Last week we told you that HSRU research was being showcased at Soapbox Science Aberdeen; the city's first Soapbox Science event. Here, we're checking in to let you know how it went.
Soapbox Science Aberdeen speakers along with HSRU’s Heidi Gardner, who organised the event.
Our own Beatriz Goulao, statistician and PhD student at HSRU, opened the event with her talk, ‘Stats is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get’. Beatriz cleverly used chocolate (HSRU’s public engagement events do seem to have a running theme…) to bring in crowds and facilitate her explanation of statistical concepts linked to trials. Beatriz also used ideas familiar to the public to demystify stats – in one example she used the Gay Gordon’s dance to demonstrate issues with sample sizes, explaining that with too many or too few people, the dance simply does not work. After word got round the King’s Lawn that there were chocolate bars to be won by those able to evaluate study quality using general stats guidance given by Beatriz, the crowds soon gathered.
HSRU’s Beatriz Goulao in action on her soapbox, explaining trial statistics using chocolate.
Following Beatriz’s hour on her soapbox, further talks by researchers from across the Universities of Aberdeen and Dundee covered cancer research, dementia, wound healing, geology, astrophysics and more.
Overall, Soapbox Science’s first outing in Aberdeen was a great success; the weather at May Festival did not disappoint, and over the event’s 3-hour duration scientists engaged with over 800 people. Well done to all who took part, we’re looking forward to next year’s event already!