In 2018, the Novo Nordisk Foundation awarded DKK 3 million to the annual Big Bang conference organized by Astra’s Center for Learning, Nature, Technology and Health in collaboration with other actors from the natural sciences. Every year, the conferences bring together science teachers in professional collegiality and give them inspiration that they can take home to benefit their teaching.
At the conference, teachers from primary and lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools and higher education institutions meet and attend 100 workshops and lectures on subjects including the didactics of science, exhibitions of teaching material and dialogue in professional and social collegiality.
Mikkel Bohm, Director, Astra, says, “Teachers are the single most important factor in motivating children and young people to take an interest in science. We can make 3D printers and smart boards until we are red in the face, but these are of little use without the presence of talented teachers. They are the most important and we should take good care of science teachers and pamper them scientifically. We do this at a Big Bang conference.”
In organizing the conferences, Astra wants to reinforce the retention and development of very good science teams at primary and lower-secondary schools and upper-secondary schools in Denmark. Very good teams can strengthen teaching and inspire young people to choose a science-based education.
The Foundation support the Big Bang conferences because their purpose aligns with the Foundation’s goal of advancing the natural sciences in Denmark.
In 2021, the Foundation announced a further DKK 7.5 million to support the conferences over the next five years.
Photo: ©Astra Foto – Thomas Evaldsen
