RCN initiatives to reach young people:
Raising research enthusiasts
Children and young people should see research as important and fun. That is the aim of the Research Council, which is now strengthening initiatives to reach the younger age groups.
Mona Gravningen Rygh (Photo: Bård Gudim)
"The Research Council has a national responsibility for public-oriented dissemination and children and young people comprise a particularly important target group," states Mona Gravningen Rygh, Director of the Department for Communication at the Research Council.
"Our aim, of course, is not to turn everyone into researchers, even though we hope that our initiatives will also facilitate researcher recruitment in the future. Most important in this context, though, is to open the minds of the younger members of the population to research, to help them to see research as a fundamental piece of our culture and our society and an important part of our intellectual lives. Moreover, research is essential to our well-being. That is another reason why we should all have some understanding of research," says Gravningen Rygh.
Fostering inquisitiveness for 20 years
The Research Council has had great success with its children-oriented activities through the Nysgjerrigper Club, an initiative aimed at primary school pupils. The club has its own research method, science competition, magazine and website. A total of 80,000 children now receive the Nysgjerrigper magazine, which is sent out four times a year. The club's website has 40,000 visits a month.
The Nysgjerrigper Science Knowledge Project will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2010, an affirmation of the Research Council's long-term commitment towards increasing the awareness of and insight into research among children and young people. Gravningen Rygh believes that this type of initiative is vital for promoting interest in research in society as a whole.
"The Nysgjerrigper Club enables us not only to reach children, but also their teachers and parents. And the children themselves grow up to be research-conscious adults."
Interest ebbs away
Unfortunately the scientific inquisitiveness of many young people seems to dwindle when they leave primary school. "The Research Council is working to ensure that these youngsters keep their interest as they transition into their teenage years.
"The secret of the Nysgjerrigper club's success is largely that its set-up has remained unchanged over so many years. To rekindle the curiosity of the slightly older children, we are launching the Proscientia project, which is focused on secondary school pupils and will be administered under the same umbrella as the Nysgjerrigper project," explains Gravningen Rygh.
"Now that the Nysgjerrigper and Proscientia projects will be run from the same place, we will be able to achieve cohesive activities for children and young people from their first year of primary school up to and including the first year after they leave upper secondary school. This continuity is crucial," states Gravningen Rygh.
Stoking the competitive fire
The Proscientia project is a continuation of a previous activity, the Norwegian Foundation for Youth and Science, which was partly funded but not administered by the Research Council. One of the events organised by the Foundation was the Norwegian Contest for Young Scientists.
Anastasiya Dykyy and Carl Andreas Lindstrøm were two of the winners in this year's Norwegian Contest for Young Scientists. (Photo: Andreas B. Johansen)
The competition will be continued under the auspices of Proscientia. So far most of the participants in the competition have come from upper secondary school, although the numbers from lower secondary school have increased over the past few years.
"Efforts to encourage pupils to become involved and participation in the competitions have been weakest at lower secondary school level. We need to work hard at this level to generate more interest and increase participation," says Gravningen Rygh. Importance will be attached to recruiting more participants from "ordinary" upper secondary schools. Most of the participants at present come from International Baccalaureate schools in the major urban centres.
More supporters needed
"Ensuring that we have top candidates in the international science competitions is not the only reason we want these young people to become involved. It is equally important to expand the base of young supporters who understand the value of research, and who can take their place on the sidelines to cheer on those who represent Norway in these competitions - and later, perhaps, as top international researchers -, just as many of us root for the top Norwegian athletes when they compete internationally," concludes Gravningen Rygh.
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This article was originally published in Norwegian in Forskning magazine no. 2/09. Read more articles in English from this issue. Electronic versions of the articles from all issues of the magazine (in Norwegian): Visit the Forskning magazine website. |
- Published:
- 28.05.2009
- Last updated:
- 29.05.2009
