STEM Unity
Giving research experiences to equity-deserving and under-represented undergraduate STEM students
Stem unity experience 2024:
At the end of 2023, we started developing STEM Unity, an innovative new initiative to dismantle barriers and promote inclusivity and a sense of belonging among STEM undergraduate students from equity-deserving and under-represented groups who are passionate about science and interested in research. This program became one of the most popular initiatives selected by the Faculty of Science to be part of UCalgary Giving Days 2024, and alongside our own fundraising, we were able to launch the program with a successful summer pilot program, STEM Unity Experience, in August 2024. In this program, 18 undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in various STEM fields were selected with EDIA considerations in mind to experience research for two weeks in August through laboratory shadowing, complemented by unique graduate student and postdoc-led workshops and opportunities to engage in discussions with peers, grads, faculty and industry about EDIA, STEM, professional development, and academia. Organizers and participants included students and postdocs from the Faculties of Science, Kinesiology, Schulich School of Engineering, and the Cumming School of Medicine. Altogether, STEM Unity provided a unique opportunity for all those involved, including our donors, mentors, volunteers, and participants, to work together to connect and build a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive environment together. We want to extend a huge thank you to our donors, graduate student and postdoctoral scholar mentors, panellists, STEM Unity Experience and workshop coordinators, and UCalgary GSA Quality Money, we could not have run this program without you! Lastly, thank you to our students for being so engaged throughout the program! This important program will continue to be developed and expanded in coming years, we look forward to offering STEM Unity again in Summer 2025!
Stem unity experience overview 2024:
Our Active Fundraisers:
Book a tutoring session with a chemistry graduate student or postdoc - proceeds will go towards the STEM Unity Program
We need your help!!!
Whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student, faculty, post-doc, alumni or just a STEM supporter - if you have any experience or motivation to contribute to the following:
- Fundraising
- Event Planning
- Outreach
- Mentoring
...please keep reading!
This year, we were incredibly fortunate to have our proposal, the creation of a STEM UNITY program, chosen as one of the Funds supported by the University’s Giving Days. With it, our main goal is to provide accessible summer research experiences to undergraduates students at UCalgary who would otherwise not qualify through more traditional channels. We strongly believe that students should not miss out on the practical and network-building opportunity to work in a lab just because they don’t have a perfect GPA, the necessary connections, or simply cannot commit to a full-time summer studentship.
With the opportunity to fundraise for STEM UNITY on Giving Days between April 4th and the 18th, where each donation received will be matched by the University (within the limits of their budget), we envision an energetic student-led collaboration spanning the entire Faculty of Sciences. What we propose is simple – first and second year undergraduate students will be offered a 10-day experience in participating departments, with the opportunity to shadow a researcher at work, and attend talks, workshops and other activities organized by the STEM UNITY team, while students more advanced in their studies will be offered a paid 8-week internship in a lab of their interest. We have estimated that we will require $1000 per participating 1st and 2nd year student, and $3000 per participating 3rd and 4th year students for activities, materials and compensations - this means that the more donations we receive through our fundraising efforts, the more accessible research opportunities we can create and offer!
The STEM UNITY program has so much potential, and its growth directly depends on how much help we can get from you, the STEM community at UCalgary! We are currently in the phase of collecting volunteers (faculty, undergraduate, graduate and postdocs alike) and laying out plans, and we would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions, ideas or would like to help with:
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Fundraising – finding and reaching out to donors, organizing fundraising events, collecting small donations from our communities (they add up!), etc…
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Mentoring - finding lab spaces, principal investigators, grad students and post-docs who would be interested in providing their experiences, knowledge and time to give someone the chance they need to catalyze their career in STEM
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Organizing – providing your ideas, time and skills to organize events related to fundraising for STEM UNITY, and related to the program itself (career discussion panels, workshops, activities for participants)
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For more information about the program, please have a look at the slides from our Information Session, included below.
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If you are interested in volunteering, have an idea for fundraising, or if you have any questions or comments, you can contact us through the CIDE email address: CIDE@ucalgary.ca.
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