Trust Inspires New Generation of Scientists

Support from the Trust for the Mobile Laboratory project has enabled the University’s Cornwall-based team to inspire pupils in primary and secondary schools, both in science and in the possibility of higher education. 

The project was established to bring interactive science lessons to schools across Cornwall, where previously activities relied on schools bringing students to the University, restricting access to those schools with the resources to allow this.  The project has proven particularly powerful in parts of Cornwall where many young people with limited access to higher education opportunities may never consider university as an option.

Funding generously donated by the Trust has supported the purchase of equipment and materials to enable staff to safely transport and deliver a series of science based interactive activities to schools.

Since establishing the Mobile Laboratory in 2014, the team have made more than 100 visits to schools reaching over 2,000 children who would otherwise have had little contact with the University of Exeter.

“A programme that allows schools to benefit from the science expertise on their doorstep is essential.  Funds from the Halpin Trust have helped us establish the mobile science lab which has brought fun interactive science lessons to a range of local primary and secondary schools that would otherwise have limited contact with the University”. 

Sarah Hodge, Senior Lecturer, College of Life & Environmental Sciences