Starting in 1825, the Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures series invented science communications, featuring some of the greatest minds of the modern era, long before science communications was a thing.

89up was tasked with bringing fresh audiences to the lectures.

Delivered by world-renowned neuroscientist Professor Sophie Scott, the 2017 lecture series examined language and nonverbal communication. 89up’s PR team  worked with Professor Scott to develop the most consumer-friendly aspects of the lectures into media stories, while taking care not to oversimplify the science.

A story on the development of accents proved enormously successful nationwide, with Professor Scott appearing on BBC Five Live as well as conducting individual interviews with every regional BBC radio station in the country. Professor Scott was profiled in the Observer and the New Statesman ahead of the broadcast of her lectures, and a discussion of the science behind emojis was developed into a feature piece for Buzzfeed.