Photonics for the next generation
In 2017, the University of Southampton was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its world-leading expertise in ‘harnessing the power of light’. The Award panel particularly noted our photonics outreach activities as an area of strength. Our outreach programme engages with schools and the public to raise awareness of the impact of photonics on our daily lives and to promote opportunities to study and pursue careers in physics. A key aim of the programme is to reach underserved audiences, including working with ‘Widening Participation’ (WP) schools and encouraging greater gender equality in the science and technology fields. In 2017 we delivered a suite of activities, including performing with our travelling Light Express Roadshow, holding a series of hands-on workshops run by our student-led Light Wave outreach team, and providing free photonics kits to schools, alongside training for teachers, with support from EU-funded outreach projects (Photonics4All, PHABLABS 4.0 and Eyest Photonics Explorer Kits). To date, we have worked with: n Over 10,550 school pupils, college students, teachers and members of the public n Over 90 schools n And delivered over 75 events, in partnership with eight different organisations. We have successfully reached a range of people, including large numbers of parents and members of the general public (comprising 50% of our total audience), as well as GCSE and A Level students (33% of total audience) and teachers, who play a pivotal role in inspiring new generations of photonics researchers with knowledge and motivation.
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