SOCIETY-3.2 Young peoples' interest in scientific careers

PENCIL combines field programmes and academic research with the aim of identifying the keys ofsuccess that transform informal science activities into innovative quality tools for science teaching. 14science centres/museums will create mini-networks involving schools, pupils, teachers associations, research laboratories, educational authorities, education and science communication specialists to run"pilot projects" on new ways to conduct science teaching. In parallel, an academic "Resource Centre" iscreated that will provide the state of the art in education research, science communication, formal/informal learning and best practices. The resource centre, based on the collaboration of twouniversities and two Ministries of Education, will assess and monitor the pilot projects in order togeneralise the outcomes, and identify the criteria of innovation and quality that should become thestandards for setting up future science teaching efforts. A web based "science education portal" will usethe most advanced communication technology to manage the project, set up the exchanges betweenpartners and enable continuous monitoring and demonstration of the projects toward the scienceteacher's community. The resource centre will conduct a motivation study amongst the youngstersparticipating in "PENCIL" to identify the elements that make the change in their attitude towardsscience thanks to the project. At the end of the process, the hundreds of teachers involved will bebrought together into a new "Science Teachers Network" that will validate the outcomes and theidentified criteria. This network will become the core users of the "European Science Education Portal"(ESEP) an improved web tool that should become the reference for innovative science teaching, including new created teacher's training tools. ECSITE and EUN will guarantee a large use of "ESEP"