The Brilliant Club

During our introduction to the PhD programme we attended an evening at The National Railway Museum in York with other CDTs to get some starting advice from those currently on the programme. One comment that was made was to make sure to take part in activities outside of the PhD project - as much for our own sanity as personal development. The Brilliant Club (www.thebrilliantclub.org) was recommended as an award winning charity that relied on proactive PhD students. 

The Brilliant Club aims to boost the number of children applying for top tier universities from schools which in the past have put forward a low number of applicants. Their mechanism is mobilising the PhD community to deliver an outreach programme that gives pupils a taster of the skills developed at university and pays you to do so. Programmes are typically a key stage higher or a step away from the curriculum (and can be developed out of your own PhD project) which makes them exciting and higher thinking activities as well as practical work is encouraged to improve engagement. 

Efforts are made to keep placements as local as possible and travel costs are reimbursed. Getting on to the programme does require attendance at a training weekend but this really helps with planning lessons and undertaking the programme. Each placement lasts around 6 weeks and whilst this includes only 2 hours a week of teaching time you must take into account travel, marking, feedback and lesson planning. As such, a placement is a big commitment that can take up around 50 hours. 

However, the commitment is worth it. The Brilliant Club is a great way to improve your science communication and get involved in the local community. All the while, you're ticking off the required PDP hours and getting paid to do so. If you're looking for a side project, this should be on your shortlist."

Ben Golland - Year 2 student