Outreach for the General Public
Join us for Physics and Astronomy events for the general public.
Institute of Physics Evening Lectures
Institute of Physics Evening Lectures
The Institute of Physics West Midlands Branch provides a varied evening lectures programme, which will be of interest to students studying GCSE and A-level physics and to the general public with an interest in the subject. All are very welcome to attend. For information on our upcoming lectures please visit our IoP Evening Lectures page.
Astronomy in the City
Astronomy in the City
The Astrophysics and Space Research Group invite you to Astronomy in the City where you can join them for stargazing, observing with portable telescopes, talks from experts about cutting edge astronomy research, and your chance to ask them anything about astronomy!
Open Days
Open Days
Our Undergraduate Open Days give you the perfect opportunity to hear first-hand from our current students and teaching staff about living and learning in Birmingham.
Pint of Science Festival
Pint of Science Festival
Pint of Science is a worldwide science festival which brings researchers to your local pub/cafe/space to share their scientific discoveries with you.
The Big Bang Fair
The Big Bang Fair
The Big Bang Fair is the UK's largest celebration of STEM (science, technology, engineering & maths) for young people with an aim to bring science and engineering to life for young people. It raises the profile of young people’s achievements in science and engineering and encourages more young people to take part in STEM initiatives with support from their parents and teachers.
University of Birmingham Events
University of Birmingham Events
Stay up to date with the latest events going on across the University by visiting our Events page.
School Visits to the Department
We are happy to welcome students and teachers into the department at convenient times. Over the past few years we have;
- Hosted LEA Heads of Science and Ogden Partnership meetings
- Arranged laboratory activities for Year 12/13 and Year 9/10/11 groups
- Arranged tours of research areas and experiment demonstrations for students and teachers
- Arranged talks on various topics
- Arranged activities related to physics curriculum for Key Stage 2 primary children and their teachers
If you are interested in arranging visits for your school, please contact our Outreach Team.
Teaching Physics in Schools
During their third year of studies, our physics students are able to choose a module that allows them to experience life in the classroom as a physics teacher. The "Teaching Physics in Schools" module counts for 10 credits towards their physics degree.
The “Teaching Physics in Schools” module allows our third year students to visit a primary or secondary school for one term (spring term) and observe/participate in the teaching of physics. We choose high quality students for these placements and we always try to link with high quality education establishments which are local to us. All our students receive a DBS check before they go to their placements.
We usually allocate one student per school. Our student visits the school once a week for a few hours (half-day) during the spring term. The school’s responsibility is to allow the student to observe lessons and, when they choose to do so, to allow the student to teach parts of a lesson or a whole lesson. Some schools have used our students as a valuable resource for creating new activities or running physics clubs etc.
At the end of the placement all we require from the school is to send us a double-page report which forms part of the final evaluation of the student’s performance. Detailed information about the scheme can be found in our Information for Teachers document (pdf).
We are always looking to link with new schools who are interested in supporting the scheme. If you are interested in hosting a student in your school, please contact our Outreach Team.