BBC Lab UK for scientists

Since 2001, hundreds of thousands of people have participated in online experiments from the BBC. Lab UK builds on this legacy and brings BBC experiments together in one place.

One of our biggest success stories was the Sex ID experiment in 2006, in which 250,000 people participated. Sex ID formed the basis of a BBC One television series, ‘Secrets of the Sexes’, and an entire issue of the journal ‘Archives of Sexual Behaviour’ was given over to the publication of the scientific papers derived from the results.

Since 2001, the BBC has carried out more than 20 ‘one off’ experiments and tests online. The BBC aims to build on this legacy by bringing all future experiments together under a single brand – Lab UK.

This will raise awareness of our online experiments; enable quicker design and roll-out; and create fascinating new ways to explore the data.

Lab UK experiments have the potential to reach very large numbers of participants.

By promoting content on TV, radio and online, we can reach larger numbers in broader demographics than is possible using conventional recruitment methodologies.

And because the same participants may end up contributing to many Lab UK experiments over the life of the project, it creates interesting opportunities to explore correlations between experimental data sets.

If you have a research question that you think will make a compelling Lab UK experiment, we'd like to hear from you.

In order to help you frame your ideas, please consider the following when submitting an experiment suggestion:

• Is it easy to participate in? (The harder it is, the fewer people will do it.)
• What is the participants’ motivation for taking part? (Will they discover something about themselves or the world around them?)
• Does it genuinely require mass participation? (Do you really need to reach thousands of people, or will tens of participants do just as well?)
• Will it produce new knowledge? (While engaging with ‘known’ science is important, it isn’t the purpose of Lab UK.)
• Does it employ rigorous scientific methodologies? (Can you guide this idea through a scientific ethics committee?)

Once you have considered all of these things, please feel free to contact us in writing by emailing: labuk-ideas@bbc.co.uk