ASDC April newsletter: Open to all ASDC Community Space Call | New members | Sector Survey results | Call for conference exhibitors
Association for Science and Discovery Centres
Working with members to make science accessible, inclusive and valued as a fundamental part of our everyday lives.
We’re thrilled to welcome new ASDC members Science Made Simple and returning member The Deep, we look forward to working with you and seeing you at the CEO Awayday.
This month we have three ASDC events for your diaries, starting with the ASDC Community Space Call (open to everyone), followed by the April Members’ Forum when we’ll be sharing highlights from the ASDC Sector Survey. At the end of the month we’re running our second in-person CEO Awayday. Find out more and register for these events on our website.
Is your organisation thinking of joining ASDC? This diverse network represents a wide range of publicly accessible science engagement organisations: from small industry museums to large scale eco attractions, from established science and discovery centres to small, emerging organisations. Find out about becoming an ASDC member including the benefits, opportunities, and the value of being part of this unique, national network.
Lastly a reminder to visit the ASDC website for the latest funding opportunities, jobs,?events and training. We also welcome ASDC members to join the dedicated LinkedIn group created to facilitate discussions, share challenges, opportunities and ideas.
New/returning ASDC members
Science Made Simple brings the brilliance of science to life with amazing, high energy interactive shows for schools and festivals. With offices in Cardiff, Bolton and Norwich the team work all over the UK and abroad.
The Deep is an awe-inspiring aquarium in Hull, and a conservation and education charity.?Annually, the aquarium grows in both popularity and reputation; as a visitor attraction and centre for environmental excellence.
ASDC Conference 2024 - Call for exhibitors
18th - 19th November, The Royal Society, London
The conference is a key highlight of the year for ASDC members, providing a platform for networking, knowledge sharing, and collaboration, attracting a diverse audience eager to engage with cutting-edge ideas and technologies.
This is an excellent chance to raise your profile, generate leads, and forge meaningful connections within this unique visitor attraction and STEM engagement network.
Early bird tickets and call for submissions open soon - please look out for a separate conference newsletter with all the details.
Space to Inspire educational resources
Sharing a range of resources from the UK Space Agency Space to Inspire project partners available for everyone to use.
On the ASDC Climate Hub:
A series of 11 Protect Our Planet day videos from STEM Learning available to use on YouTube Protecting Our Planet Day 2023 - YouTube
Girl guides STEM careers quiz Quiz: what STEM career is your perfect match? | Girlguiding
ASDC lunchtime Community Space Call - LAST CALL
Wednesday 17th April, 12-1.30pm
Open to everyone, this call will focus on space sustainability and the methods and policies the UK Space sector is implementing, including methods for retrieval. We will also be looking ahead to the launch of BIOMASS. With speakers Victoria Lonnon Spacecraft Product Assurance Engineer, Airbus and Ray Fielding , Head of space sustainability, UK Space Agency.
ASDC April Members' Forum: Membership Survey Findings
Wednesday 17th April, 2 - 3pm
Join us to hear the sector survey highlights and key findings before we publish the full report. Our thanks again to the ASDC members who provided the vital data to support the nationwide support, connection, advocacy and insight work for the coming year and beyond.
Register for this forum (members only)
ASDC CEO Awayday
Friday 26th April 2024, National Space Centre, Leicester
Last chance to register this week for this opportunity for CEO's of science and discovery centres and museums to come together and discuss strategy, financial challenges, sustainability and new ways of working. With keynote speakers Sarah Hunter, non-executive Director Technology and public policy adviser for ARIA, and Professor Louise Archer.
Register (members only)
Members’ news & events
ASDC members interviewed as part of live coverage on solar eclipse
领英推荐
BBC Breakfast interviewed Ellie MacDonald, Astronomer at Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society live from Texas where she’d travelled to see the solar eclipse at full totality.
Dr Sheila Kanani MBE Astronomer and Education, Outreach and Diversity Officer at the Royal Astronomical Society, joined the panel for The World programme on Sky News?for a special episode reporting on a live stream of the eclipse as they watched the event unfold.
Ri podcast: How Peter Higgs proposed the Higgs boson
Last week Edinburgh University announced the death of Peter Higgs, a giant of British science who came up with the idea of the Higgs boson particle. Find out more about the life of Peter Higgs in this Royal Institution podcast.
Life celebrates start of Autism Acceptance Week with ‘Gold Plus’ award
Life has become the first visitor attraction to receive a ‘Gold Plus Standard’ Autism Acceptance Award, from North East Autism Society (NEAS).
The prestigious award recognises the pioneering six-year partnership between Life and NEAS and the science centre taking “autism acceptance to the next level”.
Free Science Communication Textbook
In celebration of the release of the 3rd edition of 'Effective Science Communication' the Institute of Physics Publishing are making the 2nd edition open access until the end of May.
To download the free book all you need to do is click on the link below and fill in a super short (7questions; 1 minute) survey:
News from the STEM sector
Apply to Host the British Science Festival in 2027
Established in 1831, the British Science Festival is one of the leading, longest-standing science festivals in Europe. Organised and run by the British Science Association (BSA), the Festival takes place in a different city each year. The BSA is now accepting proposals from universities to host the 2027 British Science Festival or beyond.
Submit expressions of interest by?19th?April
Digital Good Research Fund 2024, ‘Evaluating the Digital Good’: call for applications
The aim of the Digital Good Network is to enhance our collective understanding of what a good digital society should look like and how we get there.?
In this second year, we invite research proposals that will help us continue to lay the foundations for this collective research.
Deadline for submissions is?25th April
Apply now for the 2024 Beetlestone Award
Professor John Beetlestone?was one of the pioneers of ‘informal learning in science’ of the 20th century.?Are you, or someone you know, a leader in this field?
Since first starting in 2018,?this Award is to?recognise a leader who has already made or is clearly creating a significant impact?in communicating science.
Apply by Friday 10th?May
Please help by sharing the final SAMHE recruitment push!
Last chance for UK schools to join the SAMHE (Schools’ Air quality Monitoring for Health and Education) research project - which is also open to science centres!
Register by 1st June to receive a FREE indoor air quality monitor linked to an interactive Web App where teachers and pupils can view their data and use it in curriculum-linked activities and experiments.
Funding, jobs, events and training
Upcoming ASDC events, sector-wide jobs and funding opportunities are listed on our website. To share news from your centre or museum in our next newsletter please email [email protected]