Exeter to help UK school pupils learn about LGBT+ scientists
Dr Claire Davies and Dr Andrew Griffiths at the UK LGBT+ History Month 2026 launch event. Credit: Dr Claire Davies
University of Exeter experts have produced free educational resources championing the achievements of LGBT+ individuals working in maths and science for secondary schools and museums across the UK.
The educational resources, which include posters, postcards, videos and class activities, have been produced in collaboration with the LGBT+ education charity Schools OUT for UK LGBT+ History Month in February 2026.
Schools OUT has been working for more than 50 years to combat prejudice and ‘usualise’ LGBT+ people, aiming through education and advocacy to empower people to create environments where all LGBT+ people feel safe, seen and supported.
The resources were launched at a special event at the Royal Society of Chemistry on Friday 7 November where it was announced that the theme for 2026 would be ‘Science and Innovation’.
Exeter academics have been helping young people to recognise LGBT+ figures in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine) through the Queer Science Competition, which ran in 2020, 2022 and 2024.
The 2024 edition was funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Inclusion & Diversity Fund and Chemists’ Community Fund, which support initiatives that engage directly with under-represented communities and support wellbeing, accessibility, and inclusive participation in the chemical sciences.
The Queer Science Competition, which was led by the PRISM Exeter LGBTQ+ network, challenged secondary school, college, and university students across the South West to discover and celebrate the science and achievements of lesser-known LGBT+ scientists, technologists, engineers, mathematicians and medics.
The new materials are based on these competition entries and include profiles of the mathematician and chess champion Ron Buckmire, the pioneering physicist Nergis Mavalvala and the American evolutionary biologist Joan Roughgarden.
Dr Claire Davies, a University of Exeter academic and founder of PRISM Exeter, said the resources will for the first time integrate LGBT+ identities into Key Stage 3 and 4 maths and physics lessons and praised the ‘incredibly inspiring’ competition entries.
“The resources help bring to light some of the untold stories of LGBT+ scientists, engineers and mathematicians whose contributions have been overlooked,” said Dr Davies.
“We were so delighted to be able to use the Queer Science competition entries in this way, as they revealed significant yet little-known contributions to science and technology, and important work to make science and maths more inclusive.”
Dr Davies added that although Section 28 – the law which essentially resulted in forbidding the positive teaching of LGBT+ identities and relationships – was repealed over 20 years ago, there are still very few visible role models of LGBT+ figures in STEMM.
“It shows how changing laws and undoing their lasting impact are two very different things,” she said. “However, education can help redress this imbalance, which is why we’re delighted to be working with Schools OUT on this project, as it ensures real impact across UK schools, museums and other educational settings.”
Professor Emeritus Sue Sanders, CEO of Schools OUT and co-founder of UK LGBT+ History Month said: “At Schools OUT we have worked tirelessly to ‘usualise’ LGBT+ people in all our diversity, producing free resources for education settings and beyond. We often see very little representation of LGBT+ people working in STEM, which is why we chose ‘Science and Innovation’ as the theme for 2026.
“We have long admired the work PRISM do and jumped at the chance to work with them on expanding the reach from the poster competition they held last UK LGBT+ History Month. These resources will be able to be used throughout this year and beyond, shining a light on the brilliant work of LGBT+ people in STEM.”
The project is supported by the Association of Science & Discovery Centres (ASDC), with many members committing to sharing Exeter’s materials.
These include the Royal Institution in London, the Ocean Explorer Centre in Oban, We the Curious in Bristol and W5 in Belfast.
Social enterprise Science Made Simple has also helped produce Welsh translated versions for schools in Wales.
The free resources will be available here.
