Forskerfabrikken

ABOUT FORSKERFABRIKKEN

The Scientist Factory

Forskerfabrikken, The Scientist Factory, was founded in 2002 by Dr. Philos Hanne S. Finstad, and is Norway's main provider of children's courses in science and scientific research. The Scientist Factory arranges courses from 11 hubs covering most areas in Norway, and our aim is to provide a unique science experience to potentially 10-20 000 children per year.

The development within the fields of natural sciences and technology is extremely rapid. Each year, the gap between what students learn in school and what is going on in the outside world widens. The Scientist Factory was established to face this challenge

Our courses

The courses we arrange for children aged 10-12 years are Magic Slime, Magic Gas and Cool things, all covering chemistry related subjects. Investigate a Criminal Case, Who Killed Calcutta and DNA Magic give kids the chance to learn about central concepts in molecular biology and at the same time see the real life workings of how to investigate crimes. Incredible Colours and Fun with Magnetics, centre on physics.

Our goal is to provide fun and exciting courses, and the main focus of the teaching situation is that the children themselves execute the experiments with proper science equipment. This strategy gives children intrinsic motivation to engage further in science, while they also gain understanding of central scientific topics and concepts.

In addition to arranging science courses for children, The Scientist Factory develops and provides courses for teachers and adults, as well as for teenagers, through the Youth Academy scheme. We inspire kindergarten employees to do scientific experiments with smaller children, to spur on the interest for science from an early age. The Scientist Factory gives children the opportunity to go to Summer School to learn even more about science, in an intense week of teaching and science magic.

History and background

Forskerfabrikken was included in FERD's "Social Entrepreneurs" scheme in 2009. With FERD's support, the factory has been able to develop a long term strategy to realise its vision; that all children in Norway are given the possibility to engage in in-depth studies in science and technology in their spare time. In 2010, Tekna, the Norwegian Society of Graduate Technical and Scientific Professionals, became a central partner and sponsor.

We have developed courses which provide children and teenagers with in-depth studies of natural sciences and technology, providing more information and learning thant regular classes in school. In addition, they shed light on current, relevant themes and issues.

We believe that our scheme represents something that is completely new in Norway. Further, we believe that our effort in the field will lead to an increase in the number of university students in natural sciences and technology.

The people who work with our courses are all educated on university level in natural sciences. The Scientist Factory engages approximately 100 freelancers who are more than exited about teaching their field to interested children throughout Norway.

OUR MISSION

The Scientist Factory shall contribute to and stimulate a positive development in research and technology in the community.

OUR VALUES

Knowledgeable:

High degree of competence, up to date on our field, reliable

Playfull:

We are curious, adventurous and informal

Inspiring:

We are dedicated, innovative and strive to give our customers a positive experience

Accessible:

We are unpretentious and welcoming. We are here for our customers and partners. At the same time we strive to give as many people as possible an easy access to knowledge.

Tolerant:

We are open-minded and welcoming and we listen to others. We recognize that people are different and have different faiths and beliefs

OUR GOALS

Stimulate the interest for natural sciences and technology in children.
Increase young people's knowledge about how science and tecnhology affect people, our communities and the nature.
Be a creative and innovative developer of teaching methods in natural sciences and technology.