Orbyts: Research with Schools Partnerships

STFC Science faces systemic diversity issues (e.g. post-16 physics is <30% girls; low-income background and Black students are highly underrepresented in STFC science). The UK also faces chronic shortages of science teachers (1 in 7 schools does not have a physics teacher) leading to ongoing damaging skill shortfalls. To address these problems, Orbyts creates partnerships between researchers and schools. The researcher acts as a relatable role model, having an ‘immensely humanising impact’ on perceptions of science and scientists, while supporting the school students to lead their own original research projects. Orbyts’ structure of regular interventions, relatable role models and active ownership of research is proving to be transformative: Evaluation shows that Orbyts is significantly increasing science capital and empowering school students to engage in STEM pathways in the long term. Schools that host Orbyts projects report increases in STEM uptake at A-level and beyond following a project (we encourage the panel to see: www.orbyts.org/impact). School teachers report that without Orbyts’s partnership model they would not have time, subject expertise and/or the confidence to deliver these types of projects. Consequently, Orbyts caters to schools that cannot undertake similar programmes (e.g. the excellent IRIS). Orbyts is an initiative that takes the burden of running impactful student research projects off of time-starved, overworked teachers, while providing them with unique Continuous Professional Development. Over the past 9 years of careful growth, we have facilitated 150+ different, bespoke research-with-schools projects, that have enabled more than 250 school students to author scientific publications on STFC science; the majority of these students are from groups under-represented in science (https://www.orbyts.org/researchprojects-publications). The introduction of a National Coordinator in May 2024 has given Orbyts the capacity to expand further ensuring high quality projects and, through extensive reflection and evaluation, we have begun to build a unique body of best-practice on the (co)creation and delivery of impactful research-with-schools partnerships. Orbyts Aims to leverage long-term researcher-school partnerships and the excitement of STFC research to: A1) Empower school students with tools, sense-of-agency and confidence to pursue STEM subjects and related careers pathways. A2) Increase STEM uptake by students from historically-excluded groups A3) Improve scientific literacy and provide high-level STEM training for school students A4) Provide relatable STEM role models for school students, and dispel harmful stereotypes regarding who is suitable for scientific careers A5) Provide our overstretched teachers with unique, exciting CPD opportunities that inspire their continued love of their subject and raise teacher retention A6) Provide researchers with transferable management, pedagogy and communication skills, laying the firmest foundations for the next generation of UK STEM lecturers and leaders Objectives: Our previous Spark Award enabled us to launch a now-thriving Midlands hub. This Nucleus award builds on this to grow and connect a national Orbyts community, to: Deliver a National programme of Orbyts research-with-schools partnerships Produce 3 peer-reviewed studies that explore and identify the impact of Orbyts-like research-with-school partnerships on Key Stage 3/4 school students from underrepresented groups, teachers and the researchers that deliver the projects. This will share the nature of the impact with the wider (inter)national community. Collate, document, characterise and disseminate the best practice Each hub partners with local schools to develop deep community networks locally, while sharing best practice across the national network of hubs at the Universities of Leicester, Warwick, Northumbria, Kent, Sheffield and University College London.