Submitted by Elena Gonzalez on Wed, 31/08/2022 - 12:31
CEB PhD student outreach venture ReachSci is making serious efforts towards helping young students explore careers in research, a career path less pursued by underrepresented backgrounds.
ReachSci, led by Founder and President Mohammed Alawami, a PhD student in our Sensor Technologies for a Healthy and Sustainable Future Centre for Doctoral Training, has launched a three-day research training programme aimed at secondary school students. It introduces students to key scientific elements and teaches them how to apply these in daily life ad in STEM research projects.
“We feel honoured to have run our first pilot in collaboration with the Nuffield Research Placement scheme. The pilot programme would not have been possible without the support of many individuals and institutions, especially CEB department. We are pleased that our efforts have resulted in a programme that our students have connected to and found engaging and enjoyable;” noted Mohammed.
The programme also covers the basics of statistics to help students understand uncertainties in research such as how to visualise data in graphs, and how to support their hypotheses with stronger evidence. To complement this, students also learn about science communication and how post about their research results in social media platforms, which can help raise awareness about pressing issues like climate change and make an impact.
A secondary school student who embarked on the programme commented: "It was such an amazing experience and insight into the world of research and how we can do research and conduct our own experiments in our everyday lives. I have learnt so many valuable and useful skills during my time in this programme and have enjoyed it immensely. Thank you for such a fun, interesting, and memorable experience!"
“The programme gave a great insight into what being a researcher is like and made me start getting into the thinking habits of a scientist, always asking why and being critical. I am definitely considering a future in research now thanks to the programme;” added Jouin Baca, another participating student.
You can also find more information about ReachSci global virtual programmes here.