Outreach, Education, and Inspiring the Next Generation

Outreach and education are a core part of our academic mission. Beyond research and teaching within the university, we strongly believe in engaging with the wider community to promote curiosity, critical thinking, and an understanding of how science and engineering shape the world around us.

From 2020 to 2025, Dr Bernardo Castro-Dominguez served as Director of Undergraduate Admissions for Chemical Engineering, a role that involved close engagement with prospective students, schools, and teachers. This experience reinforced the importance of clear communication, inclusivity, and early exposure to science and engineering as a way to broaden participation and support informed decision-making about higher education.

Alongside this role, our research group is actively involved in outreach activities - including summer schools, Open Days, Applicant Visiting Days and others, aimed at high-school and middle-school students. We regularly deliver talks, demonstrations, and interactive sessions designed to make science approachable, relevant, and engaging. These activities focus not only on showcasing what scientists and engineers do, but also on encouraging students to ask questions, think critically, and explore how evidence and reasoning are used to solve real-world problems.

Through these outreach efforts, we have engaged with approximately 3,000 students across a range of schools and events. Whether through classroom visits, workshops, or public engagement activities, we aim to create positive and memorable experiences that spark interest in STEM subjects and help students see science as something they can actively participate in.

As a group, we genuinely enjoy outreach and view it as an essential part of academic life. Promoting science, engineering, and critical thinking at an early stage is not only about recruitment into STEM fields, but also about empowering young people with tools to understand the world, evaluate information, and engage thoughtfully with complex challenges.

Learn more about undergraduate studies at Bath (video)