‘I’m a Scientist, In the Zone’ is part of In the Zone – a project from the Wellcome Trust, inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This year we are running an I’m a Scientist special: 2 zones, 10 weeks, 250 schools and up to 50 scientists.

Could your science be relevant? In the Zone is all about exploring the mind and body in motion, which is quite broad. We are keen to show school students how different areas of science can work together. You could be studying anything from the nutritional needs of marathon runners, to the bioengineering of knee replacements, from the physiology of muscle cells, to the psychology of teamwork. We want to hear from you!

Scientists will put up a profile on our website, answer questions from school students, and have live online chats with them (a bit like Facebook chat or Skype chat).

We’ll have 2 zones:

• Primary (7-11)
• Secondary (11-19)

The zones will run for 10 weeks between April 23rd to July 13th. Each week a different set of 5 scientists will have live chats and answer questions. We hope each scientist will take part for a total of 2 weeks, but this will depend on your availability and the number of scientists wanting to take part.

There will be a maximum of 10 chats per week, but you don’t need to attend them all. We guess that you’ll need to spend about 10 hours over the week on the event. Some will spend less time, others more. It is down to you.

Students will ask you questions, chat to you online, and vote for the scientist they think should get a prize of £500 to spend on science communication.

Why?

You’ll learn a lot. Previous participants in I’m a Scientist tell us that it is great for communication skills and for getting them to look at their science with fresh eyes. On top of that it is very enjoyable. If you want more info, our evaluation reports are all online.

You’ll also be reaching out to thousands of students giving them a chance to find out what your science is all about.

It’s free, it’s online (so you can take part from your desk) and you get a nice shiny certificate and evaluation report at the end of it all. All you need to take part is a computer with an internet connection.

And did we mention the prize? You could win £500 to spend on further science communication.

How to apply

If you’ve read this far there’s a good chance you want to take part. Good. Here’s how it works.

You need to fill in the online application form on the right. Choose your work description sentence carefully. We’ll ask a group of friendly teachers and students to tell us how interesting they find your work and we’ll then be guided by that when selecting the participating scientists.

Timings

Please apply as soon as possible. We’ll start selecting mid-March to give you time to put up a profile on the site.

Live chats start April 23rd and continue through to July 13th, but we only expect you to take part for one or two weeks.