The Molecular Odyssey - a journey through molecular assembly

我们希望让GCSE和A级学生、年轻的潜在研究人员、教育工作者、科学界、政策制定者和其他公众对化学和材料科学的魅力充满热情。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，同时也表达它们在为当今世界面临的许多改善生活的挑战寻找解决办法方面的重要性。人们往往很容易将化学视为“已解决的”，而事实却大相径庭--化学通常与工程学、生物学、医学、物理学和其他学科结合在一起，是令人兴奋的、动态的和不断发展的。无论从比喻上还是从字面上看，这都是我们的《分子奥德赛》想要展示的。通过使用非传统的分子电影方法，通过使用STFC资助的设施创建的分子电影，以及美丽的图像和物理模型来鼓励动手互动，我们的目标是激发想象力，让未皈依的人转化，以及吸引那些已经感兴趣的人，通过展示化学不仅仅是“臭气和刘海！”我们可以通过使用这些可视化技术展示分子如何反应、结构如何组装以及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，涉及从一个分子到原子或分子的宏观阵列的大小不等的单元。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”发生的过程中的重要性--如果没有这些设施，就不可能制作展示我们奇妙科学的分子电影！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丰富多彩和充满活力。实际上，我们希望这将导致年轻人从GCSE过渡到A-Level化学，并继续进入学位水平的学科，如化学、生物化学和材料科学、通过我们的STEM大使，我们正在与A-Level教师接触，让他们了解当前科学研究的最新情况，帮助他们将我们的影响向外传递给他们的学生。通过我们将作为分子奥德赛项目的一部分开发的材料，这种参与的有效性将大大增强。我们的项目还包括研究生和职业生涯早期的研究人员，因此将给这些年轻人提供机会来增强他们的陈述和沟通技能，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.