Is it possible to grow plants on Mars with current technology?
What are the impacts of sustainable transport on air pollution?
Is it possible to power our school for free?
Pupils across the UK are being given the chance to take on interesting and engaging scientific research and investigations, working alongside STEM professionals to develop key skills, scientific mindsets, and a knowledge of what their future career might look like.
What’s more, schools are being given funding to help cover the expenses of this exciting work.
It is all part of the Royal Society’s Partnership Grants programme, which is now in its 20th year and is working at scale across the UK – there are currently more than 20,000 children and young people working with STEM professionals on 144 on-going projects across the country.
Jo Cox, the Royal Society’s schools engagement manager, said that a core aim of the programme is to show students the range of potential careers that STEM has to offer and to help them develop key practical skills for the STEM workplace.
She explained: “We need to develop a pipeline of people with STEM skills, particularly in relation to new and emerging technologies.
“This can only be achieved by developing sustained partnerships between schools, students and STEM professionals, which is what this scheme is all about. We want to give young people a sense of what the future will look like and to support teachers to embed those key skills – such as practical investigative work, problem-solving and data-handling.”
Royal Society Partnership Grants
To be eligible for the scheme, schools need to find a partner or partners with whom to work on a project. The partner is typically a university academic, a business working in a STEM industry, or an organisation such as a local wildlife trust. It could for example be someone in finance if the project involves interpretation of data.
Ms Cox continued: “The school might need the partner to support a project they have devised themselves or it may be that the STEM partner has a genuine research project that the school can contribute to by collecting data or samples.”
The funding always goes to the school with the teacher leading the application process, supported by their STEM partner. The scheme is fully supported and the Royal Society team will guide teachers through the whole process, from the development of initial ideas to receiving their funding.
As long as a project is eligible, it is highly likely that funding will be offered once it has been assessed by a panel of experts.
What kind of projects?
All projects will be a question that the students need to answer and this investigative element is crucial.
Ms Cox explained: “Every project has a question as its title, a question that must be answered by carrying out practical investigations. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an authentic piece of research because the key aim of the scheme is for young people to understand how science is done. It's more about how they investigate rather than what they investigate.
“So, the question could be something as simple as: what do plants need to grow?”
Schools are sometimes encouraged to do similar projects meaning they can compare results and get a realistic sense of the collaborative nature of science. Some recent project titles include:
- What are the effects of current climate change mitigation policies on the local environment?
- Can geoengineering be the answer to global warming?
- How can we improve the health and wellbeing of astronauts with diet and exercise?
- Can we power our school for free?
- How much can we reduce our school’s use of fossil fuels by generating renewable energy on site?
- How can we discourage invasive species from colonising our pond?
- The Olympic GB luge team need a luge starting ramp – can pupils create the perfect design?
- Is it possible to grow plants on Mars with our current technology?
- What are the impacts of sustainable transport on air pollution?
Ms Cox continued: “We want young people to have the opportunity to carry out open-ended practical investigations – to solve problems by working scientifically and also to understand that it’s okay for experiments to sometimes fail.”
Making an application
Schools can apply at any time of the year and there are numerous review and judging points when applications are assessed (the next one is November). It typically takes around two school terms from application to award, so a school applying this autumn can expect to begin their project in the summer term.
“Although the assessment process is rigorous, with each application being seen by at least two judges as well reviewed by the chair of the panel, the process is meant to be supportive to ensure the success and scientific rigour of these projects,” Ms Cox added.
A wealth of information and support can be found on the Royal Society’s website, including:
- Further details of the Partnership Grants programme.
- Further details of the application process.
- More tips from the Royal Society on making an application.
- The full judging criteria.
- To discuss a project idea, contact education@royalsociety.org
An effective programme
An external evaluation of the programme, carried out in 2020, found that this fully supported partnership approach is unique in the STEM engagement landscape. It found that participating students had gained experience and a better understanding of the scientific process, while teachers had observed that pupils were more enthusiastic about science.
There was also an increase in students considering a STEM-related career after taking part in a project. Teachers, too, felt more confident after being involved in a project and found that it enhanced their passion for teaching STEM subjects.
The report states: “Particularly evident is the embedding of practical science in schools, as well as the development of key STEM skills for broader choices of careers. Two other strategic aims also addressed by the scheme are widening participation in post-16 STEM subjects and enabling more disadvantaged groups to participate in STEM activities.”
Schools working in challenging circumstances and disadvantaged areas are particularly encouraged to apply, as Ms Cox explained: “One of our key aims is to enable equal access to STEM opportunities and to narrow the participation gap. We want to increase the diversity of young people entering higher education and entering STEM professions.
Case study: What level of ecological complexity can a (small) urban nature reserve support?
This on-going project aims to create a sustainable, remotely monitored system that tracks the activity in the nature reserve at Northfleet Technology College in order to introduce and establish an understanding and appreciation of the flora and fauna in the local area.
The school in Kent is working with Canterbury Christ Church University and students are engaged in all aspects of the project, including setting up hardware and data collection.
This involved investigating what equipment would be required to carry out the study and what methods of data retrieval were needed. This increased their understanding of the mechanics of a scientific project.
The students were invited to the university to plan the site. They explored the ecology of the nature reserve and how they could investigate what lives and grows in the space. This research gave them the initial plans to start building the reserve by using insect pit traps, camera traps and bird boxes. They also worked on the site to agree the best location for a large-scale bug hotel habitat.
The students have worked with other STEM ambassadors to investigate and lay plans for the site using solar power to support a wireless monitoring system.
Case study: The Scottish Daffodil Project
Seven schools involved in this project worked in parallel to obtain genetic data on a very understudied yet valuable genus – the daffodil.
With the impacts of climate change becoming increasingly apparent students need to understand the role they play in conserving nature, be it at habitat, species or genetic level.
The students worked with STEM professionals and academics to sample various daffodils, extracting DNA from leaves and using DNA sequencing in the classroom before assembling the chloroplast’s genome.
The project was developed from an original Royal Society Partnership Grant initiative in 2019 led by teacher Jon Hale on Jersey. The schools in Scotland were supported by academics from the University of Dundee and the James Hutton Institute and used living collections from the National Trust for Scotland.
The assembled team of STEM partners, one for each school, demonstrated the scope and ambition of the projects with a cross-section of careers represented. By having a diverse team of PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, and senior researchers and academics, students had a much greater opportunity to see the potential of a career in science.
Pupils in one of the participating schools planted, grew and cultivated two rare daffodil varieties and worked under the guidance of a partner from the University of Dundee to extract DNA. The extraction was a lengthy and technical process using micro-pipettes, a vortexer, a centrifuge, and a Qiagen DNeasy testing kit (all purchased with the Royal Society grant).
The project was relevant to the National 5 curriculum, Highers and Advanced Highers, and offered the potential to engage with cutting edge technology. For teachers, involvement provided concrete examples for many theory lessons and helped to scaffold learning.
By working in collaboration with the STEM partners and each other, the teachers had opportunities for CPD and to develop lasting relationships with scientists for potential future projects.
Knowledge Bank
This article has been published by Headteacher Update and SecEd with sponsorship from the Royal Society. It has been written and produced to a brief agreed in advance with the Royal Society.