Here are answers to frequently asked questions from teachers. If it doesn’t help, and you’ve still got questions, then please email us on rosie@gallomanor.com or call us on 01225 869413.
I’ve forgotten my password, what do I do?
What sort of questions should students be asking?
Are there any IT checks we should do before the event?
Chat seems to be blocked, what can I do?
I’m having problems with the website. What should I do?
Why are the scientists in the Gallery in that order?
How do I register?
- You need to REGISTER on your first visit to the site (www.sanger.iasuk.ddev.site). You only need your ACCESS CODE to do this. You pick your own username and password.
- Enter your access code in the ’access code’ box and click ’register’
- You will get a new page up – the registration form – fill in the details. Choose your own username and password. The form asks you what year you are in at school. You don’t have to fill this in, but you could give us the year of the class you’re involving.
- Click next and you’re all registered!
- To get into the site you now have to log in again (use the username and password you just picked) because of the way that the site works.
On your next visit you just log in using the username and password you chose for yourself.
How do I log in?
If you have already registered with an access code you can just log in at www.sanger.iasuk.ddev.site using the username and password you picked when you registered. If you have forgotten your password then click on the ‘forgotten password’ link.
I’ve forgotten my password, what do I do?
Don’t worry, there’s various things to try:-
1. We emailed a copy of your username and password when you registered. If you can, go back and check that email.
2. If you’ve deleted that email, or you can’t check it at the moment, then click on the forgotten password link and we can email it to you again.
3. If that doesn’t work (for example, if you didn’t give us an email address) then you can email us at admin@iasuk.ddev.site telling us your name and username. We’ll then email you a new password.
What is this site about?
As part of the Wellcome Trust’s 75th anniversary celebrations we are running a special event, Genome Futures, that has been developed by the Public engagement team at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here!
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is a research centre that was a leader in the Human Genome Project. It is now focused on understanding the role of genetics in health and disease.
The Sanger Institute is giving local students the opportunity to explore genome research and how it may affect them in the future. They will get to quiz a panel of Sanger Institute researchers in a live CHAT, and ASK anything about the researchers, the research at the Institute or how understanding the information held in the human genome may affect their future lives.
The students and Sanger Institute scientists use this website to talk about genomic research, exchanging ideas and opinions on the impact genomics may have on science and society. They both break down barriers, have fun and learn.
What can I do on the site?
Students can:
- ‘Meet’ the scientists working at the Sanger Institute
- ASK them questions
- Let scientists know their opinions
- Find out what real scientists are like and what they do all day
- Engage in live discussion about real-life science at the Sanger Institute
- CHAT live with scientists and ask them questions
- VOTE for the scientist they think has best described their work
Scientists can:
- Engage with young people
- Contribute to science education
- Hear what students and teachers have to say about science
- Hear about the work other scientists are doing
- Connect with local school students
Teachers can:
- Show their classes how science works in the real world
- Download and use lesson plans and resources
- Get support for teaching the How Science Works part of the curriculum
- Build connections with the Sanger Institute
- Make science lessons fun!
We hope everyone will find it useful, engaging, and enjoyable. Explore the site, check out the scientists’ profiles, the live chats and all the questions that have been asked before, and… have fun!
What sort of questions should students be asking?
We aren’t prescriptive. It’s good that students feel emboldened to ask the questions they really want to! We’ll take out gratuitously rude ones…
But the idea is that they learn about how science REALLY works by talking to real scientists, get to know the scientists as people, and also learn some substantive science in the process. To give some examples:-
About the scientists
- What was your favourite subject at school?
- What are your hobbies?
- What work does the Sanger Institute do?
- What scientific breakthroughs has the Institute contributed to?
- Are there ethics surrounding your work?
- Why do we need to know about the Human Genome?
General science questions
- What causes a rainbow?
- How much does a human brain weigh?
About being a scientist
- Why did you want to become a scientist?
- Do you get on with the people you work with?
Are there any IT checks we should do before the event?
Problems with the site are rare, but we have designed some brief checks which you can do well before the event begins, so that we or you are able to sort them out painlessly. The checks are detailed here.
Chat seems to be blocked, what can I do?
There are a few things that are most likely stopping the chat system from working. They are quite techy so you may want to refer your IT support technician to this page:
1. The chat system uses Javascript. You need to have Javascript enabled and this is normal.
2. Many schools use net filters based on keywords such as chat. Please ask for www.sanger.iasuk.ddev.site to be whitelisted.
Please contact us on 01225 869413 if you’ve checked this and it still doesn’t work.
I’m having problems with the website. What should I do?
Lots of problems can be caused by cookies not working on your machine. Make sure cookies are turned on.
You may occasionally not be able to see the latest pages or answers. Usually clicking refresh will sort it out. If not, try clearing the cache (Tools>options>clear cache or clear/delete private data, in most browsers).
If you’re still having problems please email support@iasuk.ddev.site or visit the staffroom between 9-5 during the event.
Why are the scientists in the Gallery in that order?
The scientists appear in the Gallery in reverse alphabetical order (we mean, people called Z first and people called A last). This is because research has shown that people whose names begin with letters near the start of the alphabet tend to be more successful in life (http://www.quirkology.com/UK/Experiment_surname.shtml). Maybe because they are always first in lists!
Here at I’m a Scientist we think life should be more fair, and we try to do our bit to make it fairer. So we are putting the people from the end of the alphabet first for once.
How do I give feedback?
All feedback is greatly appreciated. We take everything you tell us on board and this helps us to make the event even better each time. Positive comments are also very welcome and make us feel good about all the work that goes in.
If you have any comments please email us at rosie@gallomanor.com or contact the Public Engagement team at the Sanger Institute at pubengage@sanger.ac.uk. We look forward to hearing from you!