GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) launches London 2012 initiative with King’s College London to inspire young people into science careers.
Scientists in Sport launches!
22 Mar 2011
Today GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) launched the new ‘Scientists in Sport’ education programme designed to inspire young people into a range of scientific careers.
‘Scientists in Sport’ will showcase how science will be used during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – from anti-doping drug tests to understanding how eye tracker scanning could improve how football teams perform in penalty shoot outs.
The programme comprises of a series of free events running between now and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. These events offer local school children the opportunity to experience a day at a university and through a series of sports based lectures and interactive workshops aims to encourage 11-14 year old students to take their science studies further and consider a career in science.
Further events will be held at universities across the UK including Loughborough, Liverpool John Moores, Exeter and Bedfordshire and will be delivered by faculty staff, student ambassadors and GSK scientists.
GSK Director of Academic Liaison, Malcolm Skingle, CBE, said, ‘Young people in the UK clearly have an enthusiasm for practical, hands-on science. ‘Scientists in Sport’ demonstrates how business and academia can work together to harness that initial enthusiasm and encourage more young people to study science at university.’
Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, said, ‘Science will play a crucial part in the London 2012 Games, from the training and nutrition programmes which keep the athletes at peak performance to the anti-doping tests which will help to make the Games as clean as possible. The GlaxoSmithKline ‘Scientists in Sport’ programme is a great way for young people across the UK to learn about the science behind the Games and open their eyes to the huge array of scientific careers both on the track and in the lab.’
A new website will give teachers and students across the UK the instructions and resources to replicate the experiments in their own classrooms to inspire the next generation of expert scientists.
Find out more
Schools that participate in this project are encouraged to join the Get Set network for even greater reward and recognition from London 2012.
Join the Get Set network today!
