We can all agree that outreach is a laudable activity. In the RCS context, outreach is primarily the practice of visiting and interacting with young people who might not otherwise come across the full story of the wonders of science, or might not appreciate the potential of science for a fulfilling tertiary education leading to a rewarding and remunerative career. These young people might also need some guidance with their choices of GCSE and ‘A’ level subjects to ensure they meet the pre-requisites for the degree course they aspire to. And of course, a few pointers in case their chosen institution might be Imperial College, may not go amiss either.
But outreach also encompasses the more general public, assisting the ‘man in the street’ with his/her appreciation and understanding of science.
Our members tell us they think outreach is important, the College and our faculty are always urging the Association and our members to assist in their their outreach efforts, and our student members get actively involved in outreach also. So it is little surprise that your Association is keen to expand our outreach activities and that we support outreach in a number of ways……
RCSU Science Challenge
The RCSU Science Challenge (which started life as the RCSA Science Challenge of course, back in 2006) is an important outreach activity the the RCSA founded, funded and still nurtures to this day. The 2026 RCSU Science Challenge includes ‘The RCSA Question’ judged by the RCSA’s very own Jenni Munroe which is:
“Creatively use AI tools and your own perspective and ingenuity to explain a scientific concept, breakthrough, or discovery that personally inspired you or led you down a different path.”
“Critically discuss where you hope this field of science might lead in the future.”
“Briefly explain which AI tools you used and what you used them to do.”
The submission deadline was Sunday 15th February 2026 at 17.00. The Awards Ceremony date and winner are yet to be decided.
Great Exhibition Road Festival
You’ll always find the Association, and a stack of our members, in attendance at the Great Exhibition Road Festival. This year the Festival tookplace on the 6 – 7 June 2026, 12.00 – 18.00. We hope to see you there next year.
The Festival runs alongside the ‘Alumni Lounge’, so not only is the Festival a great way to support our outreach efforts, it is also a great occasion for networking amongst your peers. If you drop into the Alumni Lounge, look out for our RCSA banner and a bunch of fellow Association members. You can read about some of our past involvement in the Festival here, here and here.
Schools Outreach Pack
The RCSA and FoNS would like to support and encourage any members who wish to arrange presentations to to their old school or to schools in their local areas.
We have a tried-and-tested template that you may choose to follow whereby the careers part of the talk can be tailored to your own area of expertise. Compelling wraparound content, that Simon Foster, Faculty Outreach Manager at FoNS or the Association can provide to you, completes the presentation.
You can read about a successful talk (pictured above) using the ‘Schools Outreach Pack’ and given to about eighty sixth-formers here….
The Association, and Simon Foster, Faculty Outreach Manager of FoNS, are available to help and support members with appropriate presentation material. If you are interested, please get in touch either via contact@rcsa.org.uk or direct to Simon Foster at simon.foster1@imperial.ac.uk.
Old RCSU Science Challenges
We thought it worth keeping a record of some of previous RCSA questions:
2026 Challenge
In 2026 the RCSA’s participation was to pose ‘The RCSA Question‘. And our Jenni Munroe set and judged her challenging question which was:
“Creatively use AI tools and your own perspective and ingenuity to explain a scientific concept, breakthrough, or discovery that personally inspired you or led you down a different path.”
“Critically discuss where you hope this field of science might lead in the future.”
“Briefly explain which AI tools you used and what you used them to do.”
Jeni decided to award three school winners for the RCSA question: one for best video (to Vidushee Shekhar) one for best essay (to James Son) and an honourable mention (to Grace Ryan ). The Imperial award went to David Chen.
2025 Challenge
The 2025 theme was A Space Odyssey and, given her lifelong interest in all things “space”, we asked our Deputy President, Stephanie Ward, to represent the RCSA her challenging question was:
You’ve been asked to design a crewed mission to explore somewhere in space. You can go to one place. Where would you go? With what purpose? How will your mission impact the human race? And what are the main things you will have to consider when undertaking your mission?
This is a science challenge, not a financial one, so assume money is no object.
The submission deadline was Monday 31st March 2025 at 17.00. The Awards Ceremony fwas held on the evening of Thursday 26th June 2025.
Steph decided to award two winners for the RCSA question: one for best video (to Anika Fahmida Ruhul, for her proposed mission to the black hole, Sagittarius A) and one for best essay (to Jasleen Sahota, for her essay outlining a mission to Titan).
2024 Challenge
The 2024 RCSU Science Challenge included ‘The RCSA Question’ judged by RCSA President, Mike Munroe. It was….
“You are the head of a UK based vaccine development group when a new virus is discovered that is more infectious and more lethal than the recent Covid19 virus. Tell us about some of the issues and challenges you will face (which might involve research, production, clinical trials and communications) and how you will try to resolve them to accelerate the launch of a safe and effective vaccine.”
The submission deadline was Friday 26 April 2024 at 17.00 and the awards ceremony was on Friday 21 June 2024.
Matilda Chisholm from Lady Margaret School in Parson’s Green in London was the overall winner of ‘The RCSA Question‘ with a delightful three minute video entry.