As part of National Science Week, members of the Community Science Challenge are setting up stall in Castle Mall, Norwich, on Friday 23 March. This is the culmination of a Millennium Festival project that involved non-scientists investigating their scientific questions on behalf of community groups. Shoppers will be able to quiz the fellowship holders, who had had no scientific training before the start of the project, about why they got involved and what they found out.

Each fellowship-holder was teamed up with a scientist from Norwich Research Park who acted as a mentor to help them develop their ideas into a research project. The fellowship holders have gained an understanding of how science is conducted, and are now reporting that information back to their community groups. Project co-ordinator, Helen Penny of the Institute of Food Research said, "This has been a unique opportunity for members of the public to undertake scientific research. It has strengthened communication between the scientific community on the Norwich Research Park and local people."

The questions investigated were:

What does the best-before date mean? Alison Laurie and Elizabeth Kemp, of the Norfolk Women’s Food and Farming Union, set up their own experiments to find out what happens to food after the best before date. Working with Leigh Sherratt of the John Innes Centre, and with help from scientists at the Institute of Food Research, they investigated what happens to food kept at different temperatures.

How thick is your peel? Gwen Jensen of Wymondham Garden Club has been looking at the effects of peeling fruit and vegetables on the amount of pesticides eaten. "My time in the laboratory was great fun but made me realise just how much meticulous planning and preparation is required to carry out such tests. It was very necessary to keep neat and accurate records all the time and if one didn’t write everything down stages could easily be forgotten. Organization was everything and clearing up had to be done as one went along. By the end of the three days I had peeled and prepared quite enough apples to last me a long time", said Gwen, whose mentor for the project was Dr Sandra Pariagh of the Institute of Food Research.

Wind Power- Energy for free or Pie in the sky? Carole Martin of the North Walsham Science Group is interested in wind power as a source of renewable energy. She decided to investigate the pros and cons of wind energy. She has surveyed people’s opinions on the subject, looked into the efficiency and output of current systems, and designed and built her own prototypes. Victoria Kennedy, a student in environmental impact assessment at the University of East Anglia was the mentor for this project.

Why don't we recycle plastic? Roger Hopkinson, also from the North Walsham Science Group, teamed up with Adrian Thompson, an environmental sciences student at the University of East Anglia, to investigate the political, ecological and chemical reasons for and against recycling of plastics, which currently make up 11% of waste going into landfill sites.

Further details of the projects can be found at: www.ifr.ac.uk/CSC 

Notes for editors:

• The Millennium Commission funded this project as part of the Millennium Festival.

• The project partners were: the Institute of Food Research, the John Innes Centre and the University of East Anglia.

• The mission of the Institute of Food Research is to carry out independent basic, and strategic research on food safety, quality, nutrition and health. It is a company limited by guarantee, with charitable status, grant aided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

• The Institute is based on the Norwich Research Park

• ISDN Audio available.

• Photos available

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