NEW REPORT SHOWS IMPACT OF DISCOVERY PARK COMMUNITY LAB ON STEM EDUCATION

NEW report shows Impact of discovery park community lab on stem education

FUTURE PLANS TO INSPIRE MORE STUDENTS & INCREASE RANGE OF ACTIVITIES

Sandwich, Kent, UK, January 22 2020 – Over 200 local school pupils have taken part in unique hands-on scientific learning opportunities at Discovery Park since the relaunch of its Community Lab last year. As is clear from the Community Lab January 2020 Impact Report, published today, students and teachers alike have been inspired by the activities, established to encourage children to adopt scientific careers and grow the local STEM¹ skills base. The Community Lab at Discovery Park, the thriving science park for ambitious and growing life sciences companies, is a unique collaboration between academia and industry led by Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) and Pfizer.

Also involving the STEM Hub and other tenant companies such as York Bioanalytical Solutions, over the past year the Community Lab has run 19 sessions for teachers and students, trained four groups and won an award from the UK Science Park Association. To help local children develop their science capital² further, plans to include new biology activities and to involve younger children are in development.

Mayer Schreiber, CEO of Discovery Park said: ‘The Community Lab is part of our commitment to help maintain and grow the local scientific skills base, and this first Impact Report shows the real progress being made. As the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy Update, launched last week, says, “No life sciences sector can develop and thrive without the right high-quality skills.” We thank all our partners for their support and work towards building this workforce of the future.’

Sue Chandler, Cabinet Member for Integrated Children's Services at Kent County Council, said, 'The Impact Report published today shows just how well the Community Lab is succeeding in its objective to excite and inspire local students about science. It's great to see this partnership of schools, industry and academia working so effectively together to help build a skilled workforce.’

--ENDS--

¹ Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

²  An individual's exposure to and knowledge of science

For further information and media opportunities, please contact Emily Marmara at Pillory Barn on 01622 684 407, or email: [email protected]

About discovery park (WWW.discovery-park.co.uk)

Discovery Park has grown to be a thriving part of the South East’s life science community over the past seven years as a multi-business science campus. The site offers high quality laboratory, office and manufacturing facilities, the space and support to expand, access to local finance, and a strong local scientific talent pool.

The growing tenant community includes Pfizer, which built the site’s reputation as a centre for drug discovery and discovered some of the most famous drugs in the world here. Other tenants include Algaecytes, Canterbury Christ Church University, Centauri Therapeutics, Concept Life Sciences, Genea Biomedx, Mylan and Salvensis.  Discovery Park is home to 160+ companies employing 3,500 employees in total. With easy connections to London, Europe and the world Discovery Park is a great place to build and grow your biotech, medtech or pharma business.  Discover more via our website: – www.discovery-park.co.uk email: [email protected] or call: 01304 614060. You can also follow us on social media.

  @Discovery Park_                                   Discovery Park – Sandwich, Kent