Southampton Education School doctoral researchers Aprillyana Utami and Jingwen Song were selected to attend the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) Summer School, held from 9-14 June 2025 in Almería, Spain.

At the summer school, Aprillyana presented her work on developing a culture-based socio-scientific issues training programme for Indonesian pre-service biology teachers. This research is supervised by Dr Andri Christodoulou and Emeritus Professor Marcus Grace to support Indonesian pre-service biology teachers in learning and teaching culture-based socio-scientific issues and help their students navigate and negotiate the complexity of science and culture.

Jingwen presented her work on a teacher professional development programme in China, which aims to enhance early childhood teachers’ knowledge and teaching skills for climate change education using the socioscientific inquiry-based learning (SSIBL) approach. This project, supervised by Dr Andri Christodoulou and Dr Wonyong Park, demonstrates our educational efforts to address the climate change crisis, with particular attention to vulnerable younger age groups.

The ESERA Summer School offered Aprillyana and Jingwen valuable opportunities to receive constructive feedback on their research projects through small group mentoring sessions and poster presentations with experienced mentors and peers. They also explored the forefront of science education through interactive workshops and open discussions. In addition to academic activities, participants enjoyed networking opportunities and took part in a group excursion with water activities in the Cabo de Gata Natural Park.

Thank you to Emeritus Prof Marcus Grace, Dr Andri Christodoulou, and Dr Wonyong Park for supporting Aprillyana and Jingwen’s participation in the summer school!