EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  1.  Centre of the Cell is a science education centre, an online resource and an outreach project aimed at schools, young people and families. The project started in September 2003, the online resource (www.centreofthecell.org) was launched in March 2007 and the Centre is scheduled to open in spring 2008. It was conceived by staff at Queen Mary, University of London, from the need to help young people understand cell biology and biomedical science. Professor Frances Balkwill is Director of Centre of the Cell and also Centre Lead for Translational Oncology at Queen Mary's Medical School. Centre of the Cell is a registered charity (no: 1102034). It is the first science education centre in the world to be sited in biomedical research laboratories; the Institute of Cell and Molecular Science. The Institute is part of Barts and the London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, in Whitechapel, east London.

MISSION

  2.  Centre of the Cell is dedicated to inspiring curiosity and learning by connecting science to everyday life.

AIMS

  3.  Our aims are:

—  To raise the educational and career aspirations of young people.

—  To increase the number of students studying science and taking up a career in science.

—  To create a centre of excellence for local, national and international science communication.

—  To improve scientific literacy and raise awareness of the key ethical issues surrounding biomedical research.

TOP LEVEL MESSAGE

  4.  Centre of the Cell seeks to engage the audience through an innovative mix of interactive, theatrical and multimedia experiences. By creating a centre of excellence for public engagement with scientific research, we aim to encourage young people to enquire, debate and interact. It will excite, surprise and absorb visitors and deliver the following "top level" message:

The cells in your body work together to keep you healthy. When you are ill your cells have gone wrong: scientists at Queen Mary and around the world are trying to find new ways of putting cells right.

FUNDING

  5.  The total cost of the project is £3.8 million. £2.7 million has been raised and £1.1 million needs to be raised to enable the Centre to open in Spring 2008. We are currently seeking funding for the remaining internal fit-out capital costs and for post-opening revenue costs from charitable trusts and foundations, the corporate sector and individual donors. To date, our main funders are the London Development Agency, the Wellcome Trust, the Mercer's Company, the Jack Petchey Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Clore Duffield Foundation.

  6.  The availability of designated central government funding streams for science centres for capital and operating costs would be a significant asset. There are very few structured funding routes specifically focused on science and discovery centres, which results in a lack of stability in the sector and makes it difficult to make long-term plans. Securing a grant from central government also significantly enhances an organisation's ability to lever funding from other sources. It adds a valuable endorsement and encourages other funders to support our work.

  7.  A key issue during our discussions with funders about the capital costs has been the need to demonstrate long-term sustainability. The commitment of revenue costs from central government would strengthen our business plan and ability to attract both capital and operating costs from other sources. It would enable Centre of the Cell to achieve long-term sustainability, plan for the future and regularly update our content and resources.

  8.  Centre of the Cell's annual running costs will be £400,000. As matters stand, our business plan is based on four sources of revenue; grants from trusts and foundations, a corporate sponsored places scheme, ticket sales and support from Queen Mary, University of London. One of our key objectives is to ensure that visits for school children remain free of charge and that charges during school holidays remain at a modest level to ensure that cost does not present a barrier to access. Ticket sales during school holidays will represent 15% of annual revenue, which places a heavy reliance on fundraising. The majority of trusts and foundations tend not to continue support after two or three years and corporate support fluctuates and cannot be relied upon on a long-term basis. Centralised government funding would add stability and greatly enhance our capacity to succeed.

CONTENT

  9.  Four main topics are covered; All About Cells (includes Single Cell Made You and Body Balance), Medical Research (includes Cancer, Accidents and Unhealthy Lifestyles), Ethics (includes Stem Cell Research and Cloning) and Patients' Journeys (includes Spinal Cord Injury, IVF treatment and Cystic Fibrosis). More than 60 leading scientists have contributed to the content, which is curriculum-linked to Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 of the National Curriculum for Science. Visitors to Centre of the Cell will pre-book structured sessions in the "pod". Each session will last for 60 minutes and unfolds through a series of linked scenes, containing 40 interactive learning activities. Content will be updated and changed on a rolling basis to reflect scientific breakthroughs, changes in the curriculum and feedback from our evaluation programme.

EVALUATION

  10.  During the last three years, the concept, content, interactives and website have been extensively researched and evaluated with more than 6,000 young people and their teachers to test learning outcomes and levels of interest and engagement. For example, we carried out a major front-end evaluation to inform both content and design. Participating schools (12 primary and secondary schools in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Hackney involving 900 pupils aged 9 to 16) were selected on the basis of ethnic profile, league table standard and geographical location. The evaluation aimed to provide information about their knowledge of cells and the inner workings of their own bodies; to find out if the young people understood scientific terminology; and to gauge their emotional responses and beliefs regarding science and scientists. Pupils took part in creative workshops, answered questionnaires and were interviewed in groups and in pairs. A science teacher focus group was set up in each of the schools visited.

  11.  We seek to create an enjoyable and exciting experience but feel that it is important to highlight that we deliver considerable educational depth and are not simply a visitor attraction. All of our content is rigourously evaluated and is designed to achieve clearly defined learning aims which enhance and enrich the National Curriculum for Science. We provide unique interactive, investigative learning resources for children, young people and their teachers, which are not currently available in the classroom.

  12.  Evaluation has been an integral part of the project from the start. Our future growth, success and impact is determined by measuring our activities against agreed outcomes and targets. A measure of our success is our ability to reach school pupils with low levels of achievement, to improve educational attainment, and to raise career aspirations. Our evaluation strategy includes quantitative and qualitative elements. A quantitative gauge is the number of children and young people we work with through our outreach programme, and by visits to the Centre once it opens. Our qualitative evaluation methods are designed to assess whether or not our organisation is making a difference to the lives of the young people we engage with.

  13.  Centre of the Cell has collaborated with 30 schools over the last three years and has built excellent partnerships. When Centre of the Cell opens, we will continue this successful collaboration with our partner schools to evaluate the effectiveness of the project. This evaluation strategy will include pre- and post-visit questionnaires and interviews with school pupils and teachers as part of our long-term research.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Day time audience during the school year

  14.  The target audience is school children aged 9-16. There is open access to all schools. Already science teachers are asking to block book visits for the next three years. On the basis of the current levels of interest, we anticipate that demand for school visits will outstrip available places. School visits will be free of charge. Our target is to work with 14,400 school children and their teachers during the first year of operation.

Evenings, school holidays and weekend audience

  15.  Evening visits will be allocated to after-school clubs, family groups and youth and community groups (6,400 targeted in the first year). At the weekend and during school holidays the Centre will be open to the general public, with the focus on children, young people and families (12,000 targeted in the first year). Weekend and school holiday visitors will be charged £7 for adults and £5 for children. There will be a range of other ticket options to encourage family groups, together with concessionary rates. Special events and activities will be organised for residents of Tower Hamlets.

NEED AND BENEFITS

Educational

  16.  Our research team found that young people have difficulty understanding cells, find science boring and think that scientists are white, male, middle-aged and mad. They found that young people lacked the incentive to study science; they were not inspired by it and knew very little about the benefits of a career in science and healthcare. In spite of the fact that cell biology and an understanding of sickness and health is a substantial part of the Science National Curriculum at Key Stages 2, 3 and 4, there is currently no dedicated resource aimed at young people and their teachers to help them learn and teach about cells and medical research. Centre of the Cell will fill this need.

  17.  Centre of the Cell relates science to everyday life and illustrates its relevance to society and its capacity to tackle diverse and complex issues. Our evaluations revealed that pupils do not relate school science practical classes to drug discovery and medical treatments. Centre of the Cell will address this need by enabling visitors to understand what medical research is, what it has achieved and its future potential.

Economic

  18.  Encouraging school students to take science beyond GCSE is a major national issue. Inspiring and developing the next generation of scientists and improving Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills are vitally important national challenges. UK industry and future economic growth relies upon skilled science graduates. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimates that the UK will need 2.4 million more people with STEM skills by 2014. This forecast is based on data published in Working Futures 2004-2014, Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, January 2006. Centre of the Cell and other science and discovery centres are addressing these challenges by creating resources which encourage young people to study STEM subjects and take up careers in science and healthcare.

Regeneration

  19.  Centre of the Cell is based in Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, east London. Based on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2004, which combines seven indicators of deprivation—income, health, employment, education, barriers to housing and services, crime and living environment, Tower Hamlets is one of the most deprived boroughs in England. Centre of the Cell will play an important role in the regeneration of the area by creating world-class educational resources, widening participation in higher education and introducing career pathways within the NHS and the education sector. For example, our six Patients' Journeys highlight the many different roles and careers involved in each patient's care.

  20.  We also provide a resource for the wider community and are developing a family learning programme aimed at local community and family groups. Special events are planned for local residents and for our early evening visits priority booking is given to community and youth groups and after-school clubs.

Public engagement—scientific literacy

  21.  Science, and the ethical issues that biomedical research increasingly raises, underpins the future development of our society. It is vital that young people engage with key scientific and ethical issues to enable them to make informed choices about their futures. We seek to dispel stereotypes about science and scientists. The RIBA award winning Institute of Cell and Molecular Science where Centre of the Cell is sited, is now fully operational. The staff at the Institute represent a diverse mix of cultures, genders and ages; this will help to dispel some of the stereotypes surrounding scientists. The design of the building is deliberately open plan to encourage staff to share ideas and is transparent to the public, a stunning glass box. The majority of scientists who have contributed to Centre of the Cell's content work at the Institute and are actively involved in public engagement.

COLLABORATIONS

  22.  Centre of the Cell is developing partnerships with key organisations, agencies and networks involved in public engagement and attracting young people to science subjects and scientific careers. For example, we are have joined the Science Ambassadors programme run by the Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics Network (SETNET), which will involve volunteers with STEM skills working with our audience. We are exhibiting at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in July 2007. Centre of the Cell is hosting the British Association for the Advancement of Science Crest Awards in March 2008, which celebrates the accomplishments of school children across the UK.

CONCLUSION

  23.  Learning about and understanding science is a major national challenge and Centre of the Cell and similar enterprises play a vital role in tackling this challenge. We add considerable educational value and provide a range of unique curriculum-linked resources to help children and young people engage with science. Our long-term success and sustainability would be greatly enhanced by the availability of central government funding programmes for capital and revenue costs.

June 2007