As the Israel Society for Microscopy celebrates its Golden Jubilee, it looks forward to supporting the next generation of microscopists. This talk will focus on the development of a full programme of education and outreach for the Royal Microscopical Society. Since the establishment of the Education and Outreach Section there have been major developments in these areas with the aims of: (1) promoting engagement of young people in science education through the medium of microscopy (2) supporting continued professional development of professional microscopists and (3) public awareness and engagement concerning the value and applications of microscopy.
One key way of achieving these aims have been to develop a Microscope Activity Kit, containing curriculum mapped activities, along with samples and microscopes to engage primary school children and their teachers. These are loaned free to Schools for a term and have now reached almost 50 000 children with excellent feedback. Smaller projects in Ireland have also engaged several thousand young people. A second strand has been the development of a diploma qualification for microscopists. This is based on a portfolio of things including a major project, technical essay, course attendance and presentation/outreach/writing skills development. Public engagement is achieved via contributing to a variety of science festivals and exhibitions.
Our journey over the last number of years has been exciting and productive and there is much to do in the future. Our current focus is on internationalising the MAK, working in partnership with other Societies and Universities as well as measuring and evidencing the educational impact of these activities for young people. In terms of second level education, we are developing interactive web resources and workshops focussing on the wide range of careers associated with microscopy. Finally, we seek to accredit the DipRMS.
