The voices of STEM women (Stemmerne fra STEM-kvinder)
Grantee: Anéh Christina Hajdu, Foreningen Science City Lyngby
Amount: DKK 971,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
Science City Lyngby will produce 18 videos of female STEM role models to create awareness and interest among girls in STEM activities and education. The videos consist of three series, one focusing on personal stories of women working in STEM jobs, and another on interviews with well-known female science profiles of influence. The final series features girls attending Science Club, an after-school program offered by Science City Lyngby. The Science Club girls will also be actively involved together with a professional journalist in the planning and execution of the video series, creating identification and ensuring relevance for the main target group. The videos will be disseminated through 10 roadshows in other Danish municipalities, presentations at lower secondary schools, and a social media campaign also targeting parents and teachers.
PARK
Grantee: Joakim Quorp Matthiesen, Folkeuniversitetet in Aarhus
Amount: DKK 996,500
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
Folkeuniversitetet in Aarhus will establish a free annual science festival, PARK, for the public to take place at Aarhus University Park. Leading scientists will give talks about the latest research results, with the aim of promoting curiosity and contributing actively to democracy. The program will also feature events within music, literature, and art.
Through the researchers’ eyes (Med forskernes øjne)
Grantee: Karsten Elmose Vad, University of Copenhagen, GLOBE Institute
Amount: DKK 993,090
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
The project Through the researchers’ eyes aims to improve natural science education in the lower secondary school by applying a teaching method known from the arts, Visual Thinking Strategies, which focuses on strengthening students’ skills within observation, description, and discussion – key elements also of the natural science disciplines – to stimulate students’ curiosity and active participation. The project is a collaboration between both education experts and university researchers from Copenhagen University, experts from VTSdanmark and chosen teachers.
Researchers Communicate (Forskerne Formidler)
Grantee: Vibeke Hjortlund, Videnskab.dk
Amount: DKK 2,500,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
Videnskab.dk will further develop the existing initiative Forskerne Formidler (Eng. Researchers Communicate), now with an expanded international focus. The overall purpose of Forskerne Formidler is to provide easy access for the public to the science that shapes the world, directly from the scientists themselves. With a continuation of the program and platform it will focus on the development of three different areas: new genres and improvement of quality for existing, courses and training in dissemination for scientists, and international distribution, collaboration and network within academic journalism.
Videnskab.dk is Denmark’s leading popular science media with around 1 million monthly users. The media is an independent source of daily science news, features and other quality content in many different formats.
Forskerne Formidler is supported by the LEO Foundation alongside the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Lundbeck Foundation, and the Augustinus Foundation.
Full of knowledge (Fuld af viden)
Grantee: Anne Engedal, Videnslyd A/S
Amount: DKK 1,500,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
Fuld af viden is a continuation of the well-established science podcast series ‘Kraniebrud’ from Videnslyd. The podcast will investigate interesting phenomena and topics from a fact-based perspective through discussions with invited scientists and visits to their labs and studies. The series will be hosted by experienced science journalists, who will present the listeners to all kinds of phenomena from a different unexpected perspective. The weekly episodes will have an increased focus on younger scientists and their research. It’ll optimize the auditory experience and create shorter episodes that are better suited for the podcast format than the original series.
Children’s books: Max and Meta (Max og Meta)
Grantee: Troels Gollander, Forlaget Meta
Amount: DKK 225,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
The ‘Max og Meta’ children’s book series targets 4-12-year-olds with a cartoon-like format presenting stories revolving around natural science phenomena. The series is created by an experienced duo, author Troels Gollander and illustrator Lars-Ole Nejstgaard. The project covers two new books in the series, focused on the sensory system and the body, a website targeting primary schools with free educational material related to the two new books, and a podcast exploring the topics of the book series.
The books aim to stimulate STEM interest in children and pre-teens with an educational format that is both ‘family-friendly’ and relevant for lower secondary school.
Biotech Academy Camp 2024 – Microbiology
Grantee: Victoria Francke, Biotech Academy (DTU Bioengineering)
Amount: DKK 211,260
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
Biotech Academy Camp is an annual recurring event where 30 high school students from all over Denmark attend a week-long science camp. The purpose of the camp is to introduce potential students to theory and laboratory work and to spur young people’s interest in STEM in an engaging and practical way.
This year the theme is microbiology, and it is free for high school students to participate. Biotech Academy Camp is run by students at the Technical University of Denmark – DTU and the University of Copenhagen.
Photo exhibition: My Beautiful Skin (Min smukke hud)
Grantee: Charlotte Näslund Koch, Herlev-Gentofte Hospital
Amount: DKK 210,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
My Beautiful Skin (Min smukke hud) is the name of a photo project that aims to address the stigma of skin diseases and promote a more inclusive and natural beauty ideal. The recognized photographer Marie Hald has been commissioned to take a series of art photos, depicting 20 patients with different skin disease.
The photos will be exhibited at Department of Dermatology and Allergy – Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, accompanied by evidence-based information about the relevant skin disease. The photo exhibition is driven by clinical researchers in collaboration with the hospital’s communication team.
Digitalt univers til databearbejdning af citizen science-genererede forskningsdata i gymnasiet
Grantee: Marie Rathcke Lillemark, Statens Naturhistoriske Museum
Amount: DKK 1,811,250
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
The Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen will establish a free online platform for high schools to support the education of ‘data literate’ citizens with hands-on skills in answering interdisciplinary questions through scientific methodology. The platform will provide free access for Danish high schools to data obtained in the Next Generation Lab initiative, an ongoing citizen science initiative in which students analyze archaeological findings at the museum’s lab using scientific methods, thereby generating large amounts of raw research data. The portal will enable students from all over Denmark to work directly with this data, guided by new educational material that supports its relevance within or across topics such as biology, biotechnology, chemistry, history, Danish language and literature, physics, and social studies.
Astronomy and natural science for kids (Astronomi og naturvidenskab i børnehøjde)
Grantee: Mille Marta Andersen, Go Zebra
Amount: DKK 978,420
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
Go Zebra, a non-profit organization dedicated to stimulating children’s curiosity and bridging it to problem-solving and societal challenges through educational material with a special focus on engineering and innovation, joins forces with astrophysicist and science communicator Tina Ibsen in developing a free educational course on astronomy aimed for 4th-grade teachers and pupils. The developed material will become available for free on MeeBook (the learning platform most widely used by Danish schools), and classes participating in the project will have workshops facilitated by Go Zebra at their schools.
The overall ambition is to instill confidence in children that they can understand the world and have the capabilities to solve problems.