Images on the theme of Fresh Air, Fresh Thinking

We were absolutely delighted to receive such incredibly high-quality – and clever! – entries to our second Photographic Competition, this year on the theme of Fresh Air, Fresh Thinking to accompany our Affiliate Schools Project. As you will see below, these convey some very powerful messages, and should give us all pause for thought.

You can see all of the photographs at our web gallery here.

Congratulations to our winners, whose entries are shown below. They have received Amazon vouchers to the value of £60 (first prize), £30 (second prize) and £20 (third prize). We look forward to running another competition this year.

Read more: Photographic Competition 2021 winners announced

November 2021 — we were delighted to be informed that Sarah Mirkin (Year 2/3), one of the winners of our Imagine! STEAM online competitions earlier in the year, was recently invited to Downing Street for an audience with the Prime Minister ahead of his attendance at COP26.

There is more information here:

https://twitter.com/borisjohnson/status/1453708293671636997?s=21

She was also lucky enough to be interviewed for Sky News, along with other children:

https://schools.firstnews.co.uk/fn-education-tv/fyi/fyi-episode-146/#fvp_FYI-TX146_FIRST-NEWS

Our congratulations and thanks to Sarah and her mother, who very kindly told us that "initiatives such as yours ... help the children feel part of something important and feel heard contribute in many surprising ways".

Report from CSES Spotlight Event, 15 September 2021

In October 2020, CSES convened a roundtable discussion between a wide variety of local and national stakeholders to share responses to, and lessons learned from, the Covid-19 pandemic. This revealed that in addition to the short-term "must do" activities there was also an emerging appetite for accelerating developments and embracing innovative change.

Following on from this, CSES is holding a series of "spotlight" events with the same group of diverse stakeholders and additional contributors. These events are on the themes of Trust (held on 15 April 2021), Inclusivity (the subject of this report), Resilience & Adaptability, and Sustainability.

This event aimed to answer the following question: "How can we tackle economic, health and education inequality within Essex using science and technology?" Specifically:

• How can science and technology businesses in Essex best create social value in a targeted and strategic manner?
• What applications of science and technology can allow us to deliver integrated and inclusive health and social care – and cater for differing needs and disabilities – efficiently, effectively and compassionately?
• How can we harness technology to deliver an integrated scientific, digital and creative education fit for today’s economy without the downsides of digital inequality?
• How can the different stakeholders work together to collectively tackle these issues?

From the themes raised during discussion of the above questions, a set of recommendations has been made. These include:

• Items for CSES, its partners and similar community groups to take forward, for example through the STEAM Commission.
• Items for Essex County Council and its partners to take forward, including by feeding into ECC's Digital Exclusion Working Group and/or Corporate Strategy team.

The next step is for CSES and Essex County Council to incorporate these recommendations into their planning for 2022 and beyond.

Read more: Inclusivity: Closing The Gap

Following a careers talk from CSES, Solomon Malih (Year 12/13) completed a successful Nuffield Research Placement over the 2021 summer holidays. He has kindly told us his story here...

Over the summer, I had the privilege of completing a Nuffield Research Placement. The Nuffield Research Placements are an excellent opportunity to spend two weeks with a subject specialist or industry expert working on a live research topic. As for what you do on this two-week placement, that can vary. I know one placement which was centred around artificial intelligence, whilst another was more practical and involved designing a solution to a real-world engineering problem. Some will be more research-based than others, but they will all likely involve reading academic literature, collecting primary and secondary data, and working with the software used in academia and industry.

I spent two weeks investigating the use of quantum computation for particle physics with a research fellow at the University of Cambridge. Some of the theory and mathematics involved was at an undergraduate or even post-graduate standard, but my supervisor was very patient with me and willing to explain things multiple times if needed. My supervisor's work involved testing a quantum physics concept known as a gauge theory using quantum computation. The particles involved in testing the gauge theory can be modelled as quantum gates, which I implemented in a quantum circuit and simulated using Qiskit, an open-source SDK (software development kit) that provides tools for working with quantum machines.

At the end of the placement, I had to produce a 10-20 page research report outlining my project's aim, findings, methodology, and more.

Read more: Solomon's Story: Nuffield Placement

First events announced for our upcoming season

We are delighted to announce the launch of our 2021-2022 programme, featuring talks, days out and family-friendly activities. As we emerge from the Covid pandemic, and following the success of the British Science Festival and ARU Family Science Day, we are beginning to return to "in-person" events and hope to resume our social programme in 2022.

Please save the dates for our exciting events for autumn / winter 2021:

• Wed 27 Oct (evening): 150 Years of Science and Technology in Chelmsford, a talk by Prof Robert Iliffe (Professor of the History of Science, University of Oxford). This will be an online event.
• Wed 17 Nov (evening): CSES Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2021. An update on our plans launched last year and a showcase of our recent Spotlight Roundtable on Inclusivity.
• Sun 21 Nov (daytime): Essex State of the Art Technology Exhibition, join us at Hylands House for hands-on science and coding and the latest innovations from local companies.
• Wed 24 Nov (evening): The Role of Nuclear in Net Zero, a talk by CSES, ARU and the Bradwell B project. Our first 'hybrid' event with both in-person and online attendance options, and something we plan to roll out more widely.
• Sat 18 / Sun 19 Dec (daytime): Hands-On Science and Technology at The Art Place. Join us for fun, hands-on science and technology activities for all the family in Chelmsford City Centre. This will be on one or both of these days (TBC).

Note that some details are still to be confirmed; we will update the listings on our website in due course. Please do register your interest in the meantime by booking where appropriate.

Also a reminder that our Centenary Photographic Competition 2021 is still open until 15 October, and our Fresh Air – Fresh Thinking project is kicking off this month. We are still looking for volunteers!

We hope to see you at these events and more in 2022. Stay safe, and thank you for supporting CSES.

We are pleased to advise that our Centenary Photographic Competition 2021 is open for another four weeks, to allow as many people to participate as possible following the summer holidays and busy start of term.

The deadline for entry has now been extended to Friday 15 October 2021.

The competition, with this year's theme of Fresh Air, Fresh Thinking is open to anyone in full time or part time education in Essex and explores the key link between the creative arts and STEM.

We want you to take photographs that express what air pollution means to you, or how it impacts our health or our environment, and the negative or positive roles that technology can play.

Read full details here and submit your entry here (please make sure to read the FAQs, terms and conditions first!)

On Saturday 11 September 2021, Anglia Ruskin University hosted a family day for the British Science Festival, which was held in Essex for the first time in its 180-year history. This came about through planning for the 2020 CSES Centenary (albeit delayed by a year), which also led to Essex 2020 – A Year of Science and Creativity.

CSES was delighted to host a major stand / attraction at the festival, which saw over 5,000 people attend the ARU Chelmsford campus in one day! With our partners STEM Learning and STEAM Powered Education, and help from STEM Ambassadors, visitors to the CSES 'dome' were treated to an egg drop challenge, paper rockets, an earthquake table and many other fun, hands-on experimental activities for all the family. Over 400 families took part!

Read more: CSES on show at British Science Festival

Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult announces apprenticeship vacancies

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult has opened its first apprenticeship vacancies at its Braintree facility, working on the development of vaccines. This would be a fantastic opportunity for someone in the local area. Please note that deadlines are very close (early-mid September 2021), but there is still time to apply!

Follow the links below to see further details and to apply:

• Apprentice Engineer
• Technician Scientist Apprenticeship
• Apprentice Quality Technician
• Human Resource Apprentice (Level 3)

These are an excellent chance to work at the cutting edge of science and medical technology.

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult is one of a network of elite technology and innovation centres established by Innovate UK as a long-term investment in the UK's economic capability. Applying business-led research, Catapults help businesses transform great ideas into valuable products and services to compete in the global markets of tomorrow.

Search all Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult vacancies