A clear conclusion from the project is that whatever the scheme used, provided it is implemented effectively, the students on it gain immeasurably from the experience. A number of students have said that the communications activity that they were involved with was the best part of their degree and was also very helpful when it came to applying for a job.

Sustainability at the University of Bath

The project will be sustained at the University of Bath in a number of ways:

1. The Maths Communicators course is now firmly embedded into the teaching programme at the University of Bath. During the course of the project, it moved from being a ‘project-based’ course to a full unit. This involved producing a substantial amount of new paper work which had to be reviewed by both departmental and faculty teaching committees. As a result, the course is now officially on the Bath Maths books for the future. Not only will this ensure future sustainability through the drawing upon additional staff and other resources, it will also make the course much more visible to the students and the outside world. As an immediate result the number of student applications has substantially increased. As more staff in the mathematics department want to be involved in the course, it is likely that student numbers can increase from 20 to 30+ for the 2012 - 2013 academic year.

2. A Physics Communicators course has been launched at Bath, inspired by, and using the best practice lessons learned from, the Maths Communicators course. The first students on this course will start in the academic year 2012 - 2013.

3. The award of RCUK Catalyst Funds to Bath and the buy-in of the Widening Participation unit will ensure the future viability of the Bath communicator programmes.

Sustainability beyond the University of Bath 

1. The Institute of Physics' voluntary STEM Communication activities will continue across the region. Findings from the evaluation of this project will be used to: market the activities more effectively; ensure the students taking part have the best possible experience; and to ensure that students are aware of the varied benefits of being involved.  With the launch of the Physics Communicators course at Bath and the Communicating Science course at Bristol, new opportunities to work together will no doubt present themselves.

2. The Communicating Science Module at Bristol (set up as a first year Physics option as part of the project) will continue. For the 2012 - 2012 academic year, 4 second year students from another Faculty have already signed up; Physics students will sign up at a later date. 

3. Despite a change in staffing, the Student Science Communicators at UWE continues to be in demand, and is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Additionally, Dr Karen Bultitude’s relocation from UWE to UCL has enabled her to share the learning from the project with colleagues in Chemistry and Physics at her new institution, embedding some of the skills and approaches within those departments.

4. Student Involvement in STEM Activities: A guide to good practice will be disseminated and promoted into the future with the hope that it will encourage individuals in other institutions to establish their own STEM communicator schemes

If you would like further information about the project or its on-going legacy, please contact Professor Chris Budd at the University of Bath as below: