Projects

At NUSTEM we’ve had the pleasure of working with a wide range of funders along with academic colleagues and external partners over the years. This timeline brings all of our projects together in one place. A veritable trip through time!

  • 2025–2027

    Bell Bell

    Sonic Intangibles

    Sonification is a way of representing data through sound. It has been used to represent distant galaxies, computer network traffic, and the Earth’s magnetic sphere.

    The Sonic Intangibles project aims to bring together researchers from different disciplines to explore the most effective way of collaborating to produce sonification of research data. As part of the project, the NUSTEM team are developing a ‘Sounds club’ for primary schools to see if sonification could be useful in primary school teaching.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Annie Padwick, Antonio Portas

    Northumbria University academic Partners: Shelly Knotts, Daniel Ratliff, Paul Vickers, Lucy Whalley

    Newcastle University academic partners: Jorge Boehringer, George Castleton, Christopher Harrison, Bennett Hogg, Rose Shepherd,

    Funded by: UKRI’s Cross Research Council Responsive Mode Scheme Grant number MR/Z506448/1

  • ONE Planet Outreach Network

    The ‘ONE Planet Outreach Network’ aims to address the low engagement of minoritized ethnic groups across the NE in the natural and environmental sciences. Through the project we will develop a network of climate change facilitators in the NE, across both Newcastle and Northumbria Universities (with support from the ONE Planet partnership) and establish a new environmental outreach programme that is underpinned by a DEI assessment and impact framework.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick

    Academic Partners: Emma Hocking

    External partners: Newcastle University (Stephen Blenkinsop, Rachel Carr, Heather Sugden, Hayley Fowler, Michelle Palmer, Laura Jones, Jayne Moorhead)

    Funded by: NERC Diversifying the Talent Pipeline

    2023-2025

  • 2023–2026

    SPOTW Cymru

    STEM Person of the Week (SPOTW) – Cymru uses the established and evidence-backed initiative created by NUSTEM and adapts it to serve a new primary schools’ audience in Wales. SPOTW-Cymru helps Welsh students and teachers recognise local/regional relevance of STFC-linked STEM jobs and will meet the bilingual requirements of the country and the curriculum.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick

    External partners: Science Made Simple: Rachel Mason, Wendy Sadler

    Funded by: STFC

  • STEM Communities

    STEM Communities targets families with children aged 8–11 from schools in the area local to Woodhorn Mining Museum. It brings together children, their families and researchers, to learn about the local heritage of science and technology in the North East, and to explore science and technologies currently being developed that will shape their futures. The project aims to enable local families to develop their STEM interests, to become a community of scientists leading their own scientific enquiries.

    NUSTEM Team:  Joe Shimwell, Carol Davenport, Annie Padwick

    External partners: Woodhorn Museum (Liz Ferguson, Becky Cooper, Zoe Cheshire)

    Funded by: STFC ST/Y002954/1

    2023–2026

  • 2022–2025

    NUNA: Effective mitigation and adaptation to changing ground conditions for reslilient coastal futures

    NUSTEM is part of an international project working with the community in Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories of Canada. This broad project will look at how the gathering data with the community to support them to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change on their region. Our role will be to work with the school and community organiser to help communicate the scientific findings to children and families in Tuktoyaktuk.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick, Carol Davenport

    Wider Northumbria Team: Mike Lim, Jane Entwistle, John Woodward, Paul Mann, Anil Namdeo, James Martin

    Funder: Canada-Inuit Nunangat – United Kingdom Arctic (CINUK) Research Programme

  • Career-related learning in Chemistry (CLIC)

    CLIC provides a programme of chemistry-focused, careers-linked interventions for pupils in year 7 and year 8 in two secondary schools in the North East of England. Over the course of the two years, pupils will meet and find out more about people who work in chemistry and explore applications of chemistry in the real-world. The main objectives of the project are to: increase young people’s awareness of chemistry careers, increase young people’s knowledge of the pathways to these careers, and support their ‘chemistry-identity’.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Antonio Portas, Annie Padwick

    External Team: Graeme Turnbull, Matt Unthank, Gary Black

    Funder: Royal Society of Chemistry

    2022–2023

  • 2022

    Careers-related Learning in Primary Schools

    This project, in collaboration with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (NELEP), aims to analyse current Career Related Learning (CRL) in primary school settings to inform government policy on careers guidance. We will commission and examine the views of a representative sample of over 2000 primary school teachers in across England in 2022. This data will be presented alongside the evaluation findings of other careers-related learning projects of the group in a State of the Nation report. This project will develop our learning into how best to disseminate our findings with key policy makers and other stakeholders.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Annie Padwick

    External Team: North East Local Enterprise Partnership (NELEP)

    Funder: Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE)

  • Climate Change: It’s In Our Hands

    Climate Change: It’s In Our Hands will be a climate change education resource, co-designed by experts in climate science, games design, and science outreach with stakeholders from the target audiences: teachers and children. The aim for the board game is to enable players to explore the complexities of climate change in an engaging and accessible way. It will invite children to take part in discussions about actionable solutions to climate change, and support them to adopt climate-positive attitudes and behaviours. Following the game creation, teachers from 15 primary schools in North-East England will be trained to use it in classrooms, and resources will be distributed online. What children learn through the game play, and how, will be explored through an impact evaluation and corresponding research study.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick

    External Team: Emma Hocking, Matthew Pound

    Funder: NERC

    2022–2023

  • 2021–2024

    Fungi in a warming world

    In this project NUSTEM will develop a board game. Aimed at primary children, the game will help them to find out about the importance of fungi and how they will be affected by climate change.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick

    External Team: Matt Pound

    Funder: NSFGEO-NERC

  • MAPPP - Maya Archaeology and Palaeoecology Partnership Project

    NUSTEM is contributing to this project by training Belizean undergraduate students in science communication so that they can work with school children in their home towns. We’ll work with the project researchers to develop classroom resources based on the findings from the research, which the undergraduates will be able to use.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell

    External Team: Bronwen Whitney

    2021-2023

  • 2021–2023

    Carbon Emissions under Arctic Snow: Climate Connections

    As part of this research project, NUSTEM is linking two schools, one in Canada and one in the North East of England. The schools’ children will share information about their schools and their environments. Together they’ll learn more about climate change and how it might affect their lives.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell

    External Team: Nick Rutter

    Funder: NERC

  • Creativity Clubs

    NUSTEM partnered with Success4All to develop and deliver Creativity Clubs. The project is a year-long series of 6-week Creativity Clubs, with each 6-week block being themed around a broad area of STEM linked to science funded by the STFC. It is delivered in a North East Community centre to children aged 4–7 years old. Club sessions are filled with a variety of STEM-linked activities and the themes were linked to children’s literacy books with copies gifted to each child. This project looks at the best ways to engage younger audiences in community settings with STFC science.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell, Mel Horan, Annie Padwick

    External Team: Kirsty Hayward, Emma Clark at Success 4 All.

    Funder: STFC.

    2021–2022

  • 2021–2022

    Let’s do engineering

    Let’s do Engineering is a project led by Dr Helen Bridle from Heriot-Watt University. The project brings together engineering professionals, schools, nurseries, musicians, artists, storytellers and children to design fun and engaging engineering activities. All of the resources developed during the project will be available on the Let’s do engineering website.

    NUSTEM is supporting Helen as she develops the project, using our previous experience of working with young children and their families, and our expertise in evaluating the impact of activities with this group.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick

    External Partner: Dr Helen Bridle, Professor Thusha Rajendran

    Funder: EPSRC Engagement Champions Award

  • RiPSAW – Revealing the pattern of solar alfvénic waves

    NUSTEM will work with Richard Morton to develop poetry workshops for families and communities in rural areas of the North East. We’ll help solar physics colleagues to create their own poetry, and deliver workshops as well.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Carol Davenport, Annie Padwick

    External Team: Richard Morton

    Funder: UKRI

    2020–2025

  • 2020–2023

    Reading Sparks

    Reading Sparks is a project led by The Reading Agency. The project will harness the proven power of reading to engage families with STEM, and bridge the gap in science capital for families from lower socio-economic groups, teenage girls and BME communities. There are 11 library services across England involved in the project: Barnsley, Coventry, Derbyshire, Halton, Hillingdon, Hull, Newham, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Swindon, and Torbay.

    NUSTEM is working with The Reading Agency to develop activities for loan bags that the libraries will share with their visitors, and supporting the work with young people. We are also involved in the governance and evaluation of the project.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Jonathan Sanderson, Carol Davenport

    External partners: The Reading Agency, British Science Association

    Funders: Arts Council England, Science and Technology Facilities Council

  • Union Chain Bridge: Crossing Borders, Inspiring Communities

    The Union Chain Bridge project will conserve the historically important Union Chain Bridge near Berwick, simultaneously delivering an exciting programme of events, activities and learning opportunities. NUSTEM is working with Museums Northumberland on the development and delivery of the primary schools and family engagement activities.

    You can find out more about the whole project, including some amazing drone footage of the bridge at the project website: Union Chain Bridge

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Carol Davenport, Annie Padwick

    External Partners: Museums Northumberland

    Funders: National Lottery Heritage Fund, Northumberland County Council, Scottish Borders Council

    2020–2022

  • 2020–2022

    Inventive

    Professor Trevor Cox, from Salford University, is creating a podcast series – Inventive – which tells stories of engineering. Using a fascinating mix of interviews with a diverse range of engineers and fiction based on those interviews, Inventive blends different voices together to create a new way of looking at engineers and engineering.

    NUSTEM is working with the Inventive team to create curriculum materials linked to the engineers and the stories.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Jonathan Sanderson, Antonio Portas

    External Partners: Professor Trevor Cox, Adam Fowler, Anna Scott-Brown, Annabeth Robinson, Gill Davies

    Funder: EPSRC

  • Our Past, Your Future

    Using the NUSTEM primary schools partnership as a model, children, teachers and families from 15 primary schools in the North of Tyne region will learn about the heritage of the North East and look to the future of STEM in the region. There will also be a summer school based at Woodhorn Museum, visits to local companies and teacher CPD provided by Historic England.

    You can find out more about the project, including an interactive map of North East Heritage, on the project webpage: Our Past, Your Future.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell, Jonathan Sanderson

    External partners: Museums Northumberland, Historic England

    Funder: North of Tyne Combined Authority

    2019–2022

  • 2019–2023

    Connect

    A collaboration with the making and tinkering experts at the Centre for Life, this three-year project will bring physical computing to families and communities across the region. Participants will add their own biological and technological distinctiveness to an ever-growing network of robots.

    For more information, see the Connect pages.

    NUSTEM Team: Jonathan Sanderson, Joe Shimwell, Carol Davenport, Annie Padwick
    External partners: Centre for Life
    Funder: North of Tyne Combined Authority

  • Tipping Points in Antarctic Climate Components (TiPPACs)

    TiPPACs is a collaboration between five European partners. The project is investigating the possibility of sudden and large changes in different parts of the environment in Antarctica, particularly the relatively ‘warm’ water underneath some of the ice shelves, and the ice sheets themselves.

    NUSTEM is supporting public engagement and training for researchers involved in the project.

    You can download the teaching resources developed for the project from the University Knowledge Bank (free).

    The project lead at Northumbria University is Hilmar Gudmundsson.

    Funder: European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no.820575

    2019–2023

  • 2019–2022

    SOLARNET

    SOLARNET is a European Commission project aimed at fostering networking between around 600 European solar scientists, conducting joint research activity and supporting access to research infrastructures. Some of the activities in the project involve training in scientific principles and in public engagement. NUSTEM is working with Dr Richard Morton to support the outreach activities of the project.

    Funder: European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 824135.

  • Me, You & Science Too

    MYST is an early years literacy project, seeing us collaborate with one of our partner schools to develop and deliver a series of ten family workshops. The workshops involve reading a STEM-based story book and a linked practical activity.

    We’re aiming to support the school in developing home-school links; empower parents to read more often with their children; normalise family discussion about STEM ideas; and research the effects of the project so we can subsequently share recommendations and best practice.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick, Mel Horan, Carol Davenport

    External partner: Battle Hill Primary School

    Funder: SHINE Trust

    2019–2021

  • 2019–2021

    Cacoon

    We are working with Dr Paul Mann to develop activities exploring the impacts of climate change on Arctic ecosystems and communities. Local artist Dominic Smith has helped us to use photography to model permafrost melting in an understandable and highly visual fashion.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Carol Davenport

    Academic: Paul Mann

    External Partners: Helix Arts and Dominic Smith

    Funded by: Natural Environment Research Council, through their Changing Arctic Oceans programme

  • 2019–2021

  • 2019–2021

    MANAPRE

    NUSTEM is collaborating with colleagues in the Department of Geography and researchers in Mexico City on the Mexico City Partnership on Health and Air Pollution Research and Engagement (MANAPRE). The project studies air quality in Mexico City. NUSTEM have created a series of science and career lesson inserts for teachers in Mexico to use to teach their students about what air quality is, and how it can be improved. You can find the Spanish and English versions of the resources here.

    NUSTEM Team: Antonio Portas, Carol Davenport

    Northumbria University Academic Team: Anil Namdeo, Jane Entwistle, Lindsay Bramwell

    Funded by: British Council Newton Fund

  • Tales of Engineering

    Tales of Engineering connects professional engineers with pre-school children and their families, and with nursery children. They share their love of engineering by reading a story book with family groups, the books chosen carefully to align with the engineers’ interests and expertise. At the end of the session, the children will take the book home with them.

    NUSTEM Team: Antonio Portas, Mel Horan, Annie Padwick, Sonia Singh Chahal, Jonathan Sanderson, Carol Davenport

    Engineer team: Vikash Kumar, Stewart Franks, Carolina Costa, Linzi Dodd, Paula McMahon, Harri Beatie, Talib Butt

    Funder: Royal Academy of Engineering  Ingenious Grant

    2019–2020

  • 2019–2020

    Careers in Initial Teacher Education (CITE)

    CITE is a study which provides training for trainee teachers and their mentors about careers education in primary schools. The training consists of three sessions and gap task which explore unconscious bias, careers aspirations and employability characteristics in primary schools.

    The training has also been used with other primary school teachers and was delivered both face to face and online.

    NUSTEM team: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick

    External partner: North East LEP

    Funder: Careers and Enterprise Company

  • Geography: Past Present and Future

    Geography: Past, Present and Future is a series of three workshops exploring climate change and environmental science with primary school children.

    Academics from Northumbria University’s cold and palaeo-environment (CAPE) research group worked with NUSTEM to co-design and co-deliver workshops. The project also supported children to act as researchers to consider how environmental science can be used to see what the environment was like in the past, measure what’s happening now, and predict what it will be like in the future.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Mel Horan, Annie Padwick, Itoro Emembolu

    Academic Team: Leanne Wake, Matthew Pound, Kate Winter, Nick Rutter, Sebastian Rosier, John Woodward, Richard Morton

    Funded by: Northumbria University

    2019–2020

  • 2018–2021

    Exploring Extreme Environments (E3)

    Exploring Extreme Environments (E3) uses science, poetry and art linked to the extreme environments found in the Sun and Antarctica to engage and educate children.

    Towards the end of the project there will be an Antarctica-inspired community performance of poetry and sounds by Katrina Porteous (poet) and Peter Zinovieff (composer) to help showcase the amazing relationship between art and science.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Annie Padwick, Joe Shimwell, Mel Horan, Jonathan Sanderson
    Academic team: John Woodward, James McLaughlin, Richard Morton

    External partners: Katrina Porteous, Peter Zinovieff, Helen Schell, Discovery Museum

    Funder: STFC

  • Think Engineering #2

    The Reece Foundation funds part of the NUSTEM primary partnership work, with a particular focus on showcasing engineering careers. The funding also supports NUSTEM Think Week, yearly summer schools for children aged 9–10.

    Each year, the Reece foundation also supports a Northumbria University Placement Student, who works with NUSTEM for the whole year.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Mel Horan, Jonathan Sanderson, Carol Davenport, Annie Padwick

    Placement Students: Dan Wilkinson, Luke Haworth, Sonia Singh Chahal, Bethany Willis

    Funder: Reece Foundation

    2018–2020

  • 2018–2019

    Union Chain Bridge Learning package

    The Union Chain Bridge is a historic bridge near Berwick upon Tweed which was completed in 1820 and was then the longest chain suspension bridge in the World. Two hundred years on, the bridge was in need of refurbishment, and a partnership between Northumberland County Council, Scottish Borders Council, Museums Northumberland and supported by the Friends of the Union Chain bridge came together to bid for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

    As part of the preparation of that bid, NUSTEM drew up a vision for a STEM learning programme that would bring an understanding of the science and engineering involved to children, teachers and families in schools within 10 miles of Berwick.

    NUSTEM Team: Jonathan Sanderson, Carol Davenport

    External partners: Jane Miller, Anita Wan, Rowan Brown (Museums Northumberland)

    Funder: Northumberland County Council / Heritage Lottery Fund

  • Ogden Outreach Officer

    The Ogden Trust provide support for the Ogden Outreach Officer within NUSTEM. The officer provides physics-specific support to pupils and teachers, as well as working with academic staff on public engagement projects.

    NUSTEM team: Antonio Portas, Carol Davenport.

    Academic team: Rodrigo Ledesma-Aguilar, Shaun Bloomfield

    Funder: Ogden Trust

    2017–2021

  • 2017–2019

    British Gear Association

    Working with the industry association for gear specialists within mechanical engineering, we developed a practical workshop for primary schools and trained BGA members to deliver the workshop nationwide.

    NUSTEM team: Joe Shimwell, Jonathan Sanderson, Carol Davenport

    Funder: British Gear Association

  • Family Space Explorers

    Family Space Explorers involved two family storytime activities based around the theme of space exploration. Using two books, one of which was written specifically for the project, families of pre-school children read a story and then did a simple building activity together using the story as a creative springboard. The sessions were delivered in local libraries and cultural venues. After the session, families were given a copy of the book to take home.

    NUSTEM team: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell, Jonathan Sanderson, Luke Howarth

    Funder: UK Space Agency

    2017–2018

  • 2017–2018

    NECOP Careers Material Development

    The North East Collaborative Outreach programme involved the five universities and 19 colleges in the North East region. As part of the special projects fund, NUSTEM created two teacher CPD sessions on careers in the curriculum and unconscious bias. We also wrote science topic worksheets using (mostly local) companies as a context that teachers could use in their classrooms.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Jonathan Sanderson

    External partners: Alom Shaha, James Brown, Anne Willis, Cathryn Arnold

    Funding: HEFCE

  • Imagining the Sun

    Imagining the Sun was a collaboration between a poet, a sound artist and a visual artist with Northumbria University’s solar physics research group, supported by NUSTEM. The project challenged public and schools audiences to explore how approaches from art and science can complement and inform each other. Alongside the schools programme was a series of public performances and exhibitions.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell, Sarah Hilton, Jonathan Sanderson

    Academic team:  John Woodward, The Solar Physics group including Richard Morton, Gert Botha, Valentina Zharkova, and James Mclaughlin,

    External partners: Katrina Porteous, Helen Schell, Peter Zinovieff

    Funded by: STFC (ST/N005562/1)

    2016–2018

  • 2016–2017

    Engineering for Families

    Engineering for Families is a 6-week family-learning course developed for primary school children and their parents/carers. Each session introduced families to a different branch of engineering, and allowed carers and children to create and build together in a relaxed atmosphere. The sessions were delivered at six schools in Blyth, and there was also teacher CPD so that the schools could continue to deliver the club themselves.

    NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Dan Wilkinson, Carol Davenport, Antonio Portas

    Funded by: Platten Family fund at the Community Foundation

  • Giant Waves in the Ocean: From Sea Monsters to Science

    In this project NUSTEM collaborated with colleagues from the Maths department and a visual artist to explore the concept of creativity in art and mathematics in North East primary schools.

    NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell

    Academic team: Sara Lombardo, Matteo Sommacal, Benoit Huard

    External partners: Gloria Ronchi

    Funded by: Maths Forsees network

    2016–2017

  • 2016

    A-level Practical Films

    Working with physics teachers Alom Shaha and Christina Astin, NUSTEM produced a series of films for A-level Physics teachers. The films showed different ways to approach some of the required practicals in A-level Physics in England.

    NUSTEM Team involved: Carol Davenport, Jonathan Sanderson

    Funded by: Ogden Trust, Northumbria University

    External partners: Physics Partners

  • Tim Peake Primary Project

    The Tim Peake Primary Project was developed around Tim Peake’s stay on the International Space Station. The project was led by STEM Learning and involved Space Ambassadors working in schools and with other organisations to share the excitement of space (and STEM more widely) with children.

    NUSTEM worked with schools in the North East to deliver the project.

    NUSTEM Team involved: Carol Davenport, James Brown, Joe Shimwell

    Funder: ESERO-UK

    2015–2016

  • 2014–2017

    Think Engineering #1

    We developed a Maker Lab, allowing us to purchase maker tools and equipment which could be used with young people either in Think Lab, or within schools and other venues. This meant that we could include hands-on tinkering and making activities in partner schools. It also helped us to develop installations for Maker Faire to show engineering and design thinking in action.

    Reece also funded three yearly summer schools for year 12 female students who were studying Maths and Physics at A-level (or equivalent) and considering Engineering at University. The three week long summer schools introduced the students to a range of local engineering companies and helped them to think about how they could make a difference in the world through STEM.

    NUSTEM Team involved: Carol Davenport, Emma Garrick, Jonathan Sanderson, Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick

    Funder: Reece Foundation

  • Explore Your Universe

    Explore Your Universe was developed by the UK Association of Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) and supported by STFC. The activities included science shows and workshops.

    NUSTEM was part of the second phase of the project.

    NUSTEM Team involved: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell, Sarah Hilton

    2014–16

  • 2014

    Think Physics – HEFCE Catalyst

    We started as ‘Think Physics,’ an ambitious three-year initiative funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England as a ‘Catalyst’ project. Our original aim was to increase the number of young people studying A-level physics and physics related degrees. However, we knew from the beginning that we had to plan for the longer term – about 20 years – to really see a change in the number of young people studying physics, and STEM subjects more widely.

    NUSTEM Team involved: Everyone

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