In this episode of the EPI·STEM podcast, Geraldine SimmiePhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome Dr Sarah Hayes as their special guest. Dr Hayes is the Chief Operations Officer in SSPC, a research centre hosted in The Bernal Institute in UL through the Department of Chemical Sciences. As a Pharmaceuticals Research Centre, SSPC works with pharmaceutical industries inIreland in designing and delivering academic-enterprise partnerships in research, innovation and public engagement.

In this episode, Dr Sarah Hayes charts her journey into herundergraduate degree in science education in UL and later into her PhD study with Dr Peter Childs. Sarah’s doctoral research focused on interrogating science in transition year from the perspective of impact, if any, on future career choice. At the same time, Sarah worked with Dr Childs to plan and deliver a public series of Science Magic Shows to schools. The aim was tomotivate young people to feel the ‘awe’ and wonder in science experimentation as much as to gain improved scientific literacy. This emphasis on affectivity has grown substantially in science education in recent years and moves us beyond former stereotypes.

SSPC works with nine other organisations in Ireland,including the universities in Ireland, The Royal College of Surgeons, SETU in Waterford and NIBERT (National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training). SSPC collaborates with over 50 industries in Ireland in the pharma and biomedical sectors. Of the 400 IRC (Irish Research Council) funded PhDsstudents in SSPC, more than two thirds progress afterwards into industry. Nowadays, the challenge to solve complex problems through Research & Innovation requires a next level of multidisciplinary practices that rely on very different styles of leadership and scientific communication than heretofore.

We conclude with a chat about the public engagement activities underway for Science Week in Limerick and across the country (www.scienceweek.ie). We briefly open the question of how we might inspire a diversity of young people in Ireland toselect chemistry as a school subject, for a love of the subject in its own right; its intellectual prowess; and using a critical appraisal approach to have chemistry today make a difference to science-in-society, for citizen science and the planet.

The musical selection is Gan Anam Jig, a lively traditionaltune played on keyboard by Ciara Geaney from Dingle, an accomplished piano player and a student in the BA in Irish Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Limerick.