The Molecular Odyssey - a journey through molecular assembly

我们希望吸引和热情的GCSE和A - level学生，年轻的潜在研究人员，教育工作者，科学界，政策制定者和其他成员与化学和材料科学的魅力公众。其中最重要的一个方面是强调这些科学与世界的前沿相关性——表达它们的兴奋之情，同时也表达它们在寻找解决当今世界面临的许多改善生活的挑战方面的重要性。人们常常很容易将化学视为“已解决”的问题，然而事实远非如此——化学，通常与工程学、生物学、医学、物理学和其他学科相结合，是令人兴奋的、动态的和不断发展的。无论是隐喻还是字面上，这就是我们的分子奥德赛要展示的。通过使用stfc资助的设施创建的分子电影的非传统方法，以及美丽的图像和物理模型来鼓励动手互动，我们的目标是捕捉想象力和“转换未转换”，以及吸引那些已经有兴趣的人，通过展示化学不仅仅是“臭气和爆炸”！“通过使用这些可视化技术，我们可以展示分子是如何反应的，结构是如何组装的，化学和生物过程是如何发生的。我们将演示快速和缓慢的过程，涉及从一个分子到宏观原子或分子阵列的大小不等的单位。在所有这些过程中，我们将说明同步辐射，中子衍射和激光光谱学在帮助我们“看到”过程发生时的重要性-如果没有这些设备，现在在RAL网站上可用，就不可能制作分子电影来说明我们的神奇科学！我们项目的影响是向社会各阶层展示分子世界的美丽和魅力，分子世界就像研究宇宙一样多样化和动态。实际上，我们希望这将导致更多的年轻人从GCSE到A-level化学，再到学位水平的科目，如化学、生物化学和材料科学，从而加强英国的科学基础。通过我们的STEM大使，我们与A-Level教师合作，让他们了解最新的研究科学，帮助我们的影响向外扩展到他们的学生身上。作为分子奥德赛项目的一部分，我们将开发的材料将大大提高这种合作的有效性。我们的项目还包括研究生和早期职业研究人员，因此将为这些年轻人提供提高他们的演讲和沟通技巧的机会，再次增加英国的人才库。

We wish to engage and enthuse GCSE and A level students, young potential researchers, educators, the scientific community,policy makers and other members of the public with the fascination of Chemistry and Materials Science. One of the most importantaspects of this is to stress the cutting-edge relevance of these sciences to the world – expressing their excitement but also theirimportance in finding solutions to many of the life-improving challenges faced by the world today. It is often easy for people todismiss Chemistry as “solved”, whereas the truth is far different – Chemistry, often in combination with Engineering, Biology,Medicine, Physics and others, is exciting, dynamic and evolving. Metaphorically and literally, this is what our Molecular Odyssey willseek to show. By using the non-conventional method of molecular movies, created through the use of STFC-funded facilities, aswell as beautiful imagery and physical models to encourage hands-on interaction, we aim to capture the imagination and ‘convertthe unconverted’, as well as engaging those who already have an interest, by showing that Chemistry is more than ‘just stinks andbangs!’We can show how molecules react, how structures assemble and how chemical and biological processes occur through the use ofthese visualisation techniques. We will demonstrate both fast and slow processes involving units ranging in size from one moleculeto a macroscopic array of atoms or molecules. In all these processes we will illustrate the importance of synchrotron radiation, ofneutron diffraction and of laser spectroscopy in helping us to “see” the processes as they occur – without these facilities, nowavailable on the RAL site, it would not be possible to make the molecular movies that illustrate our fantastic science!The impact of our project is to show all levels of society the beauty and fascination of the molecular world, which is every bit asdiverse and dynamic as studying the cosmos.In practical terms we hope this will result in an increased transition of young people from GCSE to A-level Chemistry, onwards andupwards into degree-level subjects such as Chemistry, Biochemistry and Materials Science, thereby strengthening the science baseof the UK.Working through our STEM Ambassador, we are engaging with A-Level teachers to keep them up-to-date with current researchscience, helping cascade our impact outwards to their students. The effectiveness of this engagement will be greatly enhancedthrough the materials we will develop as part of The Molecular Odyssey project.Our programme also involves graduate students and early-career researchers, so will give these young people the opportunity toenhance their presentation and communication skills, again adding to the talent pool of the UK.