Lancaster University inspires the next generation during Science Week 2025

More than a thousand children from 32 schools attended the Furness STEM show, organised by the Furness Education & Skills Partnership and held at Furness College in Barrow-in-Furness.

Staff and student ambassadors from Biomedical Life Sciences in the Faculty of Health and Medicine attended the event.

Dr Sarah Allinson visited Bowerham Primary School in Lancaster looking at how to use microscopes with Year 2 and finding out all about DNA with Year 5.

Dr Lucy Jackson-Jones led a full day of outreach at Broughton in Furness CE primary and nursery school in south Cumbria, with interactive activities that explained how the immune system helps to protect us against infections.

Two activities showcasing the breadth of the research undertaken were:

• The Brain Games: ‘Say what you (don’t) see’ activity provided children with the opportunity to learn about the brain and to test how speedy their brains were using a Stroop test against the clock

• The Wibbly Wobbly world of DNA gave children the opportunity to wear lab coats and safety glassed whilst they performed their own experiment to extract DNA from strawberries

The feedback from schools attending all events was very positive with science lead Ross Cousins from Broughton-in-Furness CE Primary School saying: “The kids really enjoyed it, it was a great way to end Science Week.”

Schools outreach lead Dr Jackson-Jones said: “Our hope with these activities is to showcase Bioscience topics to inspire the next generation of biomedical scientists to pursue future careers in STEM.

"We also aimed to engage with local communities and to strengthen and nurture our culture of engagement. Furness STEM show and schools’ visits provide an opportunity to engage with communities that would not normally have access to such biology focused outreach activities.”