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What is Soapbox Science?

soapbox-science-11-of-79Soapbox Science is a novel public outreach platform for promoting women and non-binary scientists and the science they do. Our events transform public areas into an arena for public learning and scientific debate; they follow the format of London Hyde Park’s Speaker’s Corner, which is historically an arena for public debate. With Soapbox Science, we want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy, learn from, heckle, question, probe, interact with and be inspired by some of our leading scientists. No middle man, no PowerPoint slide, no amphitheatre – just remarkable women and non-binary scientists who are there to amaze you with their latest discoveries, and to answer the science questions you have been burning to ask. Look out for bat simulators, interactive experiments or giant pictures of volcanoes. Or simply hear them talk about what fascinates them, and why they think they have the most fantastic job in the world!

You can find out more about our upcoming and past events, or to get a feel for what an event is like, watch our video

Find out more about the Soapbox Science Team and local event organisers here.

Impact

In a new report, we hope to showcase some of the impacts Soapbox Science has had on our speakers and organisers.

By collecting anecdotal feedback and case studies we wanted to capture some of the personal stories of the people involved with Soapbox Science, and to build a fuller picture of how Soapbox Science has impacted speakers’ community and network, their visibility, confidence and public engagement skills.

The report is available to read here

Press and Media

Are you a journalist looking for experts in STEMM subjects? We have a database of past speakers on a range of topics, who have taken part in our training and who would be happy to be contacted with press opportunities. If you would like to find an expert in a certain discipline, please get in touch with us: soapboxscience@gmail.com

What happened so far?

Since 2011 we have featured over 2500 scientists and reached 300,000 members of the public! Soapbox Science was commended by the UK Prime Minister in 2015, and was awarded a Silver Medal from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in June 2016. Both Soapbox Science co-founders were also invited to provide oral evidence at a 2016 Parliamentary inquiry on science communication.

Funders & Sponsors

zslWe couldn’t run events without the generous logistical and financial support of our sponsors and funders. Soapbox Science has been supported from the start by  the Zoological Society of London.

Between 2014-2018, our whole initiative was moreover supported by STFC.

STFC2

To find out more about individual event sponsors, please visit the local event pages

Partners

selogoSince 2016, Soapbox Science works in partnership with Speakezee. Speakezee is a searchable database of academic expert speakers. They are a not-for-profit community interest company supported by the University of Bristol and other partners.

Want to contact us?

Drop us an email at soapboxscience@gmail.com for any general inquiry