Live PhD research
Science outreach, grounded in science research
NOVA outreach is not only passionate about science. It is doing science, on two fronts at once, and both of them shape what happens in the classroom.
The bigger picture
Why research-informed outreach matters
Our sessions are not designed by gut instinct. They are informed by ongoing doctoral research, which means when the evidence says something works better, we change what we do.
Surveys taken with pupils during sessions, and optional surveys inside the Science Together app, feed that research directly. The people we work with are not just an audience, they are part of how the field learns. This is the evidence-led difference.
The science capital study
Does consistent, high-quality astrophysics outreach measurably improve children's science capital?
A longitudinal study across schools in Cardiff and Gwent, tracking pupils who experience NOVA outreach programmes over an academic year and measuring changes in science identity, attitudes and engagement using validated science capital instruments.
Science capital is a framework for understanding why some young people feel science is for them, and why others do not. NOVA outreach exists to move children out of that second group. The findings are intended to inform Welsh Government policy on science engagement, as well as every session we run.
What we measure
- Science identity: does the child see themselves as a scientist?
- Science attitudes: is science interesting, and is it for people like me?
- Science engagement: do they talk about science, and seek it out?
- Science literacy: can they articulate what they have learned?
Publications and findings will be shared here as the research progresses.
Comet 29P
Observational astrophysics at the frontier of cometary science
Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 is one of the most active and unusual objects in the Solar System: a centaur orbiting beyond Jupiter that brightens dramatically and unpredictably, throwing off material we can detect from Earth.
This strand investigates its rotational response and outburst behaviour using a decade of photometric data. It is the same frontier work that inspired the Comet Chasers school programme, which is why the science in our classrooms is genuinely current rather than a tidied-up version of something settled decades ago.
From the telescope to the classroom
Pupils in Comet Chasers work with the same kind of light curve data used in this research. They are not simulating science. They are doing a smaller version of the real thing.
Working with
Research partners
This research is carried out in partnership with universities, learned societies and funders across Wales. Publications and findings will be shared here as the work progresses.
Get involved
Collaborate with us
Schools that host sessions contribute directly to this research. Companies and funders can back it. Researchers and universities can co-publish. If any of that is you, get in touch.
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