Northumbria University’s NUSTEM outreach team has been recognised by the Royal Society for work that has quietly reshaped how young people encounter science across the UK. Over the past decade, the group has built long‑term partnerships with schools, families and national organisations, creating evidence‑based resources that help children understand STEM careers and see themselves as potential scientists and engineers. Their approach blends hands‑on engagement with rigorous research — a combination that has now earned them the Royal Society Athena Prize 2026, one of the UK’s most respected honours for advancing diversity in STEM.

A decade of impact across schools and communities

NUSTEM, led by Professor Carol Davenport, has been awarded the Royal Society Athena Prize 2026 for its work promoting equity in STEM and strengthening the research evidence base around effective STEM education and engagement. The prize, awarded every two years, recognises teams that advance diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics within their communities.

Since 2014, NUSTEM has partnered with 48 primary schools and 20 secondary schools across the North East, plus a wider network across the UK. The team has recorded more than 150,000 interactions with children and young people, and nearly 33,000 with teachers, parents, carers and the broader STEM community. Their work ranges from family STEM activities to classroom resources that help children develop a ‘science identity’ and understand the breadth of STEM careers.

Setting a national benchmark for inclusive STEM engagement

NUSTEM also supports companies and STEM organisations in developing outreach programmes, including through its attributes‑led approach to career‑related learning — now used by groups such as the British Science Association and the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Public Engagement teams.

Professor Carol Davenport said: “The NUSTEM team is delighted to have our long-term work to support diversity in STEM recognised by the Royal Society. Our approach has always been to meld high-quality engagement practice with excellent research in the field of STEM engagement.”

The award follows NUSTEM’s 2025 William Thomson, Lord Kelvin Medal and Prize for public engagement in physics. Professor Andy Shepherd, Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Science and Environment, said the Royal Society’s recognition “sets a benchmark for the sector.”

To address the cost of living crisis and mark the 13th anniversary of their partnership with Stevenage Football Club Academy, Great Northern’s railway station staff are calling on town commuters to help them support a town-based charity for homeless people.

All week from 8am-11am up to and including this Thursday (27 August) the station staff are collecting food donated by passengers for a homeless drop-in centre for people in need that is run out of Stevenage FC football stadium.

Every Monday, from 5-7pm, charity Feed Up, Warm Up provides a hot meal and a hot drink for up to 120 people in need and others suffering from the cost of living crisis, many of them homeless, from the centre they set up in the Sporta Stadium, Stevenage. The academy players help at the drop-in centre, learning valuable skills.

“For 13 years now, we’ve been supporting 16-18-year-old Stevenage FC Academy players by giving them free train travel to and from their practice games and study. We think it’s a great scheme and one we really want to support.

“This year, to develop that partnership still further, we decided to join the club in supporting this hugely worthwhile charity. There’s a real cost of living crisis going on and anything we and can do with our customers at the station has to be a good thing,” Great Northern’s CSR Manager Tracy Jarvis said.

Not everyone is homeless – many simply struggle to make ends meet which is why Feed Up, Warm Up has a foodbank service as part of the drop-in (as well as offering emergency supplies such as sleeping bags and toiletries and a barbering service).

Europe is aiming to end animal testing in chemical safety assessments. The European Commission’s newly adopted roadmap, published on 1 June 2026, sets out how the EU intends to shift away from long‑established animal experiments and replace them with modern, non‑animal scientific methods. The plan is not a vague political gesture: it is a structured programme covering 15 regulatory areas, from industrial chemicals and pesticides to pharmaceuticals and food additives. It responds directly to public pressure, including more than 1.2 million signatures gathered through the European Citizens’ Initiative “Save Cruelty‑Free Cosmetics”, and acknowledges that nearly 500,000 animal procedures are still carried out each year in the EU solely for chemical safety compliance.

The roadmap marks the first time the EU has committed to a coordinated, cross‑sector strategy to phase out animal testing in this field.

A Three‑Pillar Plan to Replace Animal Tests

The roadmap is built around three pillars designed to accelerate the shift towards non‑animal science while maintaining strict safety standards. The first pillar focuses on “making change happen”, offering more than 30 recommendations to replace, reduce or refine animal tests across human health and environmental assessments. These include expanding access to the Joint Research Centre’s facilities for developing alternatives and creating mechanisms to identify regulatory gaps where non‑animal methods can be introduced.

The second pillar aims to keep Europe at the forefront of scientific innovation. This includes supporting research networks, investing in artificial intelligence and data‑driven toxicology, and encouraging the development of internationally recognised standards for non‑animal approaches. The Commission argues that this shift is not only ethical but economically strategic, strengthening Europe’s competitiveness by adopting cutting‑edge technologies.

The third pillar focuses on collaboration within the EU and globally. Regulators, agencies, researchers and industry will work together to ensure consistent implementation, with progress monitored through indicators built into the roadmap. A high‑level conference in 2029 will assess how widely non‑animal methods have been adopted across EU legislation, including REACH.

Why Europe Is Moving Away from Animal Testing

The shift is driven by a combination of ethics, science and public demand. Across the EU, around 500,000 animal procedures are carried out each year for chemical safety assessments alone. These tests can involve force‑feeding chemicals to animals daily for months, causing pain, organ damage and death. A single reproductive toxicity test can use up to 2,500 animals for just one chemical.

At the same time, scientific alternatives have advanced rapidly. Modern in vitro systems, computational toxicology and AI‑supported modelling can often predict chemical effects more accurately than traditional animal tests. The Commission acknowledges that not all methods are ready to replace every test, but the roadmap is designed to accelerate validation and regulatory acceptance.

When can Europe Realistically End Animal Testing?

While the transition will take time, the EU Commission has already begun implementation. Experts expect the most visible reductions to occur between 2029 and the mid‑2030s, as new methods gain regulatory acceptance and older requirements are rewritten.

Based on the Commission’s timeline and expert analysis, the stages for the long anticipated transition will include:

• 2026–2030: Early implementation, increased funding, validation of new methods, and initial reductions in animal use.
• 2030–2035: Wider regulatory acceptance of non‑animal approaches across multiple sectors.
• Beyond 2035: A realistic window for a near‑complete phase‑out, depending on scientific progress and legislative reform.

The EU Commission has already begun implementing the roadmap, signalling that the political commitment is in place. The 2029 review will be a key moment to assess whether the EU is on track.