Informing the general public about cell migration - an outreach resource

Outreach activities become an increasingly important part of a researcher's life, out of social responsibility as well as to meet expectations by research funding institutions. Yet, outreach activities are little supported by resources which provide guidance, strategies, examples and materials, and researchers are widely left alone with the task of re-inventing the wheel when starting to engage with the public. Whilst public platforms are slowly starting to be developed which provide support and resources for educational activities, initiative can also be taken at the grass root level to improve this situation. Here we show how final year undergraduate student projects can be used to deliver freely available outreach resources. Thus, the Faculty of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester runs projects on public engagement where students develop outreach exhibitions which they personally display on an open day at the Manchester Museum. We capitalised on this by using the subsequent project evaluation phase to further improve the content and design of the resource, guided by the practical experience made on the open day. As proof-of-concept we publish here the resource on the topic of cell migration together with the thoughts, rationale and strategies that have underpinned its development. We discuss the win-win situation this strategy provides for both students and researchers and how this approach can be further developed in the future, but also what grant-giving institutions can do to improve the status quo. [The reference for this article can be downloaded in different formats on the right]科研人员的公众 outreach活动（outreach activities）正日益成为其工作的重要组成部分，这既是出于社会责任，也是为了满足科研资助机构的相关要求。然而，目前能够为这类活动提供指导、策略、案例与素材的支持资源极为匮乏，科研人员在首次面向公众开展活动时，往往只能独自摸索、重复造轮子。尽管面向教育活动的支持性公共平台正逐步搭建，但我们也可以从基层层面入手，主动改善这一现状。本研究展示了如何利用大四本科生的课程项目，打造可免费获取的 outreach资源。为此，曼彻斯特大学生命科学学院开设了公众参与类项目，由学生自主制作 outreach展览展品，并在曼彻斯特博物馆的校园开放日进行现场展示。我们借此契机，依托开放日的实际活动经验，通过后续的项目评估环节进一步优化该资源的内容与设计。作为概念验证，本文发布了关于细胞迁移主题的 outreach资源，并附上支撑该资源开发的思路、理论依据与实施策略。本文还探讨了该模式为学生与科研人员带来的双赢局面，以及该方案未来的优化方向，同时提出了资助机构可采取的改善现有现状的措施。[本文参考文献可在右侧以多种格式下载]