Committee on the Public Understanding of Science facts for kids

The Committee on the Public Understanding of Science, often called Copus, was an organization created to help everyone understand science better. It was founded in 1985 by three important groups: the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Institution, and the Royal Society.

Copus was started after a special report. This report was written by a well-known scientist named Walter Bodmer, who studied genetics. The main goal of Copus was to explain new scientific discoveries. They wanted to make science easy for people who were not scientists to understand.

Making Science Clear

Copus helped a lot with making science understandable to the public. It worked to set good ways for scientists to share information about science and technology.

Helping Science Projects

In 1987, Copus started a program called the Copus Grant Schemes. This program gave money to projects that helped explain science. The money for these grants came from the Office of Science and Technology and the Royal Society. The last time grants were given was for the years 2003 and 2004. In that period, 25 grants were awarded. These grants totaled more than £750,000.

Changes to Copus

In the year 2000, a new group called the Copus Council was formed. This council aimed to bring more people and organizations together to communicate science in the UK. However, in 2002, after another report was requested by the Office of Science and Technology, the Copus Council was stopped.