Upcoming:
HCA Public Engagement: November 2019
As part of the Human Cell Atlas public engagement programme, Xinyi Du and Clarisse Ganier will be visiting St Edwards CoE Academy to deliver workshops exploring the living body and to co-design a game with students to represent science taking place in the HCA project.
Love Lunch: September 2019
Wattlab scientists will be hosting stem cell embroidery workshops throughout September as part of the Team London Bridge “Love Lunch” series. The initiative sees members of the London Bridge community enjoy free workshops and events over lunch. After holding 2 successful Stitch ‘n Stem workshops in the last series, we have been invited back for more!
BRC Summer School: August 2019
CSCRM students will be hosting another stem cell embroidery workshop as part of the BRC summer school taking place in the last week of July. Year 10 and 11 students from the Southwark area will learn all about stem cell research over tea, biscuits and craft with PhD students Prudence Lui and Aimee Cheesbrough!
London International Youth Science Forum: July 2019
The CSCRM will be hosting a visit from the London International Youth Science Forum on 26th July. The forum unites young science enthusiasts from across the globe and tours them to science and research facilities across London for 2 weeks. Researchers including Clarisse Ganier, Zuming Tang, Miguel Bernabe-Rubio and Blaise Louis will be demonstrating their specialized laboratory techniques, including fluorescence microscopy, tissue culture, high content imaging and histology.
Past:
King’s STARS: July 2019
Wattlab PhD student and RA Inês Tomás (and PI Dr Ivo Leibram, Emily Read, Ella Hubber, Aimee Cheesbrough) took part in a visit from the students taking part in the King’s STARS (Science Training for Aspiring ResearchScientists) outreach programme. The programme involves hosting yr12 students from schools across London with a poor record of sending their kids to HEI’s and bring them to King’s for a week of science training and fun. The students tried their hand at practical experiments such as DNA extraction and western blotting techniques and also heard from scientists about the jobs, and patient advisors who have been in the research cycle.
Great Exhibition Road Festival: June 2019
Wattlab scientists Mukul Tewary and Georgina Goss are currently working with artists from Chisenhale Art Studios on a collaborative project exploring stem cell research through art. The works in progress were showcased at the Great Exhibition Road Festival, visited by approximately 50,000 members of the public.
Science Fiction Theatre: ReGen: June 2019
Mukul Tewary, Matteo Vietri Rudan, Inês Sequiera, Miguel Bernabe-Rubio and Ella Hubber, took part in a panel discussion about stem cell science following a theatre performance of ReGen, a science fiction play by Horatio Productions as part of the Science Fiction Festival 2019. Wattlab scientists consulted on the scientific content of the play, which explores the future of stem cell research and therapies.
Engaging with the Arts May 2019
To celebrate the many successes of Watt Lab scientists collaborating with artists to engage the public with their research, we held an event to showcase and to help inspire others who are keen to do the same. Attended by members of the Theatre And Performance Research Association, researchers, and engagement professional from across King’s. Mukul Tewary, Christina Philippeos and Daria Belokhvostova all shared their experience of working with artists to connect with the public, and how it has influenced their research.
Chisenhale Open Studios: May 2019
Artists from Chisenhale Studios showcased some of their works in progress from the collaborative project with scientists from the Watt Lab at their annual Open Studio weekend. The project, called Illuminations, is exploring research taking place at the Centre via art and will culminate in a public exhibition. Read more about the collaboration here in its dedicated blog: https://chisartscience.wordpress.com
I Can Be: April 2019
CSCRM Public Engagement Officer Jessica Sells hosted a visit for 10 young girls from Smithy Street Primary School in Stepney, in collaboration with the I Can Be Charity. The initiative sends young girls to the workplace of women to inspire them about possible career choices that are available to them in the future.
British Science Week: March 10-17th2019
To celebrate BSW19 scientists from the Watt Lab answered questions sent in from the public about stem cell science! The short films were released throughout the whole of the week and were even multilingual. Read more about it and watch the videos here.
Native Scientist: 2018-2019
Well done to Watt Lab PhD student and Research Assistant Inês Tomás who has been awarded a Language Acts and Worldmaking award to host a series of practical workshops this November in collaboration with Native Scientist! French and Portuguese speaking scientists from the CSCRM will work with children speaking these heritage languages to learn about how our cells work! Read more about the project here.
Spare Parts Exhibition at Science Gallery London: Feb-May 2019
Spare Parts was the second exhibition at the Science Gallery London, which explored stem cells and regenerative medicine via art. Several of the Watt Lab scientists contributed to the artworks and events that took place during the 3-month exhibition. This included training exhibition demonstrators in the basics of stem cells. Scientists co-designed experiments which successfully grew human and mouse skin cells within incubators powered by compost and a beehive (Christina Philippeos and Kalle Sipila) and curating cactus grafting workshops to explore tissue grafting (Inês Tomás & Daria Belokhvostova). You can see more about the incubator installations in these two videos from Science Gallery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDmmIUrl9UU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N3XAUJEzMQ
Love Lunch: January 2019
Wattlab scientists including Alice Vickers, Mukul Tewary and Matteo Battilocchi hosted 2 stem cell embroidery workshops as part of the Team London Bridge “Love Lunch” series. The initiative sees members of the London Bridge community enjoy free workshops and events over lunch.
How Much Does a Banksy Weigh? December 2018:
Wattlab Scientists took part in a charity raffle of one of Banksy’s art pieces to raise money for Help Refugees. Matteo Battilocchi and Jessica Sells weighed the piece in secret, which was a sculpture of refugees in a boat. Members of the public had to guess the weight for a £2 ticket, the closest guess won the piece as a prize.