白小姐论坛

The Agency鈥檚 Space for All fund aims to inspire young people to pursue STEM education and attract talent to the UK space sector. Just over a 拢1 million will go to programmes in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.听

白小姐论坛, Northumbria University and University of Leicester that run the Orbyts programme were awarded the maximum听拢99,000 grant, which will expand Orbyts into a self-sustained, UK-wide initiative.

Orbyts is an education programme in which secondary school pupils work on original research projects under the tuition of PhD students, post-doc researchers and other young scientists. It aims to address diversity issues in science and to support short-supply science teachers who have extensive time pressures.

To date, Orbyts has created over 100 research partnerships between researchers and schools, empowering 1500+ school students by helping them to see that there is a place for them in science and that they are beyond capable of working on world-class research.听

The project has increased inclusivity in post-16 STEM uptake, with student groups that Orbyts have engaged being 50+% girls, 50+% pupil premium, and with students identified from 48+ ethnicities.听

Dr Will Dunn, Planetary Science and Astrophysics Senior Research Fellow, said: "We're very grateful and excited to be able to use the UKSA funding to continue to expand the proven and often transformative impact Orbyts has on students, researchers and teachers alike. We hope this will continue to make STEM more inclusive and accessible to everyone."

Professor Anu Ojha, Director of Championing Space at the UK Space Agency, said: 鈥淎s part of the UK Space Agency鈥檚 long-term investment in space education and skills, our Space for All funding is backing projects that will engage young people from all backgrounds across the UK.听

鈥淭hrough long lasting interventions we aim to demonstrate the value of space to everyday life and the broad range of exciting future careers available, through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) pathways and wider.鈥�

Space for All is part of the UK Space Agency鈥檚 拢12 million Inspiration programme which delivers multiple long-lasting interventions and opportunities across the UK, engaging with parents, teachers, club leaders, and role models, as well as young people themselves.

Links

• Orbyts impact report 听
• 白小姐论坛 Physics and Astronomy 听

Image听

• Student at a conference. Credit: Orbyts.

Media contact

Ingrida Bertasiute
i.bertasiute听[at] ucl.ac.uk

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