British Science Week is entering its third decade in 2025, taking place on 7-16 March, and the theme to mark the start of this new era is ‘Change and adapt’!
We’re so excited to seeing the activities and events you plan; there were some fantastic celebrations for the 30th anniversary in 2024, and we hope you’re still reaping the benefits. We’ll be announcing the winners of the British Science Week 2024 poster competition soon!
Change and adaptation is all around us
Changing and adapting plays a big part in science; you can find examples in every area of STEM*. Cities, towns and other areas where people live change and adapt as the world’s population grows, plants and animals change and adapt to their surroundings to survive. Technology has changed exponentially and adapted to our new, busier lives (or have we changed as technology has developed?). For example, phone technology has changed rotary home telephones to smartphones.
Our behaviours change too – we need to change how we consume the world’s resources to offset the worst effects of the climate crisis, and adapt our lifestyles to reduce our impact through recycling or reducing waste.
But change and adaptation doesn’t just happen here on Earth, even the stars and other celestial bodies change as they gain and lose mass. Perhaps there is life on other planets that adapts as their environment changes.
When exploring this theme, we can also consider how attitudes to STEM and the people who do it have changed and adapted. Perceptions of scientists are changing and we need to keep adapting our thinking until we can no longer picture a ‘stereotypical scientist’ – anyone can be a scientist.
Change and adaptation is often a good thing, but not always! A topic we have all become more familiar with in the last four years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is viruses and how they adapt to better infect and multiply within their living hosts. This can be scary, but understanding this behaviour allows scientists to develop the most effective vaccines and other treatments.
Get involved
‘Change and adapt’ offers a huge range of topics to delve into as part of your British Science Week 2025 activities. Why not share your ideas with us using the hashtag #BSW25?
We’ll be opening the British Science Week activity packs call for content in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes peeled on our website and social media for further details.
Applications for Kick Start Grants – funding for schools to run events during British Science Week in 2025 – will open in September 2024.
*STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and maths