Student ambassadors and volunteers from Ottawa staff the Curiosity Shop when it was set up at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. The display will be at Devonshire Mall on March 19 and at the CAW Student Centre on March 20.
What are you curious about?
If there’s ever been a pressing question that’s kept you up at night, there are now tens of thousands of researchers at Ontario’s 21 universities who may be available to provide you with an answer.
The Curiosity Shop is a traveling pop-up venue that allows people across the province to ask questions ranging from “Why is the sky blue?” to “How do you make a light sabre?”
The latest promotional vehicle of the Council Ontario of Universities’ Research Matters campaign, the shop will be in Windsor for two days: at Devonshire Mall on March 19 and at the University of Windsor’s CAW Student Centre on March 20.
Visitors to the shop can write their question on a small board and take a photo of it or simply jot it down on a sticky note and post it on a wall in the booth. They can also submit via the Research Matters website and through YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
Questions will be circulated to research communicators at all 21 of Ontario’s universities, and those people will try to find a qualified student or faculty researcher who can answer the question. Answers to the questions will be posted on the Curiosity Shop web site, either in written form or a short video explanation.
The display has been traveling around Ontario and so far, has met with tremendous success. A recent stop at the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa attracted more than 1,500 visitors and channeled well over a hundred questions in the form of shared photos, written post-its, and social media activity. The shop is also scheduled to visit Guelph, Toronto and Thunder Bay.
“This is a tremendous way for people to engage with researchers here at the University of Windsor, and across the province,” said UWindsor vice-president, research Michael Siu. “It’s a great way for them to get answers to questions they’ve always wondered about, and to learn more about how university research impacts their lives each and every day.”
If you’re a sociable, gregarious type who is engaged in research and might like to volunteer to staff the booth for a couple of hours, please send an e-mail to Stephen Fields, communications officer, research at Stephen.Fields@uwindsor.ca.