Information on Loughborough

Learning how to find life on Mars

Posted on 09/03/2009
University of Leicester

Sixth form students will have the chance to find out how space scientists involved with the Mars Lander will be searching for life on Mars in a workshop at the University of Leicester on Wednesday 11th March (10.00am-3.30pm).

How do you prepare to go to Mars? How do you communicate with your Martian robot? How do you collect Martian soil samples? How do you get those samples safely back to Earth and analyse them?

The event, "Is there Life on Mars? Mars Lander Event, will answer these and many more questions and will give the youngsters chance for a little hands-on involvement.

Using maps of the Martian surface they will direct robotic rovers to one of the areas of simulated Martian terrain. They will analyse rock and soil samples the robot has collected, in Chemistry and Genetics laboratories to try and find answers to the crucial question: is there life on Mars?

Dr Cas Kramer, who is one of the organisers of the event, commented: "This is a fantastic event where science departments work together to show sixth formers how the different science subjects are interlinked. A great eye-opener for students of that age!

The event is jointly organised by the University of Leicester Departments of Physics, Engineering, Chemistry and GENIE.

GENIE (Genetics Education Networking for Innovation and Excellence) is a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), based in the Department of Genetics. In March 2005 the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) agreed to fund 74 CETLs across all English regions as part of a £315 million programme to promote excellence in teaching and learning covering a wide range of subjects and aspects of higher education.

The University of Leicester is the lead institution for two CETLs, including GENIE, and is a partner in a third.

"Is there Life on Mars? Mars Lander Event is a workshop for sixth formers, which takes place on Wednesday 11th March from 10.00am-3.30pm at the University of Leicester.

The Mars Lander event during this years National Science and Engineering Week is filled with sixth formers from colleges connected to CULN (Colleges - University of Leicester Network). All schools interested can get more information about future events from Dr Cas Kramer, GENIE, email ck53@le.ac.uk or from the CULN secretary Jo Leadbetter jl172@le.ac.uk, tel: 0116 252 5966.