Illuminating Astrophysics Engagement in Blackpool, Lancashire

布莱克浦度假胜地在几代英国度假者的感情中占有独特的地位。伦敦塔、欢乐海滩、舞会和码头等城镇标志性建筑为繁忙的夏季提供了背景，秋季则是著名的彩灯。然而，对于那些住在布莱克浦大部分地区的人来说，生活描绘了一幅截然不同的画面。政府统计数据将布莱克浦列为英格兰第四大贫困地区，只有43%的学生在普通中等教育证书中获得5个或以上的A*-C成绩，只有不到12%的学生进入高等教育。该公共参与领导奖学金（PE）与布莱克浦委员会合作，旨在激励该镇的年轻人参与并随后从事科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）方面的职业。这将为他们提供更好的未来职业前景，并在该地区建立一支更熟练的劳动力队伍。这项工作还将培训其他研究人员在该国其他地区采取类似的参与方法。有三股：1。该奖学金将使我能够在从小学六年级到中学八年级的三年时间里，与来自这些贫困地区的一群特定的年轻人接触。这次活动将包括我和其他天文学家参观学校、社区活动和参观中央兰开夏的专门设施。这些是中央兰开夏/里青年科学家中心（YSC；一个充满活力的实验室空间，致力于提供互动的STEM研讨会）和奥尔斯顿天文台（一个教学和体育设施，容纳现代和历史望远镜，展览和天文馆）。每个活动都有一个课程计划，说明要达到的目标以及如何进行评估。这些活动包括建造火星漫游者，在风暴太阳附近生活。重点将是激励年轻人参与STEM，从而激发他们追求科学事业的愿望。将为参与的教师举办一个年度讲习班，同时还将举办一个以社区为基础的小型科学节，邀请学生的家庭参加。2. 重要的是要利用这项工作产生的机会来培训科学家的体育。来自英国各地的研究人员将被邀请参加YSC活动，亲身体验如何在这种环境下最好地工作。在访问学校时，我也会带上我所在大学的早期职业研究人员。这两项活动都有一个重要的因素，那就是学生们自己会见鼓舞人心的科学家，这些科学家可以成为他们的榜样。2016年，中央兰开夏大学在坎布里亚郡怀特黑文举办了一个由stfc资助的互动天体物理学展览和艺术装置项目（参见短片https://gmoo.gl/bB9gUC）。因此，我将利用获得奖学金的机会，在布莱克浦进一步开展这项工作。委员会非常希望看到这些私募股权投资机会与该度假村最著名的项目联系在一起。这包括;布莱克浦照明的天体物理学：上面的艺术装置包括一个巨大的半圆形太阳图像投影，伴随着特别作曲的配乐和一部太阳教育电影。我将与布莱克浦照明团队合作，评估开发这一科学图像的最有效方式。-舞蹈工作室：拥有著名的塔舞厅，度假村是各种舞蹈的代名词。与布莱克浦委员会一起，我将调查与适当的当地舞蹈团体合作，以采用和适应以前开发的天文学舞蹈讲习班。-科学单口喜剧：布莱克浦的喜剧遗产是无与伦比的。然而，对科学单口相声的兴趣并没有影响到这个度假胜地。一个适当的推广途径是举办一个“光明俱乐部布莱克浦”（www.brightclub.org）。与理事会合作提供了与场馆一起工作并相应地寻求赞助的途径。

The resort of Blackpool holds a unique place in the affections of generations of British holidaymakers. The town's iconic landmarks of the Tower, Pleasure Beach, Prom and Piers provide a backdrop for busy summer seasons followed in autumn by the famous Illuminations. However, for those living in large parts of Blackpool, life paints a very different picture. Government statistics rank Blackpool was as England's 4th most deprived region with only 43% of pupils obtaining 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE and less than 12% entering Higher Education. This Leadership Fellowship in Public Engagement (PE) is in collaboration with Blackpool Council and seeks to inspire young people in the town into engaging with and subsequently pursing a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This will provide them with better future career prospects as well as build a more skilled workforce within the region. The work will also train other researchers to undertake similar approaches to engagement in other parts of the country. There are three strands:1. The Fellowship will allow me to engage with a specific group of young people from these deprived areas over a three-year period from Year 6 (Primary) through to Year 8 (Secondary). This engagement will consist of school visits by myself and other astronomers, community events and trips to specialised UCLan facilities. These are the UCLan/Ri Young Scientist Centre (YSC; a vibrant laboratory space dedicated to offering interactive STEM workshops) and Alston Observatory (a teaching and PE facility that houses both modern and historical telescopes, exhibitions and a planetarium).Each event will have a lesson plan of what is to be achieved and how it will be evaluated. Example activities include building a Mars Rover through to living close to our stormy Sun. The focus will be on inspiring young people to engage in STEM and so spark their aspiration of pursuing a career in science. An annual workshop for the participating teachers will be held along with an annual community-based mini-science festival to which the families of the pupil cohort will be invited. 2. It is important to use the opportunities that arise from this work to train scientists in PE. Researchers from all over the UK will be invited to join in the YSC activities to experience for themselves how best to work in this environment. On visits to schools, I will also take with me early career researchers from my own university. Both of these activities have the important element of the pupils themselves meeting inspiring scientists who can be role models for them.3. In 2016, UCLan delivered an STFC-funded interactive astrophysics exhibition and art installation project in Whitehaven, Cumbria (see a short movie at https://gmoo.gl/bB9gUC ). Thus I will use the opportunity of the Fellowship to pursue this work further in Blackpool. The Council are keen to see these PE opportunities being associated with what the resort is best known for. This includes;- Astrophysics at the Blackpool Illuminations: The art installation above consisted of a large, semi-circular projection of solar images along with a specially composed soundtrack and an Sun educational movie. I will collaborate with the Blackpool Illuminations team to assess the most impactful way of developing this science imagery.- Dance workshops: With the famous Tower Ballroom, the resort is synonymous with dance of all types. With Blackpool Council, I will investigate working with appropriate local dance groups to employ and adapt the astronomy dance workshops previously developed. - Science Stand-up Comedy: Blackpool's comedy heritage is unsurpassed. Yet the interest in science stand-up has not touched the resort. One appropriate route to introduce this would be to host a "Bright Club Blackpool" (www.brightclub.org). Collaborating with the Council provides a route to working alongside venues and seeking sponsorship accordingly.