Town Scientist- Dundalk Deep Dive 2025
Year Awarded
2024
Amount
€68,550
- Organisation:Niamh Shaw Ltd
- Audience:Parents
- Format:Informal Education
- Location:Louth
- Topic:Space Related
Project Summary
What if there was a scientist in every town in Ireland, working in the community and ready to answer any questions that the community may have? Can we really create a country of STEM-engaged citizens? Town Science Dundalk Deep Dive 2025 seeks to answer these questions.
The African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” tells us that it takes many people (“the village”) to provide a safe, healthy environment for children. It also takes a whole community or ‘Science capital’ for a child to engage in science & see themselves in a STEM career. This project, building on the outcomes from Town Scientist small pilot study (funded under Discover Programme 2023 ) & ’Sssh!@The Library’ (funded under Discover Programme 2021), is a deep dive study of the impact of placing a trusted advisor of science in a community for a 6 month period.
The trusted advisor or Town Scientist using best practices, will run a series of ISL programmes, climate action and career events, town hall sessions and clinics working with key stakeholders of that community. Using this 6 month science communicator in residence pilot study, the project will develop a methodology to determine what makes a trusted advisor of science and what is required to build capacity for larger long-term scientist-in-residence community programmes.
The project also aims to measure the long-term impact of the Town Scientist on behavioural changes in attitudes to science, one community at a time.