Young Scientist Centre (YSC) Technician

An exciting and varied role providing technical assistance to the YSC ensuring our visitors have a safe, inspiring and educational experience.

YSC generating genius Karen Hatch

Accountable to: YSC Senior Presenter/Producer

Location: 21 Albemarle Street, London 

Contract Type: Permanent, full-time, 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday with some weekend working

Salary: £26,000 to £27,000 per annum 

About the YSC

The Young Scientist Centre (YSC) is an imaginative laboratory space for young people and their teachers to experiment and explore science and technology outside of the classroom.

In the YSC workshops, students become a scientist for the day, testing their own ideas by designing creative experiments. The whole experience ignites a passion for scientific discovery and encourages curiosity-driven learning. The students can make explosive bath bombs, extract their own DNA, investigate forensic science, explore the chemistry of colour and much more.

About the role and you

You will initially focus on providing technical assistance to the YSC team, with the opportunity to get involved in presenting and content development. There is also the chance to contribute to the Ri’s wider science communication programmes, including the family, schools and public programmes as well as the Christmas Lectures.

What will you be doing?

  • Help deliver inspiring and interactive workshops to children and young people to inspire attendees and engage them in a lifelong journey with science.
  • The timely set-up and takedown of all the equipment needed for the experiments in the YSC. Prepare chemical solutions and biological reagents for workshops as required.
  • Maintain the cleanliness of the YSC lab and check laboratory equipment and workshop consumables.
  • Assist with the implementation of Ri health and safety procedures and risk assessments
  • Collaborate with other Ri teams to help deliver science content for live, virtual, and recorded events

What are we looking for?

  • Enthusiasm for science education and enriching the experimental experience of young people
  • Good practical laboratory skills
  • Experience in working with children and young people
  • Proactive with the ability to learn quickly and work on own initiative

Experience in delivering engaging scientific education or learning, of working in a lab technician role and health and safety knowledge would be an advantage.

How to apply

Interested? 

To apply, please download the full job description and person specification below, and send a CV, with supporting statement of no more than 500 words, explaining why you want the role and how your skills and experience match it to recruitment@ri.ac.uk no later than 9am on Tuesday 12 November 2024. Interviews are scheduled for w/c 18 November 2024.

Please complete and return the recruitment monitoring form along with your application. The Ri is committed to equality of opportunity at all stages of the recruitment process. The information supplied in this form will be treated in strict confidence and will only be seen by Human Resources. It will not form part of the selection process. You may choose not to disclose some, or all the information requested in the form, and this will not affect your application in any way.

About the Ri

The purpose of the Royal Institution is to connect as many people as possible with science. We've been doing it for well over 200 years and have an international reach, working with world-leading scientists, from Hannah Fry to Carlo Rovelli.

We talk, and listen, to the public. We help scientists talk, and listen, to the public. We develop critical thinking and a spirit of exploration in young people through our educational work.

Our activities include the world-famous CHRISTMAS LECTURES, talks from leading scientists and thinkers, explosive science shows, engaging school programmes, the Faraday Museum, our archival collections, and our innovative digital engagement activities, including live-streamed talks and our YouTube channel, which has over one million subscribers.

We believe that science is transformative. It shapes our world, and everyone should have a say in how it is used in our lives.