BU Research Blog

Yes, that’s kit out, not off. One interesting theme that came out of the Festival of Learning evaluation was just how interesting and mysterious some of the ‘stuff’ embedded in the fabric of the University can be. Members of the public reflected just how curious they were to see behind the apparently close doors of the monolith and learn more about the tools which are used to progress knowledge.

So how about:

• A tour of the your laboratory facilities, with demonstrations on how equipment is used. For example, last year, Philippa Hudson conducted a family kitchen safari in the food lab, using UV gel to show just how bacteria travels.
• What about a show and tell of artefacts that represent your research? Many offices I visit are stuffed full of collections from research, from interesting ancient pottery, samples taken from fieldwork, experts of visual materials taken for analysis. Often these gather dust in offices, but represent a fascinating voyage of discovery to talk about your research.
• What about showing off your specialist equipment? Out behind the scenes of a TV studio was incredibly popular last year as members of the public got to see and use some of the equipment lurking in the media school. Other tools, such at the eye-tracking, members of the public are often extremely curious about

As an institution, day-in day-out we use a huge amount of resources, some of which is physically embedded in our building and some of which we load up into vans and transport around the world. So, why not have a think about the selection of treasures that you have brought back from your travels, or the equipment you could show. Brush of the dust and think about what they represent and how they can bring your research to life… and in-turn demonstrate the public value in funding the tools of our trade.