The Royal Society of Chemistry becomes official TikTok partner to inspire next generation of chemists
We are excited to announce a partnership with social media platform TikTok, to become the first learned society in the world to join its #LearnOnTikTok programme.
The initiative, which launched this summer, brings educators, experts, real-world skills creators and non-profits together to build an ecosystem of educational content.
Our membership stretches across the world, representing chemists at every stage of their career, so we join the platform with the aim of reaching a fresh audience, to inspire curious minds and encourage young people to consider a career in the chemical sciences.
From explaining common mysteries around the home to showing how you can do fun experiments with everyday goods – and exploring the legacy of Black chemists who helped improve the world as part of Black History Month – the channel will offer a range of routes to engage enquiring minds in chemistry.
Find us on TikTok here
Sarah Robertson, Royal Society of Chemistry Director of Education and Professional Practice, said: “2020 has clearly been an incredibly challenging year for most and particularly tough on young people who’ve had to adapt to home learning.
“While most will have turned to TikTok for entertainment purposes, we have observed many examples of how this platform has been used to encourage creative learning. As such, we have seized the opportunity to become an official partner of TikTok’s education campaign and aim to use our presence on the platform to inspire more young people to take an interest in chemistry.”
Edel Flood, Media Partnerships Manager at TikTok, said: "We are delighted to welcome The Royal Society of Chemistry to TikTok as part of #LearnonTikTok. We cannot wait to see how they will use short-form video to engage with our creator community and inspire a wider audience of budding chemists and chemistry enthusiasts; as more and more users turn to TikTok for eclectic and unique learning content".
Gaming your future in chemistry
Coinciding with our TikTok debut, we have also launched a game on our A Future In Chemistry website, to showcase the vast range of career paths chemistry offers, all of which can make a real difference to people and the planet.
We developed the game following research into young people’s career aspirations and aims to help address the careers advice gap that many reported facing.
Conducted earlier this year, our survey of more than 1,000 15 - 18 year olds in the UK found almost a fifth of young people don’t look to anyone (including the likes of teachers, parents, careers advisors or friends), for careers inspiration (18%) and a further 11% don’t know who to turn to for this information.
Based on the answers to a series of interest-focused questions and the results of games designed to test memory and problem-solving skills, participants of the game will be matched to one of five sets of results which provide inspirational career related content. This includes a number of real-world case studies of young specialists currently working on solutions to some of the most pressing issues facing the world today.
Sarah Robertson concludes: “Many young people told us that they are considering pursuing career paths which tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems - from climate change to dwindling natural resources and issues relating to health.
“As the organisations working to combat these problems rely heavily on people with chemistry skills, we have to do more to ensure relevant information is available when making career decisions and think of creative ways to make chemistry more engaging both in and outside of the classroom, if we are to give young people the best chance of achieving their life ambitions.”
The game forms part of the suite of materials we are developing for children, parents and schools to better support young people in making informed career decisions.