blog

Guest post: Paula Salgado, a structural biologist in Steve Matthew’s lab at Imperial College London, describes her experience of the “I’m a Scientist, get me out of here!” event that concluded last Friday.

As 3.30pm on Friday 25^th June approached and I found myself in a workshop, away from my computer, I was anxiously waiting an opportunity to check the Aluminium Zone website to find out the results of the last round of votes. Sounds a bit strange, but only if you hadn’t followed the exciting events unfolding for the previous two weeks.

The first I heard about “I’m a scientist, get me out of here” was just before Christmas 2009, as a group of Twitter-happy and scientifically minded people gathered in a warm pub in South west London. Across the table, Sophia Collins passionately described her project. “It sounds fun,” I thought, “answering questions from kids online, being challenged by their curiosity.” The idea was planted in my mind and as the registration deadline approached, I decided to join in. When an email telling me I had been selected to join 99 other scientists from across the UK (and beyond, at least one participant joined in from the US), I was excited, if not slightly worried at was to come.

My ‘concerns’ seemed to be justified as the “Scientist Pack” arrived a few days later. First challenge: define my profile. Not only explaining my research and day-to-day work (that was the easy part!) but defining myself in three words and saying which was my favourite band. Worst yet: tell a joke! Just a first sign of how probing this was going to be… At this point, I also started “meeting” the other scientists in my “zone“: Nathalie, Laura, Katy and Hermine. Other colleagues and “Twitter friends” had been assigned in different zones, as the 100 scientists were grouped in 20 zones, some thematic, others more general.

On 14^th June we were meant to start answering questions posted by students. However, for some of us, things heated up sooner. Sunday, as the World Cup matches unravelled, I sat down with my laptop and started answering “some questions”… By night fall, I had answered more than 10 questions, with still more to go! The flood gates of the students’ curiosity had opened and I was having to deal with questions as probing as “If your project ever goes wrong do you carry on or give up until you find the answer you predicted or want?” or slightly amusing, like “Is it true that there is a place in a man’s head where if he is shot there he blows up?”

For the next two weeks, we would get lots of questions (over 200 at the end of the event) and I had to establish really strict rules as to when I would take time to check and answer them. This meant my evenings were often divided between typing away, trying to work through the questions and keeping an eye on the football… The days were already a juggling exercise between a very busy work schedule, with students to supervise, data to analyse, papers to write, and keeping track with what was happening in the Aluminium Zone. Answering the questions in a timely and efficient manner was a steep learning curve, and while trying to find the answers to some of them, I learned a lot! I also got to reflect at important questions about being a scientist, why I enjoy my work and what do I do when things aren’t working as planned.

And then came the live chats: 30 to 45 minutes of MSN-style conversations with students, as they sat in their science lessons at school. If the questions were hard, this was even more intense. Try keeping track of 20 students talking to themselves and eagerly asking all the questions they could imagine at the same time you type, faster than you ever did, and try to answer as much of their questions as you can! But every time, it was fascinating and really exciting – I enjoyed every moment! I would happily move from whether I preferred ice-cream or chocolate to explaining how I get proteins to crystallize or how long we have to wait before we can go and live in Chernobyl without dying from radiation – such was the pace and the range of their curiosity.

We all knew what week two meant: from Tuesday to Friday, one scientist in each zone would be “evicted” and could no longer participate. Students voted each day and the scientist with the least number of votes would be out. My initial goal of not being the first one to go was largely surpassed when I found myself in the last two. But I must admit, every day, around 3:30pm, my heart would beat just a little bit faster… I was enjoying the experience so much, I just didn’t want it to end!

So it was I found myself on that last Friday, furtively looking at my mobile phone to check if I had been evicted or not, while postdoc career paths were discussed around me. Why did it become so important? Despite a certain level of competitiveness that inevitably got involved, the main reason can be defined by two key moments:

1. In a live chat, one kid said he thought science was boring. I tried to make him see that although it can sometimes sound boring at school, it can be really exciting when you find something new. He didn’t seem impressed – but I didn’t give up. I kept giving examples and mentioning cool things science is responsible for. His last comment, as the end of the chat approached: “After talking to you, I think I’ll give science a second chance”.

2. When asked in a live chat who my favourite scientist was, I mentioned Rosalind Franklin and why she is important and a role model to me, since I’m a structural biologist. The boy who asked the question had heard of her and was curious, so I told him some details and recommended her biography, “The Dark Lady of DNA”. He said that I got him  interested and since he wanted to know more, was going to read it.

This is why I decided to participate in IAS2010. This is also why I thoroughly enjoyed it. And it’s why I think that anyone who wants to pass on that wondrous feeling about science to the next generation should do it next year.

Registrations for IAS2011 are open. If you’re a scientist, go and sign up, now! If you’re a teacher, get your school involved!