My 20 years of Science on Stage

A report by 

Stuart Farmer
Chair of Science on Stage UK National Steering Committee.

My involvement in Science on Stage began at the beginning with the first Physics on Stage held at CERN in 2000. At the time the Institute of Physics (IOP) managed the UK delegation and I was asked to help select the UK delegation. As the UK has four different education systems across the four nations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and IOP wanted to ensure all four nations were represented, and as is often the case I was contact as “our man in Scotland” to help with this. 

I attended that first Physics on Stage but unfortunately had to arrive late, missing the opening day, as I could not get the full week required out of school. A lasting memory for me was having dinner with John Lewis and Jim Jardine in the CERN canteen shortly after I arrived, and separate from the main Science on Stage meal time.

John and Jim were two of the most influential people in the development of physics education in the UK in the 1960s to 1980s and it was wonderful to sit in on them reminiscing about past projects as well as talking about present and future developments.

Another highlight of that first Festival was getting down into the CERN tunnel. This was just as the LEP was coming to the end of its working life and the installation of the LHC was about to begin.

I also attended Physics on Stage 2 at ESTEC in the Netherlands and as someone growing up in the 1960s and 1970s and the height of the space race it was great to see around some of the facilities there. 

In both of these events there was of course a strong education development and policy element and it was good to work on developing statements with colleagues from across Europe. For example, in CERN I partnered with Wolfgang Welz from Germany to finalise the draft of one of the statements that was one of the products of the event. This was shared with the EU Commissioner and representatives of the large research organisations which organised Physics on Stage, and I presented it orally to the assembled audience at the end of the event.

It was certainly the first time I had spoken publicly to such a large and influential audience. The networking which has remained a strong element of Science on Stage since was also present at these first events and I can remember some good discussions late into the night in the hotel and on the beach at Noordwijk. 

It has always been my philosophy that participation in the events should be widened as much as possible so although I had the opportunity to attend Physics on Stage 3 I turned this down, not because I did not want to go but because I thought it better that the space be freed up for someone new to benefit from the experience. When Physics on Stage widened to Science on Stage, IOP looked to partner with other science organisations in the UK but as this was not forthcoming it understandably decided not to go it alone and my direct involvement with Science on Stage went on pause. 

However, in 2010 Johanne Patry and the Science on Stage Canada National Steering Committee invited me to attend their national Science on Stage Festival held at the Canadian Light Source in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I was made to feel very welcome as an international guest and as a physicist it was great to see the Canadian Light Source as well as meet the small band of enthusiastic educators from across the STEM subjects that came together for the event.

In the Festival Fair in Canada I exhibited some optoelectronics teaching activities I had been involved in developing. Around this time I also successfully submitted an application to exhibit the optoelectronics materials at the 2011 Festival in Copenhagen and my so involvement with Science on Stage took off again. Once back in the UK myself and one of the other Scottish attendees, Tim Browett, developed and ran a number of ‘Best of Science on Stage’ events to spread ideas from the Festival to other teachers. 

I have also worked closely with Paul Nugent and David Keenahan from Science on Stage Ireland, both of whom I know well through IOP, to help spread the word, and have always found the Science on Stage Ireland booklets of ideas from the Festivals as a good way to communicate ideas to teachers. 

As a result of attending the Copenhagen Festival I was invited to join the UK National Steering Committee (UK NSC) and I therefore helped select the delegation to the 2013 Festival. I did not attend myself, again trying to ensure as many new people could participate as possible.

During this time the UK NSC decided to bid to host the 2015 Festival in London and Charlotte Thorley did a huge amount of work to lead the organisation of the 2015 Festival at Queen Mary University.

I was very pleased to be part of the relatively small team that was behind the event. Despite the usual behind the scenes problems that inevitably occur with an event of the size of a Science on Stage Festival I am nevertheless very proud of what we were able to deliver and to have brought such a large international gathering together in such a productive way. The huge number of additional participants present on the open day was a particular challenge, but a very pleasant one with which to have to deal. 

I also exhibited a graphing and uncertainties activity in the Festival Fair and was delighted to be able to demonstrate part of it as one of the on-stage highlights on one of the afternoons. As if being one of the organising team was not enough I was also one of the jury members helping judge projects for the awards made at the end of the Festival.

For Debrecen in 2017 I was once again invited to be one of the jury members and it was good to be able to spend time, working with other jury members from other countries touring the Festival Fair and speaking to a wide range of delegates about the projects they were exhibiting. 

It was there that I met Magdalena Kersting from Norway and this has led me into collaborations on the teaching of Einsteinian physics, including contributing a chapter to a soon to be published book edited by Magdalena and David Blair from Australia. During this time I remained a member of the UK NSC, and when the Association for Science Education (ASE) took over the stewardship of Science on Stage in the UK, the then Chief Executive of the ASE, Shaun Reason, asked my to become Chair of the NSC. 

Not only have I a long history of involvement with Science on Stage I have an even longer one with ASE going back to when I first became a teacher in 1984. I have held many ASE committee positions including being its Chair of Trustees at the time Shaun was appointed as ASE Chief Executive. 

I was therefore able to bring my knowledge of both organisations together. As a result I attended the 2019 Festival in Cascais in my capacity of Chair of the UK NSC and have attended the necessary Science on Stage business meetings and other activities required of the role.

In the UK the deadline for applications for the Festival in Prague in 2022 is fast approaching at the end of May. I am looking forward to seeing what innovate projects teachers have submitted and making the difficult decisions about which eleven teachers can represent the UK. The cycle continues.