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

我们建议推行和扩展科学艺术比赛，以激发一个有意义和有针对性的公众参与过程。“伯明翰科学城”（BSC）项目定义了此次申办的科学和精神，该项目是由现任首相戈登·布朗议员在2005年指定6个科学城时发起的。因此，区域发展署，优势西米德兰兹（AWM），收到了一大笔赠款，它选择投资（自2007年以来）在罗素集团的两所研究密集型大学，伯明翰（UB）和华威（UW）的资本研究基础设施。总体目标是将西米德兰兹郡打造成世界科学、技术和创新的主要中心，并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，可以在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主任。最重要的是，公众认识到科学在我们日常生活中的重要性，这是更广泛的平衡计分卡计划的主要成果，该计划的座右铭是“生命的思想”。公众参与活动是科学城整体计划的重要组成部分；因此，BSC愿意与我们合作这项提案。这三个主题所概括的科学研究是所有科学中最具视觉启发性的。我们将联系大约80名在西澳大学和UB直接参与科学城项目的研究人员，并要求他们向SciArt竞赛提交参赛作品。征集的范围将包括照片、模拟或实验结果的图形描述、显微照片甚至笔记本的页面。评审参赛作品的标准是：图片必须具有视觉冲击力和艺术价值，但图片背后的故事、技术专长和科学价值也将被考虑在内。Nick Barker和Ally Caldecote的入围作品。这六幅获奖作品将被制作成专业海报，作为2010年9月在伯明翰举办的英国科学节的一部分展出。科学城研究人员将贡献他们的时间来为展览工作，向参加展览的公众解释图像背后的科学，以及科学的影响。一名平面设计师将用这六张图片制作一张复合海报，并将其邮寄给500所六年级学校，并附上一个范例课程计划，建议如何将其融入他们的常规课堂活动中。我们期待以散文、诗歌、图片、照片的形式得到回应，甚至可能是他们自己的实验。这些回答将在SciArt学校竞赛中进行评判，颁奖仪式将在一个显眼的地点举行，并将于12月与合作伙伴伯明翰市议会协商决定。最重要的是，化学和物理教学研究员将积极主动地与学校合作，通过定期访问学校课堂，在教育过程的各个阶段，跨越各种社会经济背景，并通过现场和更广泛地通过网络提供基于课程的材料，来传递图像背后的科学。访问UB/UW体验与图像相关的实验将作为后续活动。最终的作品将是2011年的日历，其中包括6张获奖图片和6所获奖学校的回应——目的是免费分发给参与的学校，并以商业价格出售给其他感兴趣的团体。

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.