Organisation type
Charity/third sector
Membership organisation
Sector
Disability, diversity, equity and inclusion
Education, training and skills
Science, technology and innovation
Service
The Eurekas is an annual physics competition for students aged 11–16 across the UK and Ireland. It forms part of the Institute of Physics’ (IOP) Limit Less campaign, which aims to diversify the young people who continue with physics after 16 and to encourage students to see physics differently.Following the successful 2022 launch, IOP reappointed Barley to promote the 2023 competition. Our objectives were to reach more of the campaign’s diverse target audiences and increase the number of submissions from the previous year.
Our campaign focused on parents and teachers who would support students entering the competition, while also directly engaging young people aged 11–16 — particularly those from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in physics.
To keep the competition inclusive and open to a wide range of interests, we developed the 2023 theme: how does physics power your passion?
Using insights from the 2022 evaluation, we refined our strategy. This included bringing in influencers to extend reach and credibility. Charismatic teacher Bobby Seagull encouraged his students to think differently about physics, while engineer and mother Dr Samira Ahmed created warm, engaging videos that introduced her audience to the competition.To reinforce scientific credibility, we secured physics communicator Alom Shaha and Eurekas ambassador Shivani Dave as judges, alongside campaign creator Ray Mitchell.
We doubled the number of submissions from 2022 and increased participation from students and schools by around half.
Our organic social campaign generated strong engagement, achieving half a million impressions and 10,000 interactions. Paid social activity reached 200,000 people.
Influencer activity performed well too, with 19 posts generating 50,000 video views, 112,000 impressions and 2,000 engagements.Local media outreach amplified the winner announcement in Leicester, securing interviews on BBC Radio Leicester and Capital FM Leicestershire, broadcast coverage on ITV News Central, and an article in the Leicester Times.
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The quality of entries was incredibly high again this year. It was wonderful to see so many young people thinking about the things they’re passionate about through a physics lens, and letting their creativity flow. I believe if we can just harness some of this talent, the next generation of physicists will achieve groundbreaking things. I was honoured to be a judge for the second year running and everyone should be very proud of their work.
Shivani Dave
Journalist, broadcaster and physicist
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