Vega Science Trust
Encyclopedia
The Vega Science Trust is a not-for-profit organisation which provides a platform from which scientists can communicate directly with the public on science
by using moving image, sound and other related means.
Education Producer Patrick Reams the Vega Science Trust was awarded a COPUS
start-up grant from the Royal Society
in 1995 and then went on in 1999 to be allocated core funding from the Office of Science and Technology
(OST). Starting with recording science programmes for terrestrial television the Vega Science Trust produced a number of programmes such as recordings of Royal Institution
Discources which were broadcast on BBC 2 and a set of Masterclasses. In 2001 Harry Kroto was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize - the UK's premier award for science communication 'for his dedication to the notion of working scientists being communicators of their work and in particular for his establishment of the Vega Science Trust whose films and related activities reflect the excitement of scientific discovery to the public'. The Trust went on to co-produce with the BBC Open University
a set of science discussion programmes covering hot topics such as Stem Cells, Energy
, Mobile Phones, GM Food, Disease
, Nanotechnology
and Ageing
. With the BBC/Open University the Trust also produced with sponsorship from HEFCE Widening Participation Team a set of award winning career programmes featuring young scientists. Both series were broadcast on BBC2.
Very early audio-visual recordings of individual scientists are relatively rare but in the recent past some recordings were carried out by such organisations as the BBC. In 1997 the Vega Science Trust embarked on a plan to record in-depth interviews with scientists such as Rotblat, Sanger
, Perutz
, Cornforth
, Walter Kohn
and Richard Ernst
which could be both viewed and preserved as an historical record for the future. More recently the British Library
has embarked on a similar project of recording audio-visual interviews under the National Life Stories project although at present the archive consists of oral recordings of scientists. The Vega Science Trust's in-depth interviews with scientists led onto a project recording interviews with Nobel Laureates attending the annual Nobel Laureate Meetings at Lindau
in 2004/5/6. In 2006 the Vega Science Trust's website received a special mention at The International Association for Media Science Awards.
In 2007 the Vega Science Trust started on-going work with Jonathan Hare
BBC Rough Science
on a series of short instructional films intended to show how things work. For instance a number of the films show how we can generate electricity
, another shows how we can generate wind power
, others the molecular structure of C60
, carbon nanotube
s and graphene
.
The Trust's recent work 2007/10 has concentrated on bringing to the public's attention the process of science research. The Nano2Hybrids EU STReP
project for instance is an innovative project where research scientists record their own progress on a research project to invent a gas sensor made using carbon nanotubes. In addition recording science in society projects such as Women in Nanotechnology and Diversity illuminate work towards promoting women scientists into decision making positions in science research environments.
s who are active research scientists, media, copyright, and educational specialists. Trustees step down and/or are re-elected each year.
The Vega Science Trust employs one member of staff and operates in a mixed economy of core grant-in-aid support from Florida State University
, and from research grants and sponsorship. It is an independent body with its own self-contained offices at the Innovation Centre, University of Sussex
, Brighton
.
Activities
Vega Science Trust Collection
The collection of recordings also acts as an historical record and archive of world scientists and their research discoveries. Recorded to broadcast quality they provide a valuable collection which is open to the public via the Vega Science Trust's website .
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
by using moving image, sound and other related means.
History
Founded in 1995 by Nobel Laureate Sir Harry Kroto and BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Education Producer Patrick Reams the Vega Science Trust was awarded a COPUS
Committee on the Public Understanding of Science
The Committee on the Public Understanding of Science or Copus was founded in 1985 by the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Institution and the Royal Society...
start-up grant from the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1995 and then went on in 1999 to be allocated core funding from the Office of Science and Technology
Office of Science and Technology
The Office of Science and Technology , later named the Office of Science and Innovation, was a non-ministerial government department of the British government between 1992 and 2007....
(OST). Starting with recording science programmes for terrestrial television the Vega Science Trust produced a number of programmes such as recordings of Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
Discources which were broadcast on BBC 2 and a set of Masterclasses. In 2001 Harry Kroto was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize - the UK's premier award for science communication 'for his dedication to the notion of working scientists being communicators of their work and in particular for his establishment of the Vega Science Trust whose films and related activities reflect the excitement of scientific discovery to the public'. The Trust went on to co-produce with the BBC Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
a set of science discussion programmes covering hot topics such as Stem Cells, Energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
, Mobile Phones, GM Food, Disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
, Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
and Ageing
Ageing
Ageing or aging is the accumulation of changes in a person over time. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change. Some dimensions of ageing grow and expand over time, while others decline...
. With the BBC/Open University the Trust also produced with sponsorship from HEFCE Widening Participation Team a set of award winning career programmes featuring young scientists. Both series were broadcast on BBC2.
Very early audio-visual recordings of individual scientists are relatively rare but in the recent past some recordings were carried out by such organisations as the BBC. In 1997 the Vega Science Trust embarked on a plan to record in-depth interviews with scientists such as Rotblat, Sanger
Frederick Sanger
Frederick Sanger, OM, CH, CBE, FRS is an English biochemist and a two-time Nobel laureate in chemistry, the only person to have been so. In 1958 he was awarded a Nobel prize in chemistry "for his work on the structure of proteins, especially that of insulin"...
, Perutz
Perutz
Perutz is a surname and may refer to:* Hugo Perutz ∞ Adele Goldschmidt** Max Perutz , Jewish Austrian-British molecular biologist ∞ Gisela Clara Peiser, sister of Lily Palmer*** Robin Perutz , son of Max, chemist...
, Cornforth
Cornforth
Cornforth is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated a short distance to the north-east of Ferryhill.Before the middle part of the Victorian era, when coal mining was at its height in County Durham, Cornforth was in the parish of Bishop Middleham.Thomas Hutchinson Cornforth is a village...
, Walter Kohn
Walter Kohn
Walter Kohn is an Austrian-born American theoretical physicist.He was awarded, with John Pople, the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1998. The award recognized their contributions to the understandings of the electronic properties of materials...
and Richard Ernst
Richard R. Ernst
Richard Robert Ernst is a Swiss physical chemist and Nobel Laureate.Born in Winterthur, Switzerland, Ernst was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1991 for his contributions towards the development of Fourier Transform nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy while at Varian Associates, Palo...
which could be both viewed and preserved as an historical record for the future. More recently the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
has embarked on a similar project of recording audio-visual interviews under the National Life Stories project although at present the archive consists of oral recordings of scientists. The Vega Science Trust's in-depth interviews with scientists led onto a project recording interviews with Nobel Laureates attending the annual Nobel Laureate Meetings at Lindau
Nobel Laureate Meetings at Lindau
The Nobel Laureate Meetings at Lindau is a scientific conference held yearly in Lindau, Germany, inviting Nobel prize winners to present to and interact with young researchers from all over the world.-History:...
in 2004/5/6. In 2006 the Vega Science Trust's website received a special mention at The International Association for Media Science Awards.
In 2007 the Vega Science Trust started on-going work with Jonathan Hare
Jonathan Hare
Dr Jonathan Hare is a British physicist and television presenter. He achieved a first from the University of Surrey, and worked with Harry Kroto at the University of Sussex for his PhD....
BBC Rough Science
Rough Science
Rough Science is a British documentary reality television series made by the BBC in collaboration with the Open University. Six series were made between 2000 and 2005. It was broadcast in prime time on BBC Two and is considered something of a "break-out hit" for the Open University...
on a series of short instructional films intended to show how things work. For instance a number of the films show how we can generate electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
, another shows how we can generate wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
, others the molecular structure of C60
Buckminsterfullerene
Buckminsterfullerene is a spherical fullerene molecule with the formula . It was first intentionally prepared in 1985 by Harold Kroto, James Heath, Sean O'Brien, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley at Rice University...
, carbon nanotube
Carbon nanotube
Carbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, significantly larger than for any other material...
s and graphene
Graphene
Graphene is an allotrope of carbon, whose structure is one-atom-thick planar sheets of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. The term graphene was coined as a combination of graphite and the suffix -ene by Hanns-Peter Boehm, who described single-layer...
.
The Trust's recent work 2007/10 has concentrated on bringing to the public's attention the process of science research. The Nano2Hybrids EU STReP
Strep
Strep or STReP may refer to:*An abbreviation for Streptococcus, a bacterial genus*An abbreviation for Streptococcal pharyngitis, an infectious disease...
project for instance is an innovative project where research scientists record their own progress on a research project to invent a gas sensor made using carbon nanotubes. In addition recording science in society projects such as Women in Nanotechnology and Diversity illuminate work towards promoting women scientists into decision making positions in science research environments.
Governance
The Vega Science Trust is governed by a board of five TrusteeTrustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
s who are active research scientists, media, copyright, and educational specialists. Trustees step down and/or are re-elected each year.
The Vega Science Trust employs one member of staff and operates in a mixed economy of core grant-in-aid support from Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
, and from research grants and sponsorship. It is an independent body with its own self-contained offices at the Innovation Centre, University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
, Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
.
Vision
The Vega Science Trust's would like to see science more fully integrated into our everyday culture. Vega's vision has been to do so by providing a platform from which scientists can broadcast science programmes directly to the public.Activities
- Recording scientists.
- Covering a wide array of research.
- Making available to the public by streaming from the Vega Science Trust's website.
- Videos stream in different formats.
- Creating an historical archive of some of the world's most eminent scientists.
- Interviewing Nobel Laureates and other eminent scientists.
- Experimenting with new ways of outreaching/engaging with the public via audio-visual means.
- Creating different programme formats.
- Provide on-line science resources for school, university and the public via informal learning.
- Creating informative videos for inparting scientific concepts.
Vega Science Trust Collection
The collection of recordings also acts as an historical record and archive of world scientists and their research discoveries. Recorded to broadcast quality they provide a valuable collection which is open to the public via the Vega Science Trust's website .