Revision as of 09:48, 24 July 2017

Education & Public Engagement

Science

it`s a way of life, not just for scientists!

Our whole civilization is built on the premises of science. Everywhere we go, we encounter its legacy that shaped today´s society. And still, even nowadays, it is confronted with scepticism and wariness by some people. Therefore, the only solution to this problem is to promote science and engage more fully with the public. A well-informed public guarantees for a flourishing future while also preventing any misinformation to be spread. Keeping the public in the dark about scientific aspirations and progress may relieve scientists of the burden to translate their complex work into transparent information, but ultimately doesn´t benefit anyone. Public engagement serves as a beneficial way to communicate with the public on scientific issues, bidirectionally. And our team did just that by giving lectures at the Kids´ University, holding interviews at the Science March as well as presenting our project at various events where questions were also answered. Our reports regarding these matters can be found below.

Education

Junge Uni FH Krems 2017

“Nature as a box of Lego bricks: Synthetic Biology
Did you ever think, that laboratory experiments in biology could be like building with Lego bricks? Or that you could produce medicine with bacteria and thereby heal diseases? Or that you could alter bacteria in a way that they like to eat plastic? In this lecture you can dip into the fascinating world of synthetic biology and learn how all that should work.”
That was the title and short description of our lecture for the kids university on 13th of July 2017 in Krems an der Donau, Austria. We were surprised and flattered that 85 kids decided to participate in our lecture. Four people of our team – Isabella, Martin, Mathias and Melanie – decided they wanted to share their knowledge about synthetic biology with kids from the age of nine to thirteen years old. Therefore we did our best to fill one hour with our best explanations of synthetic biology and all that goes with it: We talked about different types of cells, explained that all living things share one thing, which is DNA. We showed a 3D animated video of DNA strings and then defined what synthetic biology is. We gave an overview about what can be done with synthetic biology now and what could possibly be done with synthetic biology in the future. We could tell that kids were really fascinated by the topic, when they were able to ask any open questions. We realized, that those kids had a very unbiased and creative approach, as we tried to answer their questions: “Could you modify the genes of a person in a way that they could breathe in space?” or “Could you alter somebody genetically so that they can have gills?”. As a fun closing exercise, we decided to fold an origami DNA strand with the kids. To sum up, we enjoyed passing our knowledge on to young, interested individuals. Looking into their beaming eyes when they were asking questions tells us our attempt was a success.

Our Team

Over 80 kids attended

Folding DNA strands

Public Engagement

Science March

On the 22nd of April we took to the streets to protest for science as part of the ‘March of Science’! Science as one of the keystones of a modern society does not only follow us in our daily routine as scientists, it also leads mankind to a better future. In times of alternative facts and chemtrails, it is our duty to stand up for valid and verifiable research. Before the march started, there was a ‘science picknick’ where we had the chance to talk about our project ideas and iGEM.

Interview with the organisers of "Vienna March for Science"

One hour later we enthusiastically started marching together with the other science supporters!

Some teammembers marching for science.

Rare snapshot of an allosaurus.

Spritzerstand

To inform our fellow students and friends about our work, we organized a "Spritzerstand". We had a good time discussing our project and also raised some money.

Our charming team.

I'm feeding on money. #moneyauxotroph

Enjoying a cold Spritzer on the terrace.

Muthgassen Sommerfest

Summer is here, let's give a big cheer! Our Team celebrated the beginning of summer by selling home-baked cakes and coffee at the "Muthgassen Sommerfest" where we were able to raise some money for this project. Here are a few pictures that captured the good atmosphere of that evening.

Presenting our project.

Selling our home-baked cakes.

So many people came to try our delicious cakes.

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                  <p>Our whole civilization is built on the premises of science. Everywhere we go, we encounter its legacy that shaped today´s society. And still, even nowadays, it is confronted with scepticism and wariness by some people. Therefore, the only solution to this problem is to promote science and engage more fully with the public. A well-informed public guarantees for a flourishing future while also preventing any misinformation to be spread. Keeping the public in the dark about scientific aspirations and progress may relieve scientists of the burden to translate their complex work into transparent information, but ultimately doesn´t benefit anyone. Public engagement serves as a beneficial way to communicate with the public on scientific issues, bidirectionally. And our team did just that by giving lectures at the Kids´ University, holding interviews at the Science March as well as presenting our project at various events where questions were also answered. Our reports regarding these matters can be found below.
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