SOAPBOX simply means a moveable mini podium where one stands on to speak. Soapbox Science event is a great time for female scientists and professionals in the STEMM discipline (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and management) to showcase their research in the simplest possible way. Female scholars come out publicly to enlighten, inform, and relate in exciting ways with people on their works.
The Soapbox Science public engagement originated in the United Kingdom over fifteen years ago and has spread to several countries of the world, including Nigeria. You can check that out on google.
We pioneered soapbox science in Nigeria. And in Nigeria, it was held for the first time in the University of Lagos in 2019 at the UBA Park of the University and has been running yearly since then. It moved online during the covid19 era. However, we look forward to making this public engagement event, hybrid (i.e. a combination of the online and the physical event) from next year.
In Nigeria, more than 40 female scholars from across 15 Universities and Institutions have had the opportunity to showcase the researches that they do and are doing to the public is simple ways that a novice can understand and relate to.
This year, we have 8 amazing female seasoned scholars who are professionals in their own right, from across various disciplines come together to share with us what they do in the world of Science. Please relax, listen, and interact by asking questions afterwards. Enjoy this event.
Thank you.
Esther Oluwafunmilayo MAKINDE, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Lagos