In2science is a summer programme for year 12 students to gain insight into STEM careers and research. There is a wider participation element, as students are selected based on criteria indicating a disadvantaged background, and are all from non-fee paying and non-selective state-maintained schools. After applying to the scheme in April, Dr Wing Ying Chow found out in June that she had been matched, and hosted four students for a week in August. The students came from schools in north Coventry and the outskirts of Birmingham. They have all faced various levels of disruption due to COVID and this is their first work experience.

Solid-state NMR was a completely new technique to all of the students. That didn’t stop them from getting some hands-on experience: they packed a rotor and ran some experiments on the national high-field GHz spectrometer. During the placement, the students started to make connections between the A-levels they are studying, whether maths, chemistry, biology, or physics, with what is going on in the lab and in the magnet.

Ying received plenty of help and support in hosting, especially for tours and lab visits. As a new Assistant Professor without a group of her own, she found it was a great way to get to know more of the department and the university, “It was not only gratifying to see the students becoming more confident and outspoken over the week, but I also learned a lot from finding new ways to explain scientific concepts at Y12 level.”

Read Ying’s blog about the programme.

Find out how to host a summer 2023 placement.