Not-for-profit science body the British Association for the Advancement of Science (the BA) has called in Mission 21 to advise on content and media strategy following a competitive pitch.
It is the first time an external agency has been brought in to raise the profile of National Science and Engineering Week, which is funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
Mission 21 will focus on national press and broadcast, longer-lead publications, such as weekend supplements, and will also spark debate in online science communication networks.
Science and education specialist Mission 21 will work alongside the BA’s in-house team of five. The charity exists to create a 'positive social climate' for science. The week’s events will be promoted with the message ‘Come and experience science’.
In the next few weeks, the BA will conduct a nationwide survey, which will ask the public to submit their most burning science question on the official website. These questions will be collated and released next February to build awareness of the week, which kicks off on 7 March.
Commenting on this year’s event in a speech to the Science Council on 6 November, science minister Ian Pearson said: ‘Nearly one million people celebrated the achievements and excitement of science earlier this year. But we need to reach even more people and to give it a far higher profile in the future.’
Pearson also stressed the importance of driving up numbers of trained scientists and engineers.
Mission 21’s founder Richard Knight will lead the team, reporting to BA’s director of regions Annette Smith.
 | VIDEO PODCAST: Richard Knight explains the PR challenges facing scientific bodies... WATCH (08:52) |
