Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
2
Year:
2015
Type of Events Held:
- Workshop
Target Audiences:
- General Public
- Other: A level students (year 10/11)
Approximate Number of People Reached:
450
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
We invited A-level students to join us at the University for an afternoon of talks and demonstrations. We wrote to schools countrywide to invite them to the event, and also advertised this event on our website. Around 360 students registered to attend, including school parties from as far away as London and Devon. 69% of the students were female, primarily from year 12. 83% of students fed back that they felt that the visit had motivated them to do well with their current studies. Along with presentations there were live demonstrations and posters to increase the opportunity to meet young researchers and PhD students. The afternoon was of particular relevance to anyone with an interest in studying brain research and neuroscience, including biology, cell physiology & pharmacology, genetics, health sciences, medicine and psychology. We invited the public to join us for the evening where we had talks about current brain research at the University of Leicester, demonstrations and posters. There was also the opportunity to ‘meet the brain scientist’.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Advertisements
- Calendar Listings (newspapers, radio, television)
- Emails
- Mailings
- Posters/Flyers
- Press Release/Media Advisory
- Website
- Social Media
Which of These Publicity Methods Was The Most Successful?
Resources
Of the Dana Foundation publications/resources distributed at your event(s), if any, please indicate the three most popular. Please choose up to three. If "other," please indicate below:
- It’s Mindboggling!
- More Mindbogglers!
- The Mindboggling Workbook
What downloadable materials from the Foundation did you use for your events?
- BAW Bookmark
- Puzzles: Adult/high school
- Puzzles: K-12
- Puzzles: BAW Favorites
What other downloadable materials would you like the Foundation to provide?
- Activities/Experiments
- New Puzzles/Games
Which BAW graphic materials did you use in publicizing your events?
- BAW Logos
- BAW Web site banner
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
Our aim was to inspire interest in neuroscience and to help the next generation of potential researchers (A-level Students) to get involved in a scientific event and to give them an opportunity to meet scientists studying the brain. 83% of students fed back that they felt that the visit had motivated them to do well with their current studies.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
Demonstrations are very popular and enjoyed more than lectures. People enjoyed being able to ‘meet the brain scientist’.
Did/do you like our Facebook page?
No
Quotable comments which capture successful aspects of your event(s):
“Loved the fact that we had the opportunity to talk to students/lecturers. Learnt so much.” “The posters were very informative and the talks with the brain scientists were extremely interesting. The scientists seemed very knowledgeable and are approachable.” “Posters were really good. Great to see such fascinating work.” “Excellently presented” “It's really good to make the University more accessible to the public.” “Good choice of topics"
