Scientific Art - Reflecting on a Science City: a proposal for a Partnership in Public Engagement in the West Midlands Region.

我们建议实施和扩大科学艺术竞赛，以激发有意义和有针对性的公众参与进程。这次申办背后的科学和精神由“伯明翰科学城”(BSC)项目定义，该项目是由现任首相戈登·布朗在2005年指定6个科学城时发起的。因此，地区发展署Advantage West Midland(AWM)收到了一大笔赠款，它选择(自2007年以来)投资于两所罗素集团研究密集型大学--伯明翰大学(伯明翰)和华威大学(UW)--的地区资本研究基础设施。大局是使西米德兰兹地区成为世界舞台上主要的科学、技术和创新中心的雄心，并随之而来的是为该地区的人民带来文化、教育和经济利益。通过将AWM的资金与欧洲区域发展基金(ERDF)的投资相结合，已有可能在UB/UW的三个主要主题上进行投资：先进材料(2000万美元)、能源期货(1700万美元)和转化医学(2000万美元)。PI是这两所大学这些项目的研究总监。至关重要的是，公众对科学在我们日常生活中的重要性的认识，是更广泛的BSC计划的主要成果，该计划的座右铭是生命的想法。公众参与活动是整个科学城一揽子计划的关键要素；因此，BSC愿意在这一计划中与我们合作。这三个主题概括的科学研究是所有科学中最具视觉启发性的一部分。在威斯康星大学和宾夕法尼亚大学的科学城项目中直接参与这些主题的大约80名研究人员将被联系，并被要求提交参赛作品。电话会议的范围将包括照片、模拟或实验结果的图形描述、显微照片，甚至笔记本页面。SCHART参赛作品的评判标准是：图像必须在视觉上引人注目，具有与其科学兴趣无关的艺术价值，但图片背后的故事、技术专长和科学价值也将被考虑在内。尼克·巴克和艾丽·卡尔德克特的入围作品。这六幅获奖作品作为专业海报制作，将作为2010年9月在伯明翰举行的英国科学节的一部分展出。科学城研究员将贡献他们的时间为展览工作人员，向参加展览的公众解释图像背后的科学，以及这种科学的影响。平面设计师将根据这六张图片制作一张合成海报，并将在第六年邮寄给500所学校，并附上一个范例教案，建议如何将其融入他们的常规课堂活动。我们期待以散文、诗歌、图片、照片的形式回应，甚至可能是他们自己的实验。这些回应将在科学学校的比赛中进行评判，颁奖仪式将在突出的场地举行，将于12月与合作伙伴伯明翰市议会协商决定。最重要的是，以化学和物理为基础的教学研究员将通过在教育过程的所有阶段定期访问学校班级和跨越各种社会经济背景并通过现场和更广泛的网络提供以课程为基础的材料，积极参与学校传播图像背后的科学。访问华盛顿大学，体验与图像相关的实验，将作为后续活动。最终的输出将是2011年的日历，其中包括6张获奖图片和6张获奖学校回复-目的是免费向参与的学校分发这些图片，并以商业价格将其出售给其他感兴趣的各方。

We propose to implement and extend a Scientific Art competition to spark a meaningful and targeted public engagement process. The science and ethos underlying this bid is defined by the 'Birmingham Science City' (BSC) project, which was initiated by our current Prime Minister Gordon Brown MP when he designated 6 Science Cities in 2005. As a result, the Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands (AWM), was in receipt of a large grant, which it chose to invest (since 2007) in the capital research infrastructure of the region within the two Russell-group research-intensive universities, Birmingham (UB) and Warwick (UW). The big-picture is the ambition to make the West Midlands region a major hub for science, technology and innovation on the world-stage with the cultural, educational and economic benefits to the people of the region that will follow. By combining AWM's funding with investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), it has been possible to invest across three major Themes: Advanced Materials (20M), Energy Futures (17M) and Translational Medicine (20M) in UB/UW. The PI is the Research Director of these projects for the two universities. Crucially, the appreciation by the public of the importance of Science in our every-day lives, is a major outcome of the wider BSC programme, which has the motto Ideas for Life . Public engagement activity is a key element of the overall Science City package; hence the willingness of BSC to partner with us in this proposal.The scientific research encapsulated by the three Themes is some of the most visually inspiring of all science. The 80 or so researchers who work directly within the Science City projects on these themes at UW and UB will be contacted and asked to submit entries to the SciArt competition. The scope of the call will cover photographs, graphical depictions of results of simulations or experiments, micrographs or even pages from notebooks. The criterion by which SciArt entries will be judged is: the images must be visually striking with artistic merit independent of their scientific interest, however the story behind the picture , the technical expertise and scientific merit will also be taken into consideration. shortlisted entries by Nick Barker and Ally Caldecote.The six winning images, produced as professional posters, will be exhibited , as part of the British Festival of Science, which is to be hosted in Birmingham in September 2010. Science City Research Fellows will contribute their time to staff the exhibition, explaining the science behind the images, and the impact of that science, to the members of the public who attend it. A composite poster will be constructed from the six images by a graphic designer and this will be mailed to 500 schools for Year 6 with an example lesson plan suggesting how it could be integrated into their regular classroom activities. We expect responses in the form of prose, poems, pictures, photographs, and possibly even experiments of their own .These responses will be judged in the SciArt schools competition with a prize ceremony hosted in prominent venue, to be decided in consultation with partner Birmingham City Council, in December. Most importantly, Teaching Fellows based in Chemistry and Physics will proactively engage with schools in Delivering the Science behind the images through their regular visits to school classes at all stages of the education process, and across the full range of socio-economic backgrounds and through working on curriculum-based material to be delivered both on-site and more widely via the web. Visits to UB/UW to experience experiments connected to the images will be hosted as a follow-up. The final output will be a calendar for 2011 featuring the 6 winning images and 6 winning school responses - the aim is to distribute this at no charge to participating schools and to sell it at a commercial rate to other interested parties.