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University of Reading chosen to help inspire the scientists of the future – University of Reading

The University of Reading has been selected as a major player in a national science and engineering ambassadors' project.

The University will be the Berkshire Centre for STEMNET, a programme of volunteer science and engineering ambassadors who will go into schools across the county to inspire youngsters to study and pursue careers in science.

The project aims to arrange for at least one visit from an ambassador to all

Berkshire's secondary and primary schools. The ambassadors will all be adults working in science and engineering across the region, who will volunteer their time to inspire young people about careers in science. Many of the volunteers will be experts working within the University but the ambassadors will also be employees of local companies working in the fields of science and engineering. Employers will be supporting the scheme by providing time off to visit schools and cover expenses.

Professor Averil Macdonald, Chair in Science Communication for the University of Reading, said: "We are delighted to have been chosen to lead this project in Berkshire. With our renowned expertise in communicating science, we are ideally positioned to encourage more young people to choose science. We will only be in a position to solve the global problems of climate change, dwindling energy resources, the need for more food and to make progress in diagnosing and treating disease if we inspire our young people to consider science as a career.

"Our Student Ambassadors scheme already sends undergraduates and post graduate students into many schools in and around Reading to talk about science at university and undertake activities to interest youngsters in science. We hope the STEMNET programme will build on that foundation and help deliver a new generation of British scientists."

STEMNET focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. It aims to ensure that more young people in the UK make a choice to enter STEM related careers at all levels through bringing them into classrooms and linking to organisations that employ STEM educated people in such a way that young people can get a clear idea of the diverse and exciting range of careers available to them.

The Berkshire STEMNET Centre will be launched at the University of Reading in September.

ENDS

Further information from Alex Brannen, Senior Press Officer at the University of Reading on 0118 378 7388

Notes to editors:

STEMNET has received funding from the Department of Trade and Industry since 1996 and now continues to enjoy support from the DIUS (Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills) and DCSF (Department of Children, Schools and Families) since then. As a national organisation, it works hard to ensure that no region of the country is disadvantaged, by comparison with any other, with respect to STEM opportunities.

Ambassadors come from a broad spectrum of STEM disciplines and careers at all levels. Their jobs range from marine biologists to mathematicians studying climate change, aeronautical engineering apprentices to medical physicists and industrial chemists to electrical engineers, to lab technicians, to name but a few! They represent over 1000 different employers, from large multi-nationals to SMEs and other organisations like the NHS, and the Environment Agency.

Funded by the DIUS (formally the DTI), the programme has grown rapidly and

STEMNET now works with over 18,000 Ambassadors, having reached the 18,000 target three months ahead of it's 31 March 2008 goal. STEMNET welcomes volunteers of all ages and backgrounds.

Professor Macdonald is responsible for the 'Fantastic Plastic' science talks, which are considered to be the most successful schools' lectures in the UK, having been seen by 45,000 people to date.