BASF Celebrates British Science Week by Showcasing Impact of ScienceXperience and STEM Ambassador Programme

During British Science Week, BASF is proud to spotlight its flagship outreach initiatives inspiring the next generation of scientists across the UK. Through ScienceXperience and the Stockport STEM Ambassador Programme, employees volunteer to deliver a suite of activities for schools local to the areas of BASF’s operations.  

BY DAPHNE VLASTARI

BASF creates chemistry for a sustainable future, and our ambition is to be the preferred partner for our customers’ green transformation. We know that meeting the challenges of our time requires bold thinking and innovative solutions. In the UK, our long‑term STEM engagement plays a vital role in building science capital, strengthening inclusion, and raising aspirations in the communities where we operate.

ScienceXperience: Bringing Real‑World Science to Life

Launched at BASF’s Alfreton site in 2019, ScienceXperience has become a cornerstone of BASF’s STEM engagement strategy. Developed with Professor Leigh Hoath of Leeds Trinity University, the programme is curriculum‑linked, inclusive, and designed to reflect the diverse industrial expertise found across BASF’s UK sites.

Each ScienceXperience is co‑created with local schools and tailored to the site’s specific operations. Through a mix of pre‑visit preparation, interactive on‑site demonstrations and hands‑on experiments, pupils explore science in the context of real BASF products and processes that support everyday life.

More than six years since it was originally launched, ScienceXperience programmes are now delivered across most of BASF’s sites in the UK, from the Outer Hebrides island of Lewis where BASF’s Callanish site is located to southern England at BASF’s Littlehampton site.  

In 2025, the Callanish site celebrated a major milestone by hosting its 20th ScienceXperience event, reaching nearly 400 pupils in under three years. Looking ahead to 2026, the site aims to offer STEM experiences to every school on the Isle of Lewis, expanding beyond ScienceXperience to include career fairs and work experience opportunities.

“The Callanish team’s passion for ScienceXperience creates a school trip that ignites children’s curiosity and fills the site with laughter. Seeing young people so engaged lifts everyone’s spirits! It is a powerful reminder that without science we’d still be cavemen - as one student told us! It’s moments like these that bring our whole site together and is hugely rewarding for all involved” said Karen Massey, Technology and Development Manager and ScienceXperience team leader at BASF’s Callanish site, reflecting on the site’s engagement with local schools.

Stockport STEM Ambassadors: A Model for Community Focused Outreach

Complementing ScienceXperience is BASF’s growing STEM Ambassador network, based at our UK headquarters in Stockport. BASF Ambassadors deliver around 40% of all STEM Ambassador activity in Stockport primary schools.

Recognising the challenges faced by schools in areas of high deprivation, including in Stockport, the team’s approach focuses on building longterm partnerships with three primary schools—St Matthew’s, Larkhill and Dial Park.

“What began as a focus on STEM engagement has grown into a truly meaningful partnership with the schools and their students,” said Helen Clayton, Solicitor and Societal Engagement Lead. “Together with our partners, we’re able to deliver a full week of hands‑on science through our annual STEM Week, and we’ve expanded our support to include fundraising activities, gardening club projects, book competitions and careers events. The BASF team has really wrapped its arms around these schools, and we are proud to support their learning and wellbeing.”

In 2025, more than 30 STEM Ambassadors rolled out a STEM week at Larkhill Primary delivering 13 different lessons, 21 sessions and overall engaging 158 children. In the same year, BASF also partnered with the Great Science Share for Schools to host a Stockport based event involving eight schools, eight teachers and 64 pupils. Young learners presented their own scientific investigations, covering topics from materials testing to geology, and feedback was overwhelmingly positive with BASF Ambassadors facilitating high-quality questioning and peer-to-peer sharing.

“We’re thrilled to be organising another STEM Week, this year at St Matthew’s Primary School in Edgeley, in April. We’re planning a series of sessions that bring science to life for students. From exploring the chemistry behind everyday products in personal care and agriculture to sparking curiosity through creative experiments, we hope to get students excited about the science that exists all around us!,” said Emily Lord, Commercial Sales Graduate and STEM Week Coordinator.

By focusing on the areas where we can make the greatest positive impact, BASF in the UK will continue championing the development of STEM skills in young people. Working alongside our partners, we are committed to empowering the next generation of innovators and helping to ensure a skilled, diverse workforce capable of driving future innovation, sustainability and economic growth.

Published 13 March 2026

For media enquiries or to repurpose this article, contact: daphne.vlastari@basf.com