Dr Rob (Robert James Bell, born 10 April 1975 ) is the host of the Australian children's television programme ''

Scope Scope or scopes may refer to: People with the surname * Jamie Scope (born 1986), English footballer * John T. Scopes (1900–1970), central figure in the Scopes Trial regarding the teaching of evolution Arts, media, and entertainment * CinemaS ...

'' where Dr Rob breaks down the science of subjects relevant to school-aged children. Dr Rob is employed at

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

as a science education officer.

Education

Dr Rob studied science at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1994, and going on to a complete an honours year in 1995, writing a thesis on superconductors. In 1996, he went directly into his PhD in the field of Material Chemistry, which he graduated in 2000. His PhD thesis was entitled "Investigation and characterisation of co-precipitation syntheses for the production of La1-xSrxMnO3" in the field of "Solid oxide fuel cells using

Perovskite Perovskite (pronunciation: ) is a calcium titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium titanate (chemical formula ). Its name is also applied to the class of compounds which have the same type of crystal structure as , known as the perovskite (stru ...

and

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

powders". After 12 months traveling and work in Europe, he returned to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and commenced work at the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in the education children's division, where he visited schools & juvenile detention centres presenting scientific experiments & explanations for the audience.

Major interests

Dr Rob is keen soccer player, playing during his study years for the UQ Soccer Club. He continued to play after his graduation and went on to become the joint treasurer in 2001, and was sole treasurer from 2002 till 2007. In 2007, he was awarded the UQ Soccer Club service award for being the best keeper for the club, creation of the club alumni and the years served as club treasurer. Dr Rob 's enjoyment of chocolate was made evident while studying at the University of Queensland. He joined the Chocolate appreciation society and was eventually made president. This included hosting a chocolate tasting each semester. The society at the time had a membership of 700.

Work

In 2001, Bell commenced work at the CSIRO Science Education Centre (CSIROSEC) in Brisbane as science education officer, where he was initially involved with the schools programme for Southern Queensland and Science on Saturdays. A side task to his employment was appearances on the television programme ''

Totally Wild ''Totally Wild'' is an Australian children's television series that premiered on Network 10 on 12 July 1992. The series aired on 10 Peach (formerly Eleven) from 2013 to 2020, and 10 Shake from 2020 to 2021. It had a current affairs program for ...

'' and later became the host of a new programme called ''Scope''. In 2005, Bell gave the keynote address at the District conference of Coopers Plains Learning Community, where he presented the topic "Making Links with the Wider Community".

''Totally Wild''

Bell appeared on ''

'' on Tuesdays in the scientific segment. Over the two years that he spent doing this segment, he developed his character of "Dr Rob".

''Scope''

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

in conjunction with

developed a programme called ''Scope'', initially airing on Mondays at 4pm. New episodes now airs at 8am Thursdays and repeat episodes air at 9am Saturdays on

Eleven Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

. Dr Rob has been described as a "

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...

", as well as being "zany" and "mad capped". This is most likely to the very animated style of his TV personality. Dr Rob's appearances on ''Scope'' are nearly always in his signature white lab coat, even scuba diving in it one episode about marine life. This can also be seen in any publicity photograph of himself or ''Scope'', as he was even wearing it when receiving the Japan prize in Tokyo. He eventually passed on the reins to Lee Constable who hosted the show from 20 August 2016 forward.

Awards

In 2006, ''Scope'' was nominated for "Most Outstanding Children's Program" in the 2006 TV Week Logie awards. ''Scope'' won the 2008 Japan Prize, an award for outstanding educational children's television, 2008 for best television series. Dr Rob flew to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

to collect the prize on 28 October 2008.

Other appearances

In February 2008, Dr Rob flew to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to appear on the '' Rachael Ray Show'', where he used a food theme to demonstrate some scientific principles, using ingredients such as

corn starch Cornflour, cornstarch, maize starch, or corn starch (American English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the seed, kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thick ...

and

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscosity, viscous than Properties of water, water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usua ...

. The episode went to air on 16 Feb 2009 and can be viewed on th
"Rachel Ray Show"
website. He made a second appearance on 3 July 2009 performing some spectacular experiments for 4 July. This also can be viewed on th
"Rachel Ray Show"
website. Dr Rob also appeared as a member of the Brains Trust on episode 13 of ''

The Einstein Factor ''The Einstein Factor'' was an Australian television quiz show that was broadcast on ABC (Australian TV channel), ABC1. The show's host is comedian and broadcaster Peter Berner. It was first broadcast in 2004 and in 2009 the show commenced its s ...

'', on

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

in Australia, which went to air on 3 May 2009. Most recently, Dr Rob hosted the Big Bloody Experiment in 2023's National Science Week, a campaign aimed at educating children about blood with fun experiments and workshops. This was sponsored by Lifeblood.