Curiosity in Action is a two-year programme to explore the impact of STEM in youth work funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). This will involve pairing a cohort of 5 youth groups across Scotland with scientists-in-residence involved in STFC research in a collaborative action research process. Together they will trial activities, explore approaches to discover what works well and understand the impact this work has on young people.
For more information on eligibility and for the full guidelines for the application form, see here.
We are also hosting an information session on this Wednesday 14 June, 11am, as part of a wider Community of Practice to meet the wider network. You can sign up for this here.
Programme in Summary
We will be pairing each youth group with a "scientist-in-residence" who is involved in STFC science. You will be supported to partner together, for them to get to know the youth group over around 9 months (from October 2023 to June 2024) and co-deliver activities together. The needs and interests of your youth group will be different, and so there will be no "one-size fits all" for how this will look and there is full support provided to develop and tailor activity ideas and try different approaches with a focus on how this can support the young people's confidence, resilience and wellbeing. You will also be supported to become action researchers working as a collective meeting as a group four times through the programme to reflect on your practice and capture the impact being made, and pulling this together to develop the evidence of how STEM to better support youthwork outcomes.
You do not need an existing relationship with a scientist already (or any experience delivering STEM activities!), if you are selected you will be supported and matched with a scientist in September 2023. We hope the scientists can bring an enthusiasm for STEM to the group and in turn, will learn from the youth-centred approach with the youth worker. If you're a STFC scientist who is interested, you can register an Expression of Interest here.
What support is available?
- You'll be paired with a scientist-in-residence to develop and co-deliver STEM-themed activities together from October 2023 to June 2024.
- You'll have full support and training to be part of the action research process and be a named contributor to the collective evidence that is developed.
- You'll work closely with the other youth groups and scientists involved in the project to share learning including an in-person kick-off in October 2023 and online meetings.
- You'll be provided with a contribution of £2000 to support your time commitment and in addition you'll have all your wider expenses (including for session materials) covered
Join the Wider Community in Communities Network: We are also launching the Curiosity In Communities Network online space to enable anyone interested in how STEM can support youth and community work to connect and share resources and ideas. You'll have access to regular network meetings to connect, free training opportunities and resources and updates about the learning. You can access this here.
This application form is for youth groups interested in applying to be matched. There is also a microsoft word version of the application available to download here, please send these to katie@scienceceilidh.com. If you would prefer another format of completing the application (e.g. phone call or video submission), please get in touch!
In this application we are interested in learning more about the young people you work with and what interests you about working with a scientist. You do not have to have any experience in delivering STEM activities before.
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