Diamond Concise Annual Review 2020/21

34 35 D I A M O N D L I G H T S O U R C E A N N U A L R E V I E W 2 0 2 0 / 2 1 Education, Training and Engagement E ngaging with and inspiring the public continues to be a key part of the Diamond Light Source vision. We have been able to continue our vision to engage and inspire, with new remote and virtual activities through the pandemic. During the year we had over 9,600 significant interactions (30+ minutes) with ‘virtual’ visitors, including researchers, students, school pupils, the general public, and VIPs or stakeholders. Public and schools Wehavedevelopedanewseriesoffamilywebinarsandnewvideotechnologies have been used to deliver virtual tours of the facility. A range of media resources now allows visitors to our website to virtually explore Diamond for themselves. It was great to be able to see inside the beamline and the experimental hutch. Thank you somuch, it’s difficult to domuch extra-curricular at the moment so this is a real treat. - A schoolteacher at a virtual schools’ visit Virtual schools’ events and work experience has expanded our outreach, and in July 2020 we were able to welcome over 100 students to three days of events to give students a real insight into the variety of careers available. I have very much enjoyed the experience and would encourage other people to do this work experience. Lots of information, detailed, in-depth and fascinating! A work experience student We reinforced our commitment to widening participation and diversity within STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and partnered with the Social Mobility Foundation and with BBSTEM (Black British Professionals in STEM) in various activities. Our core programme and partnership activities continued to deliver a range of events including virtual stargazing, a ‘Science in your future’event for girls, and particle physics masterclasses. The online nature of activities has also helped us develop new partnerships. Higher Education engagement Training of students through our undergraduate placements and PhD programmes continues to be one of our core engagement activities. Despite the pandemic we were able to support our current PhD and Year in Industry students and allowed access to beamtime and laboratories to PhD students, as part of the priority access route.We welcomed 32 new PhD students bringing the ongoing PhD studentships to 104, with 24 new students expected in October 2021. Although we had to cancel the 2020 Summer Placement programme these students have the opportunity to join the 2021 cohort. After a brief delay we were able to welcome the Year in Industry students to Diamond via a series of virtual events and these projects are ongoing.We were also able to support 11 virtual visits from university groups. Scientific workshops and conferences We ran a broad range of online scientific and technical workshops, training coursesandconferencestailoredtowardstheneedsofourstaffandusercommunity and attendance was increased by 57% on 2019/20. This was an overall fantastic workshop. To date, I think this is the most valuable training I could have obtained as someone who is earning their PhD based in X-ray crystallographic research. - PhD student attending the Diamond-CCP4 Data Collection and Structure SolutionWorkshop, Dec 2020 We also delivered 13 community engagement webinars as part of the Diamond-II proposed upgrade programme. Zoom attendees of a Diamond-CCP4 Data Collection and Structure Solution Workshop, late 2020.