Growing Knowledge: The evolution of research

Growing Knowledge is the current exhibition at the British Library, “showcasing innovative research tools…[which] will inform and inspire today’s researchers, and spark a debate on the future of research”. As part of the exhibition a number of themed reader’s events were organised. I managed to get a place for the ‘Science and Technology’ event which was held on the 27th of October.

The exhibition consists of a number of tools which might possibly be the research tools of the future. These included a 3D image projector you can manipulate and a tablet for group work (though they will change over time). There are also a number of computer set-ups with research-related tools installed on them which are showcasing what could be the computer set-up at the library in the future.

At the event we were greeted by people from the Science and Technology department at the library and the curator of the exhibition, Matt Shaw. They first explained to us where the exhibition is at the moment; the exhibition is an evolving one, changing as new input is gathered from visitors and researchers. Then we had some time to experience the different computer set-ups and the applications installed on them.

I spent more time talking to people and asking questions rather than using the computer set-ups myself. I do think though that the highlighting of research tools which might be useful and facilitating their access in the library would be a great way of moving forward. In the ever-connected world we are living in it would be great to have even the resources in the library inter-connected and pulled together. This will not mean that research using the physical items will be abolished, but that you might be led down a path you didn’t think of previously.

I hope to have a better look at the applications on show some other time. In the meantime though, do go and have a look yourself! What are you expectations from an international library such as the British Library when it comes to resources offered? Is them having the physical books enough? Or would you appreciate the facility to use technology-based resources too to facilitate the process? I certainly would appreciate having the option!

Filed under: Events and Activities, Public Engagement, 3D image projectors, British Library, exhibition curator, Growing Knowledge, innovation, library resources, Matt Shaw, research tools, science and technology

Science in the New Parliament

Science informs almost every area of public policy. The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is the body responsible for bringing  issues related to science and technology to the attention of MPs to inform parliamentary debate.

They go about doing this in various ways, from producing special briefings, called POSTnotes, to supporting and organising discussions. Yesterday, POST organised one such event: an interactive exhibition for parliamentarians and guests to experience some of the work funded in the UK by the leading research public sector bodies.

The AHRC was represented by the Science and Heritage programme. As one of the PhD students in this programme, I was invited, together with two others, to present our work on colour photographs (me), tapestries (Philippa Duffus), and limestone buildings (Rachel Walker).

As it was a hands-on exhibition, I wanted to take something which people can see and touch themselves. I went there with my NIR spectrophotometer and a couple of photographs, to show people how dating colour photographs can be carried out using a portable piece of equipment.

This was my first time attending such an event. The experience of interacting with so many people, many of which seemed genuinely interested in the research, was highly invigorating. I also enjoyed the fact that the people there varied from professors of chemistry, to people with no science background. It was a challenge, but one I relished, trying to pitch the individual presentations at the right level.

I left the place highly enthused about what I am doing. Would I do it again? Definitely! Thanks to the AHRC and to the Science and Heritage programme for giving me the opportunity!

Filed under: Events and Activities, Public Engagement, AHRC, colour photographs, limestone buildings, NIR spectrophotometer, parliamentary debate, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, Philippa Duffus, portable equipment, POST, POSTnotes, public policy, Rachel Walker, research councils, science, Science and Heritage programme, tapestries

Photography on the Agenda

Although my PhD is about colour photographs, I must admit that most of my knowledge of photography is limited to what I have learnt throughout the past two years. I am however always on the look-out for events out there related to my studies but maybe also taking that further.

From Silver Image to Silver Anniversary - 25 Years of Research at the Image Permanence Institute

This was the first in a series of future directions symposia organised by the Library of Congress. This first symposium, besides celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Image Permanence Institute (IPI), also aimed to deal with the issue of the effect of the physical environment on a wide range of media.

I of course could not physically attend the symposium. however, the Library of Congress tends to webcast their lectures and symposia, allowing people from afar to still follow, and participate in such events. I have already followed a previous lecture on photographic paper, so was looking forward to this one.

The symposium started with a welcome address by Diane van der Reyden. This was followed by a presentation by James Reilly, the director and founder of IPI. He discussed how the IPI started, what it has done in the past 25 years, and finished by where they are going.

I was more interested however in the presentation by Jean-Louis Bigourdan. I was interested in it, of course, as he was speaking about material issues and how these affect preservation strategies. I’m pleased to have followed it as it helped confirmed some of the general feelings I have about the field e.g.

Attitude of the industry to stability of their materials: Need to be good enough for the product to sell. Beyond that? Not really!

Unfortunately I couldn’t hear all the presentations. However, I have received a copy of the recording which I hope to listen in the next few days.

The 19th century photographic collections of the Royal Society

This was a public lecture given by Joanna Hopkins, picture curator at The Royal Society (RS). I had heard about this during a visit to the RS during an Open House London weekend last month.

During the presentation we were first given a brief introduction to the early days of photography, and the earlier techniques, and what related items they have. In fact, they still have the 32-page letter that Henry Fox Talbot sent to the RS  about his new invention: photography.

This was then followed by a run through the collection held, from photos of experiments, to photos of microscopic things, and with an emphasis on the portrait photos held in the collection. It seemed fascinating to me that to this day on the day of their fellowship. a photo is taken of all the new fellows to capture them as they are on this special day!

The presentation then finished with an outlining of the future plans for the photographic collections of the RS. The ambitious plans include an in-depth research into the items followed by a re-cataloguing of the collections to create fuller records. The aim is to create a dedicated picture database for the collection which will allow for increased access to the database, including online.

Following the presentation there was then time for questions. I liked the way the audience interacted with the presenter and each other. The presenter was honest enough to admit where too technical questions were beyond her capabilities, but there was always someone else in the audience who could answer the questions. It made for a highly stimulating discussion.

This was my first public lecture at the RS? Would I go again? Definitely if it was something I was interested in!

Filed under: Events and Activities, Public Engagement, Diane van der Reyden, future directions symposia, Henry Fox Talbot, Image Permanence Institute, IPI, James Reilly, Jean-Louis Bigourdan, Joanna Hopkins, lectures, Library of Congress, Open House London, photographic collection, photographic paper, photographs, portraits, silver images, The Royal Society

Courses Galore: UCL

As part of my studies and I required to take the equivalent of 20 credits (i.e. 10 half-day courses) per year. With the start of a new academic year comes the release of new courses, and with it an increase in the number of courses I have been attending. As with the NOISE workshops, I have not had time to write about them in detail one-by-one, but here is a brief run-through of what I have been doing, and why. I am now in what should be the final year of my PhD, so you can of course notice that I am taking a number of courses which focus on career and employment-related topics.

How to Engage with Businesses

The course is aimed at people who would like to start research collaborations with companies outside academia. Overall, this is not something which I am actively seeking at the moment. However, I appreciate that learning to speak the language of the non-academic world is a great skill to aim for. Before the course I considered myself to be not that good at this; during the course I confirmed to myself that I am not that good at it. However, the course gave me (and the other participants I am sure) a good basic framework to enter into these discussions with. In other ways, it gave me something to grasp on to in my incompetence and to structure the way I approach such meetings in a more fruitful manner. Also, it made me think about what companies are really looking for, which, considering I might get a job outside academia, is important to keep in mind!

Interview Techniques – with MatchTec

This was the first in a series of employer-led workshops offered in the skills development programme. MatchTec, which was the employer presenting at the workshop, is a technical and professional recruitment company, which places quite a number of PhD students. The recruiter presenting to us described what is expected in an interview, what an interview might consist of, as well as how to tackle questions. In particular she was quite good at identifying how skills we are gaining as part of our PhD can be translated into the skills required outside academia. Even though I have been to interviews before which I was often successful at, the course was still useful, and highlighted issues I might not have thought about that much which I should start doing.

MATLAB Basics

I have been to other MATLAB courses before. However, as I haven’t really jumped in and started using it, I do not feel confident at using it. So far I have only attended the first in a series of lectures which will occur over the next few weeks. Although the course is aimed at neuroscience students, so far it has been quite general. The lecturer did seem to rush through things as though he needed to finish early (which he did!). For that reason I was glad that I have had some previous experience with the programme. However, otherwise, I found this lecture one of the better MATLAB lectures I have attended, so looking forward to the next ones!

Filed under: Events and Activities, careers, courses, engaging with businesses, interview techniques, jobs, MatchTec, MATLAB, PhD, skills development

Courses Galore: NOISE

Through the NOISEmakers programme I have had a number of other courses and workshops made available to me. Previously I wrote about the science-busking workshop, but a couple more were organised more recently. As I have not had time to write about them in detail here is a brief run-through of what I attended, and why:

Writing

This was the first workshop I attended in the past few weeks, organised through NOISE. I decided to attend this workshop as though I enjoy writing, I find that I have not had any formal training in it, besides lessons in creative writing as part of the secondary school curriculum. I thought that this would be a good opportunity to take my writing further. The course was delivered by Malcolm Love, who worked as a producer with the BBC for a number of years. He thus tackles the issue of writing from the perspective of an editor on a radio programme who needs to make it fit to the required time: which words are extraneous, how can something be explained better, is the word you are using the right word? The task we were set was alas a creative writing workshop, and though I didn’t get as much as I would have liked on more factual writing, I still got some good tips on what I need to think about when writing.

Speaking to your Audiences

The day after the writing workshop I returned for another workshop with Malcolm Love. This time I felt it was more in his field, and he could give us very good ideas on how to engage an audience, and how to structure a presentation to keep them engaged. I was particularly intrigued by his discussion of the life cycle of an audience, which I had never thought about but is worth keeping in mind (see below). If you break a presentation into smaller contained sections, you are more likely to keep their attention for more of the presentation. Again however I might have appreciated having some examples  from the point of view which was not broadcasting, as right now it is not something I have thought about, though of course quite a lot is still relevant!

STEMNET Induction

To be able to work with children in the UK it is important to get a criminal records bureau (CRB) check. For this reason we were encouraged to sign up to the STEMNET programme, which besides offering us such a check, also provide us with even more opportunities to work in science communication, this time mainly with school children. My induction happened earlier in October. Besides handing in our CRB check documents, we also had a discussion on what we should expect from going into school, how to deal with certain situations, and overall a general discussion of how we can be of help. We were a mixed bunch of people, from teachers, to students, to the person responsible for trees at TFL! Such a varied bunch made for some good discussions. I am now looking forward to getting my CRB check approved and to see what I can do within the programme!

 

Filed under: Events and Activities, Public Engagement, audience lifecycle, BBC, CRB, criminal records bureau, Malcolm Love, New Outlooks In Science and Engineering, NOISE, science busking, speaking to your audience, STEMNET, writing

Banging away at UCL Chemistry

Having seen and been impressed by Andrea Sella presenting at the Cheltenham Science Festival (I had written about it here), when I saw that he was presenting a new chemistry demonstration show at UCL I immediately marked it down in my calendar. The event was organized as part of the UCL Chemistry and Physical Sciences society events in collaboration with Society of Chemical Industry. I was impressed as to how full the lecture theatre was, including with young kids excited at the prospect of experiencing some exciting chemistry!

This time round the show was called ‘Bangs and Meringues’…and that’s exactly what was delivered, together with a lot of bubbles! We learnt about the concepts of surface tension, and how and why bubbles are formed. We also saw a lot of bubbles and foams being produced! More than any grown up should enjoy making, but then why become a chemist if you want to lose that sense of wonderment? Meringues are also a form of foam (did you know that?), and he prepared some in a microwave. I’m not sure I would opt for that method if I’m preparing any for a party, on the basis that they ended up burnt, but hey – the microwave did its job (and more!)

However, the most exciting, especially for the kids, was definitely the fires and bangs. We had hydrogen bubbles causing big pops, big flames running across the front desk (with a fire extinguisher which didn’t quite seem to work!), and a big mentos and coke experiment (which unfortunately didn’t hit the roof – boohoo ).

As always, a typical demo show by the irrepressible Andrea Sella: a bit wacky, quite a bit disorganized, but so much fun! Would I go again? Definitely! When’s your next show Andrea?

You can read more about the event and see photos, thanks to Ian visits.

Filed under: Events and Activities, Andrea Sella, Bangs and Meringues, bubbles, Cheltenham Science Festival, fire extinguisher, Ian visits, society of chemical industry, surface tension, UCL Chemistry and Physical sciences society

RSC does Heritage Science

Earlier this year I applied and was accepted as a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). On joining I started looking at the events being offered, and one which caught my eye in particular was the event ‘Heritage Science: Does that Deal with Old Science or New Challenges?‘.

This event was being organized by the RSC Marketing Group in collaboration with the science department at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum. So far I had not been for a good visit to the V&A, except for a presentation being given there by a friend about her PhD in the field. I thought that this would be a good opportunity to get a bit more involved with the RSC, while learning more about heritage science in practice.

As the event was on Monday, when a tube strike was lovingly gracing the underground system of London, I decided to cycle there using the ‘Boris bikes’. I arrived a bit early and took the opportunity to have a quick trip around the exhibits. Unfortunately the photography gallery was closed due to lack of staff as a result of the strike. I did manage to make it to the tapestry gallery though. There I was particularly fascinated by the smell, probably emanating from the tapestries themselves.

Having had a quick look around the museum I then made my way to the lecture theatre. For the event I was also joined by Eva, a PhD student in my department. The first thing on the program was a short lecture by Graham Martin, Head of Science at the museum, giving an introduction to Heritage Science. It was a very good introduction to the subject, pitched perfectly for the mainly non-heritage science chemists in the audience. However, the most interesting to me was definitely what came after!

Following the presentation we were then given security passes, divided into groups and sent off with one of the scientist to have a look around the museum and the labs. The scientist leading our group was Graham Martin himself, and he did a very good job of showing us how scientific research has fed into the way the objects are displayed, particularly in the Jameel gallery (below). This is after all the aim of heritage science: that what is being studied can feed directly into the field to improve the condition of heritage objects, be they big buildings, or minuscule jewels.

During the trip around the museum we also came across the tapestry gallery again. I swiftly grabbed Eva and took her in there for a sniff. We are now both curious as to the volatile organic compounds, or pollutants, which are being given off from the tapestries and creating that smell. Maybe we should do some investigation of our own? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

Filed under: Events and Activities, Boris bikes, degrading tapestries, Graham Martin, heritage science, Jameel gallery, pollutants, research, Royal Society of Chemistry, RSC, RSC Marketing group, tapestry gallery, tube strike, V&A, Victoria and Albert Museum, VOCs, volatile organic compounds