It comes as no surprise that WISE successfully continued their award-winning outreach scheme this year. With the national closure of schools, WISE embraced virtual outreach and provided online resources to continue their Girls in STEM scheme. WISE recorded a mini-lecture series where members gave presentations on aspects of science, ranging from astrology to microbiology, which introduced students to new areas of science and interesting recent developments. Additionally, WISE created Experiment at Home virtual work booklets which guided school pupils through practical experiments using items around the house. The feedback was overwhelming with many parents sending their thanks via WISE’s social media pages with selfies of their children getting stuck in with the experiments. 

As well as continuing to engage school students, WISE ensured that their members were still able to gain vital outreach and communication skills through encouraging them to get involved in the creation of the online resources including the Communicating Science Workshop with SATNAV and Jon Wood. WISE also collaborated with the College of EPS, oSTEM and BEaMS to create a webpage of virtual outreach materials, which is accessible to secondary schools all over the country. The collaboration allowed WISE to launch its Diversity in STEM profiles which aimed to provide visible role models in a year where students were unable to meet new people. The scheme won funding from the Alumni Impact Fund, which is to resource next year’s outreach activities including a coding club. WISE’s success this year is truly one for the books.