National Awards Scheme 1999 winners

Successful applicants in the 1999 round

1. Professor Michael Bode
   Astrophysics Research Institute
   Liverpool John Moores University
   Twelve Quays House
   Egerton Wharf
   Birkenhead CH41 1LD
   Tel: +44 (0)151 231 2920
   Fax: +44 (0)151 231 2921
   
   (Consortium including staff from the project, the Research Institute, the National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside and teachers and schools in the region)
   
   AWARD: £75,000 for 'NATIONAL SCHOOLS' OBSERVATORY', a project to establish a national facility to link remote telescopes with UK schools and to provide the necessary educational materials and infrastructure.
   
   The facility will initially address the use of the Liverpool Telescope, a 2m remotely-controlled telescope to be sited in the Canary Islands in 2000 and for which 5% of (night) observing time and much of the 'twilight' time will be available for UK schools and public. Research has been done in collaboration with schools in the Merseyside region to plan how observations and data obtained can be used effectively by schools. The (former) PPARC funding will now enable the PUS and educational programme to go ahead. The main components are use of the Internet for schools to request observations, archives of observations available to all, software for schools to work with data such as astronomical images, and classroom materials for teachers and students to use (linked to curriculum and Key Skills areas).
   
   The NSO will also in this work provide much of the groundwork which will support the PUS and educational programme of the Faulkes Telescope, a 2m telescope which will be sited in Hawaii in 2001. It will be operated by the National Maritime Museum. In this case the time difference between Britain and Hawaii means that 'real-time' observations can be made by a UK school during night-time at the telescope. The education, Internet and computer systems developed by the NSO will be made fully available to the Faulkes Telescope project, and indeed to other possible coming remote telescopes.
   
   For more details, please see the Liverpool Telescope Website (link opens in a new window).
   
   
2. Dr David Pike
   (former) CLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
   Chilton
   Didcot
   Oxon, OX11 0QX
   Tel: +44 (0)1235 445 835
   Fax: +44 (0)1235 446 667
   
   (Together with a consortium including researchers on solar physics and solar-terrestrial relations from Cambridge and St Andrews, and educational consultants and teachers).
   
   £70,000 for 'SOLARMAX', a programme of promotional and educational materials to promote Solar Physics and research into Solar-Terrestrial relations (STP).
   
   The UK has a very strong research community in these scientific areas, and there is likely to be heightened public interest because of the 1999 Solar eclipse, the maximum of Solar activity in 2000, and the launch of the 'Cluster2' spacecraft in 2000. The project aims to provide popular explanations of the latest research, including recent data highlights, and to provide educational resources linking these science areas with schools' curriculum.
   
   The current project is entitled 'SunBlock99' and particularly uses the presentation of young solar physicists and their personal work to promote the science. The Website is already an accredited part of the UK's National grid for Learning (NGfL). The project will be re-titled 'SolarMax' and the (former) PPARC funding will be used mainly to provide a larger, professionally-designed Website and educational materials including CD-ROM, teachers' guides, worksheets and posters. These will be linked to UK curriculum topics and Key Skills areas.