Enlightenment: Bringing accessible Microscopy to the Masses

The Enlightenment project set-out to deliver smartphone microscopy packages to over 100 secondary school throughout Scotland to enable pupils to explore the world of microscopy and imaging as part of their interdisciplinary teaching framework. A simple concept, a smartphone microscope consists of a single lens platform that when paired with any standard smartphone or tablet allows for over 40x magnification high resolution imaging of everyday objects. Funded by the Wellcome trust, this public outreach project included a web site for pupils to upload their microscopy images, teaching support materials, a series of public lectures and a high profile opening event at Our Dynamic Earth. Concluding with a national competition to select the best of the uploaded images, prizes were awarded at the Scottish closing ceremony of the International Year of Light. This talk, slightly different from a normal seminar, will discuss the project, how it was delivered, it’s impact and the details of the process leading to the award. We will include how the success of the project has ongoing impact within IB3 and beyond.