Today, we set out for Merrion Square in Dublin City Centre as part of this year’s St Patrick’s Festival. We took part in the Science zone of “The Big Day Out”.  We showed children what it is like to work in a life science laboratory.

This event brought together stakeholders from industry, education and national & European policy makers to share major achievements and innovations in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) teaching through business-education collaborations.  Speakers included Marianne Thyssen, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Mobility and Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.  As part of a panel discussion, Dr.

This November, we showed both young and old Dubliners what scientists do in the laboratory and the important role of DNA and genes.  On Tuesday, 15th November, we and three researchers from Systems Biology Ireland, UCD, went to visit the Good Shepherd primary school in Churchtown, Dublin.  Students from 3rd to 6th class learned about DNA and how it stores our genetic information.

From Monday 14th to Wednesday 16th November, the project coordinators of the various ABE programme sites met up in sunny San Francisco.

Students often wonder how certain information they are taught is actually relevant in real life. For biology in particular, knowledge about DNA and other molecules that are too small to see may seem to be too abstract to have any actual relevance. During this event, secondary school teachers experienced first-hand how this knowledge has been used to create and entire industry.

This school year, Irish secondary school teachers again have the chance to bring the Amgen Biotech Experience programme into their classrooms. In the past six weeks, we held three Saturday and three evening courses to train teachers in using our state-of-the-art laboratory equipment.