BioQuarter Community Engagement Activities November 2023
Connections with our neighbouring communities are important to organisations and individuals at Edinburgh BioQuarter.
BioQuarter is located in the South of Edinburgh, close to the neighbouring communities of Craigmillar, Niddrie, Moredun and Gilmerton. The aim of our community engagement is for these areas to benefit directly from our location, with access to top researchers, clinicians, students, scientists and entrepreneurs.
At the start of the new school year, we welcomed new community engagement volunteers, to support our Science Buddies and ScienceMentors@Castlebrae programmes over the next year.
We had a fantastic number of applications and are delighted that the number of volunteers selected to be involved in our STEM activity programmes has doubled – with 24 Buddies and 40 Mentors.
This growth in volunteers provides us with an opportunity to deliver STEM activities to additional local schools. Currently we host activities with three neighbouring Primary Schools – Niddrie Mill, Castleview and Prestonfield.
G-LANDS JOURNEY
The G-Lands project is an ‘out-of-body experience’ that follows an artistic and creative journey of the salivary gland after surgical removal.
The project is a Sci-Art collaboration between Dr Elaine Emmerson, Principle Investigator, and Emily Fong, former Artist in Residence at the Centre for Regenerative Medicine; in partnership with ASCUS Art & Science and healthcare professionals from NHS Lothian and Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
A pop-up exhibition of Emily Fong’s G-Lands was recently hosted at Castlebrae Community Campus. A huge thank you to everyone who assisted with the installation, including the University of Edinburgh Institute for Regeneration and Repair (IRR) students and ASCUS who ran hands-on workshops in the Superlab.
We were also lucky enough to be joined by two patient partners, Alan and Debi, who shared their lived experience with visitors to the gallery. This created a truly immersive experience, where visitors could get hands on in the lab with Elaine Emmerson and learn more about the ways in which research impacts the lives of real people.
EXPRESSIVE – AND IMPRESSIVE ART
Edinburgh BioQuarter Community Engagement team and volunteers hosted an afternoon at Castlebrae Community Campus with Expressive Arts Department students. A highlight for students was in the extraction of their own DNA and it was rewarding for all those involved to see how art and science can work so well together.
INSPIRING YOUNG SCIENTISTS
We’re passionate about helping our local young people receive a world-class STEM education and recruit volunteers from across Edinburgh BioQuarter to share their expertise and experience.
How to get involved.
Our highly successful Science Mentors programme is hosted in the Castlebrae Superlab for S4-6 pupils at Castlebrae Community Campus; and Science Buddies pairs volunteers with a local primary school, to work together to develop science activities such as ‘Science Class Take-Overs’, STEM Clubs, science weeks and fairs.
Find out more about our STEM Education activities.
Read more news from across Edinburgh BioQuarter in BioQuarter Bulletin – November 2023.
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