Lightyear Foundation

TheLightyear Foundation grew out of a project supported by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in April 2010 that took an inflatable planetarium (from the Ghana Planetarium Project) around universities in Ghana. Our focus was on empowering and enthusing teachers “in training” and all varieties of science students, to help them understand that science could lead to great careers, great improvements in all of our lives, and see if we could share some ‘fun’ ways of making science inspiring.

Well received at three different universities, several schools and having presented to over 1000 people in two weeks, we realised our ideas had potential. It wasn’t the tour – it was the message we were spreading. That science could be fun, participatory, and help people answer whatever questions they had.

In 2011 we went further, visiting 9 schools across Ghana delivering our amazing and exciting science classes. Now we’re expanding the scope of our projects and piloting a number of new ones in 2012. Please check out our website for more. Do you have ideas? Please let us know!

In our first years we will be working primarily in Ghana but would be keen to hear of other places around the globe where our projects could go next too.

Who We Are

We are a group of passionate geeks with a breadth of experience – scientists, analysts, development specialists and the generally curious. The Lightyear team is made up of a Board of Trustees and the Exec. We work closely with UK and overseas partners to promote science for development. Are you curious? Do you think science holds untapped potential? If so, drop us a line… we are constantly recruiting for fanatical / zealous / devoted people interested in being part of some really exciting projects.

Supporters

We work closely in the UK and overseas with the Institute of Physics (UK) and other organisations to promote science for development. If your organisation or company is interested in partnering the Lightyear Foundation please contact us.