Ka supports CMI at the Norwich Science Festival 2026
Ka Cheung, a second-year PhD student at University of East Anglia, spent her PIPS with the Centre for Microbial Interactions (CMI) based at the Quadram Institute (QIB).
CMI is an affiliation of over 100 microbiology groups based on the Norwich Research Park (NRP) and helps with funding submissions and outreach events to promote microbiology research that is being done in Norwich.
Ka’s PIPS project was to support science communication and public engagement activities for the CMI as it prepared for its presence at the Norwich Science Festival 2026 with the Microbe Zoo exhibit, an immersive experience for young children co-ordinated in collaboration with The SAW (Science, Art, and Writing) Trust. Ka participated in various aspects of the project and helped to produce a range of content related to microbiology for public audiences, including recipe cards, a large activity book with simple experiments for children to do at home, microbe fact sheets, and postcards with microscopy images.
Teamwork and collaboration skills were developed on the placement as Ka interacted with microbiology experts across NRP, The SAW Trust, communications team at QIB, and a graphic designer for the Microbe Zoo. She wrote a blog for the CMI website aimed at raising interest in microbiology among young people and illustrating the reasons to study microbiology in Norwich. She also complied content for a new intranet page and helped to train volunteers for Norwich Science Festival 2026.
As part of her PIPS, Ka attended events such as an Accessible Science conference day and the Sci Comms East ‘Science Festival Explainer’ training to help improve her science communication skills when working with young children. This also included a ‘Find My Future’ event at the John Innes Centre, overseeing an educational activity stand which helped children to learn about the importance of DNA and bacteria that live in different environments around the world.
Ka helped with the construction and setup of the Microbe Zoo final build at the Forum in Norwich city centre as well as being an active volunteer throughout the Science Festival week. The Microbe Zoo exhibit was a huge success, and there are plans to tour the exhibit at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in July 2026.
Sam Rowe, Ka’s PIPS supervisor whilst at CMI, said, “Ka really gained confidence in science communication and public engagement – both in gathering and translating complex information for non-specialist audiences as well as discussing these topics with adults and children at events. I think she also gained a greater awareness of how large projects are managed from the initial funding stage to delivery and evaluation.”
Ka’s advice to students about to embark on sorting out their PIPS is to plan it early in their PhD journey so that they do not have to worry later.