Pioneer Group, the specialist life science infrastructure and venture-building company, welcomed 425 school children from 29 schools to eight of its sites across the UK this week to mark Ada Lovelace Day, an international celebration of the achievements of women in STEM.

The event was the seventh annual Ada Lovelace Day celebration run by Pioneer in collaboration with educational charity Ignite! and the biggest to date. The two-day event showcased the real-world impact of women in science through interactive workshops held at MediCity Nottingham, Kent Science Park, Wilton Centre, Hexagon Tower, BioCity Glasgow, BioCity Nottingham, Edinburgh Technopole, and Colworth Science Park.

Children aged 9 to 14 had the opportunity to meet some of the UK’s leading scientists including Julia Fentem MBE, Unilever’s Global Head of Safety, Environmental & Regulatory Science and hear from guest speakers including Helen Mickle, who appeared on Mastermind with Ada Lovelace as her specialist subject, as well as participate in hands-on activities, lab tours, STEM-related games, and live demos and experiments, from extracting DNA from strawberries to liquid reaction tests and moving a robot through drawing.

35 companies from across Pioneer’s sites helped to run the sessions including Locate Bio, Porterhouse Medical, 4D Medicine, Pipeline Organics, Freenome, Jazz Pharma, Sota, SGMA, Southern Housing, Flexible Lab Solutions, MAB (Kent), PlantWorks, Absolute Antibody, PI, Mitsubishi, LRGMT, Lubrizol, Arxada, Intertek, EnterBiotix, Revive Eco, Sartorius, Sampled, Worn Again, Myconeos, HGF, Reach Separations, Almac, Biobest, Roslin CT, Wobble Genomics, RAPIvD, Symrise, Unilever, and Firmenich.

The sessions were also supported by the University of Nottingham, Trelleborg, Middlesborough College, Fun Science West Lancs, I Belong, and Merck.

Gemma Partington, Marketing and Customer Experience Director at Pioneer commented: “We are absolutely delighted to have broken our record by bringing together 425 children and their teachers from schools across the country to learn about the diverse opportunities available in STEM subjects and careers, whether this be chemistry or computer science, and take inspiration from the captivating experiments and activities. With women making up just 26% of the STEM workforce, more needs to be done to encourage women to pursue STEM subjects, transition into the workforce, and progress as future leaders in their field.

“Who knows what the children who attended the event may go on to achieve – perhaps creating the next vaccine for a global pandemic, developing a plant-based protein that transforms our food systems, inventing a technology that improves patient care, or pioneering a breakthrough in sustainable agriculture. We would like to thank the life science companies across our sites who helped make this event possible. Their efforts may be the first step in inspiring the next generation of women in science and shaping some incredible futures.”

DSM-Firmenich, based at Pioneer’s Colworth Science Park, develops, manufactures, and distributes food flavourings and ingredients. The company delivered an engaging session focused on scent activities. Anna Ainsworth, Regional Key Account Manager at DSM-Firmenich, said: “The team at DSM-Firmenich is passionate about what we do, so naturally, we love supporting events that aim to inspire young people to join the industry. Blending science with innovation and creativity opens up a wide range of career options – food and drink will always be in demand, making it an excellent long-term career choice. My female colleagues and I shared our career journeys with the children, explaining our diverse pathways into the sector and highlighting that there are roles available to suit everyone.”

Jemma Marenghi of Jazz Pharma, based at Kent Science Park, commented: “It was great to be involved as a volunteer for Ada Lovelace Day, and give the students a glimpse into what a career in pharmaceuticals looks like. The students were really engaged, excited to hear what we do, and hopefully we’ve inspired some of them to pursue a STEM career in the future.”

Victoria Reed, Director of Finance at Flexible Lab Solutions, also based at Kent Science Park, added: “A career in STEM can look very different from one individual to another. The opportunity to be a part of the journeys of these young women this Ada Lovelace Day was fantastic."

Pioneer Group is a specialist life science infrastructure, and venture-building company focused on creating ecosystems that help companies accelerate cures for human and planetary health challenges.

For more information about Pioneer, visit www.thepioneergroup.com.