Physiology Friday 2021

Membership

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.25.42

 

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Every year, we celebrate Physiology Friday and call on our members to hold exciting outreach activities to help showcase the amazing world of human and animal bodies. Physiology Friday 2021 once again saw members around the world engaging their communities in a wide range of fun and engaging ways. Here we share a few of the reports from members about their Physiology Friday celebrations.

Kuban State University of Education, Sport and Tourism, Russia

This year, all the staff and postgraduates of our Department of Physiology participated in the preparation for the celebration of Physiology Friday with incredible enthusiasm.

On 12 November 2021, we held the Science Festival Physiology in our Life at the University, in a blended format. Events included a photo exhibition from our Physiology Friday celebrations in 2019, physiological testing stations, a quiz, games and debates, including Drugs in Sports.

A public lecture Physiology in our life: Contemporary Problems and Prospects was held online at the regional conference on Sports Medicine by Associate Professor Irina Shvydchenko.

We would like to express our gratitude to The Physiological Society for funding this event, which seeds the growth of future successes in promoting physiology.

University of Glasgow, UK

Lecturer in Physiology Dr Ian Rowe set up a special stall in the University cloisters to engage staff, students and the wider public on Physiology Friday.

Physiological Society-funded projects by the School of Life Sciences’ Miss Marie Bowers and Dr Craig Daly were showcased as well as a demonstration of green bicycle power by Dr Greig Logan.

“That’s pure bonkers…” was the take from one visitor on entering the virtual reality of physiology as built by Craig as part of his project.

The cloistered calm of the University of Glasgow at the end of COP26 was witness to the potential of the “plug and play” biosensors from AD Instruments.

This activity also underlined the importance of structure and function in physiology, with Greig’s cyclist calves commented upon by at least one observant passer-by.

Global warming is real – but hadn’t quite reached us in the cold cloisters. The warmth of positivity towards Marie Bowers and her “Science Travels” outreach project for Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boaters, however, was clear to all.

Dr Rowe said: “Huge thank you to my fabulous colleagues Marie, Greig, Craig, Katherine Price and Shona McQuilken for putting on a great event in the cloisters and making it a pure, dead brilliant Physiology Friday.”

University of Benin, Nigeria

Physiologists at the University of Benin graced Physiology Friday with so much excitement as it gave us a sense of belonging and value in the system. Also, students of the department illuminated the campus with their massive turnout and excitement.

The outreach campaign was divided into two parts:

1. Physiologists visited some secondary schools the day before, to raise awareness in the younger minds between the ages 15–25, on who a physiologist is and physiology’s role in society.

2. Outreach was carried out in the University, where we had the attention of different levels of students, from the freshmen to f inal year and the general public. They were enlightened on the significance of the “Physiologist in our society” and encouraged to study physiology as a major.

We had the presence of top physiologists including the dean of the faculty, who presented wonderful lectures and left everyone excited and hopeful.

University of Ibadan, Nigeria

It was a day like no other. The turnout from the students was massive and their interest in learning about physiology was mind-blowing. The day was packed with activities that got the message across to the students, including a public lecture and an outdoor physiological workshop, both aiming to:

• Raise awareness and understanding of physiology as a discipline among secondary school students, and the opportunities it brings.
• Raise awareness of secondary school students on their body physiology and appreciation of the same.

Over 500 students attended and the guest speakers for the public lecture and the team of facilitators for the workshop did a wonderful job.

Many of the students even went ahead to register with UIPSA (University of Ibadan Physiology Student’s Association), indicating their interest to be followed up on how they can get started in physiology, as a career and a discipline.

Many of the students asked us to come back next year; however, there are a lot of other highly populated schools that we desire to reach with the good news of physiology as a discipline and a career.

King’s College London (KCL), UK

In celebration of Physiology Friday 2021, the KCL Physiology Society, The Physiological Society and Promega collaborated in hosting a physiology-inspired art competition at King’s College London.

The idea of our event was to interest students in physiology and teach them through colouring and drawing. Participants had to come up with an experiment and turn it into art.

Some students decided to study the effect of cycling on the quality of drawing or show the difference in drawing with their right and left hands. Other students were inspired by the anatomical models provided by the University. Every piece of art was awarded with freshly baked brownies. The winners of our art competition were given Nando’s gift cards.

Our Physiology Friday event was a big success. We involved both societies, Promega, students and University staff in a creative way and we are very grateful to The Physiological Society and Promega for the funding and supporting our ideas.

In addition to the art event, we interviewed lecturers in physiology at King’s College London and asked them about their favourite physiology facts and inspirations. The interviews can be found on our Instagram (@kclphysiologysociety) and Twitter (@kcl_physsoc).

Many thanks to Dr James Clark, Tanyel Ashik, Maya Wilson and Margot Jacobs for their involvement and help with organising the event.