In April 2026 we had the pleasure of welcoming 45 enthusiastic Year 4 pupils from Moorgate Primary Academy (Tamworth) to campus for a full day of hands‑on chemistry outreach. The children explored three of our major research themes: 🔋 recycling batteries to reduce reliance on mined materials, ♻️ breaking down plastics into their original building blocks for reuse, and 🧬 tagging DNA with fluorescent markers to help detect disease.

Supported by our fantastic staff and undergraduate and postgraduate volunteers, the pupils spent the day experimenting, learning, and discovering how chemistry can make a real difference to global challenges. They ended the visit by presenting what they had learned to researchers in the School’s Molecular Sciences Building — and impressed everyone in the room.

Two days later, the same pupils had the chance to share their new scientific knowledge with Tamworth MP Sarah Edwards MP, who visited their school to hear about their work at the University of Birmingham.

In an area with historically low levels of adult higher education participation, activities like these are vital. 🧑‍🔬 They show young people that university is an exciting, welcoming place — and that they, too, can be the scientists who change the world.

The outreach sessions were led by some fantastic PhD and undergraduate students who did a great job in communicating the research from the School of Chemistry. 🙏 Huge thanks to everyone for putting this event together. We are also immensely grateful to the Royal Society of Chemistry for funding.