0)7990 675947

E: m.greaves [at] ucl.ac.uk