Science in a Box

On Monday 19^th November four students with a passion for science visited the Houses of Parliament to attend Pfizer’s ‘Science in a Box’ event.

Created to teach children about medicine development, the role of the pharmaceutical industry and to highlight the range of career opportunities that exist in the pharmaceutical industry, the day was a chance to celebrate STEM in education.

Held at parliament, representatives from Government were able to come together with Educational institutions and Scientific organisations to evaluate the role of STEM in schools and gain an understanding of the wide and varied roles pharmaceutical companies cover.

Students were given a range of activities to take part in with students from other schools as well as the chance to talk to scientists and politicians

“The MPs we met were just like normal people, which I wasn’t expecting. We played the games on each station and my favourite was the one that was a bit like ‘Frustration’. You had dice and counted your way around the board but there were also cards for the squares you landed on and these were the successes and set backs that could happen in the development of your drug. The end of the game was tricky as you had to throw exactly the right number to get your drug to the market or you got sent back to the beginning of the board, which we were told is actually what happens in pharmaceuticals, which must be so frustrating when people need that medicine. It was a great day and we also saw Teresa May going into a Brexit meeting! The Houses of Parliament were just as grand on the inside as they are on the outside; the entrance hall was huge and actually really pretty. It has plaques to say where important historic events have taken place; it was a really interesting trip.” summarised Harriet.