PAWS - Public Awareness of Science & Engineering

March 23, 2009, 7.00pm
The Institute of Physics, London

"Medicine and Machines"

Featuring women scientists and engineers presenting the physical science and engineering that is changing the face of medicine today.

A PAWS Science and Engineering evening bringing together the science/engineering (SET) communities with professionals in the TV and other media, each providing new insights for the other. This cross-cultural mix featured a panel of three women scientists and engineers revealing the secrets and research behind diagnostics and treatments familiar to many of us, and a leading broadcaster whose series - Holby City on BBC1 - provides the human drama of modern hospital life for 6 million viewers. This event and its popular theme was supported by five organizations (below) with introductions from Andrew Millington of PAWS, Maggie Philbin representing Women in SET and the New Engineering foundation and Professor Jimmy Bell who runs the Imaging Department in the Clinical Sciences Centre at Imperial College.

The event was supported by the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET, the Medical Research Council, The New Engineering Foundation, The Institute of Physics ad Engineering in Medicine, and the Institute of Physics who hosted the evening.

Click the Evening tab at the top of the page for more information.

NEW FACES TO PRESENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ON TELEVISION
...2009 some leading women contenders

With science and technology gaining an ever greater presence across TV and new media output, there is a strong case for bringing forward a fresh wave of presenters versed in science and engineering and motivated to communicate with a wide audience. In particular, there are many women scientists and engineers waiting to be discovered as mainstream TV presenters, and indeed as experts or interesting characters for non-science output.

So in 2009 PAWS in conjunction with the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology are proposing some leading women contenders as TV presenters or expert interviewees in science and technology. They range from young researchers keen to embrace communication with a wide public to established professors with a similar mission. An awareness pack has been created to include a 15 minute DVD showcasing TV potential and a booklet of CVs of the women scientists and engineers featured. This is available from the PAWS office to all programme makers and broadcasters (see contact details in box at bottom on page right).

The DVD offers short presentation pieces and interviews with eight scientists and engineers who could qualify as general science presenters or experts. This is followed by shorter sequences of six other scientists or engineers who are likely to appeal particularly in one of the two modes, either as expert or presenter.

November 3 and 4
The Institute of Physics, London

The EuroPAWS Environment in TV and New Media Festival

Including two days of screenings of programmes from across Europe, plus panel-led discussions. Three categories of output are featured:

TV Documentaries and Drama
TV General Programming (i.e. magazines, politics shows, natural world etc)
- an item in context or a complete programme
New Media Productions (including WEB, iPOD, Promotional Video etc)

A jury of leading TV professionals and scientists/engineers and science communicators from across Europe will award prizes for the best productions in each category plus an extra award recognizing merit beyond the categorization.

Click the Festival tab above for more information.

November 3, 2008, 4.30pm
The Institute of Physics, London

"Images Matter - The Changing Role of Television and other Media in communicating modern science"

A panel-led discussion at the Environment in TV and New Media Festival. Science and Technology now have an ever greater presence across broadcasting. Environmental issues pervade news and current affairs nowadays as well as dedicated science programming, but also areas like drama and rural affairs programming see it as offering major stories. But many areas of science from IT to Genetics and even simulations of the Big Bang cut across TV and New media genres. Professionals from across TV and New Media output will lead a debate on how the TV and other media does and should respond to this changing world.

Click the Festival tab above for more information.

November 4, 2008, 7.00pm
University College, London

"Climate Change - Let the Science Speak"

A PAWS science evening bringing some of the key science and technology behind climate change and associated issues to a wide public. The event will featured women scientists and engineers from across the research areas and a leading TV producer and Director of programmes on the environment, Fiona Scott. The event will be introduced by the Director of the Environment Institute Professor Mark Maslin, who will also present a cameo of women scientists on television as part of the women in science theme.

Click the Evening tab above for more information.

November 24, 2008, 7.00pm
Institution of Engineering and Technology, London

The PAWS/EuroPAWS Awards Evening
Climate Change - Seeing is Believing

The Awards evening this year has an Environment in TV and New Media focus. Excerpts from all the candidates for the four MIDAS Prizes will be screened, and the Award winners announced. There will be a keynote talk from Sir David King, former Government Chief Scientist and now Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at Oxford University, and a panel-led discussion including the Head of Climate Change at the Environment Agency and writer of the BBC Drama "Burn Up" and "The Full Monty" Simon Beaufoy.

Click the Awards tab above for more information.

For further details on all events, click on the relevant box on the right or the indicated tab at the top.

The EuroPAWS Festival and the Panel-led Discussion are supported by the Institute of Physics, DIUS (the UK Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills) and OMNI Communications.

The PAWS Science Evening at UCL is supported by the Environment Institute, UCL and the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET.

The PAWS/EuroPAWS Awards Evening is supported by the Environment Agency and The Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Science, Arts and the Public - Bridging the Cultures

We are increasingly aware of the importance of science, engineering and technology in all our lives. Every day hews bulletins carry items in which science features prominently. The general public is anxious to know more about the impact on daily life if scientific and engineering developments. But this explosion of scientific headlines also opens up opportunities across television for new programming and new stories. Scientific or engineering challenges can be fun as well as demanding, and this applies as much to areas of threat like climate change as to more benign developments.

Television drama provides one example of how true scientific settings can inform both classic formats and new variations where drama can be an ingredient. PAWS categorises drama......the medium of drama.

As the EuroPAWS 2008 festival illustrates, the challenge is on to find new and refreshing ways of presenting issues that engage new audiences. PAWS was inspired in its early days by the chance for science in TV drama, and it is to the large audiences of entertainment generally and other major strands of broadcasting where the excitement and relevance of science today can be most widely portrayed. Dedicated science programming remains hugely important, but the growth of opportunities in other broadcasting contexts for engaging different publics with new science and engineering challenges must be seized. The three goals of public engagement - the democratic argument, to empower people better to make informed decisions, opportunities for jobs, and as part of a modern culture - all point to the key role of TV and New Media in recognizing how much of its output is relevant to this communication agenda.