From STEM to ISEF: Cultivating Young Scientists

Alexander Reyman

SRC Chair of ROST (RUS001) Fair

PhD, Senior researcher,Institute of Applied Physics,Russian Academy of Sciences

Physics teacher in specialized classes of Lyceum # 40 and IAP RAS

Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

rostnizhny@gmail.comrey@appl.sci-nnov.ru

What do I intend to tell you about:

  i.  Our region and our Institute

  ii. Why STEM education is important to us

  iii. Examples of our STEM programs

VOLGA FEDERAL DISTRICT

“I know Russia – there is Moscow and once more big city” Widely spread opinion

Moscow

St.Petersburg

WHERE DO WE LIVE

Nizhny Novgorod

• Area  1,038,000 km2 (401,000 sq mi)6.8% (5th)

• Population  29,900,40020.8% (2nd)

• Regions14

• Cities191

• Municipal Schools~12,500

• High School (9-11) Students~900,000

• National Research Universities8

• Federal Universities and Branches2

• Regional Centers of Russian Academy of Sciences

5

Nizhny Novgorod (fnd. 1221, 1934-1991 - Gorky)

• One of the largest cities in Russian Federation (1.5 million population)

• Industrial, scientific and educational center

• 7 universities and ~50 branches

• 6 institutes of Russian Academy of Sciences

• ~300 municipal schools, 3 private schools

• Region: ~ 3.5 million population

• ~1100 schools, ~75 000 students (9-11)

Institute of Applied Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences

Some facts

• Founded in 1977

• Top-5 of physical Institutes in Russia

• ~1100 employees

• ~ 50 postgraduates

• Involved in large international projects (LIGO, ITER etc.)

Wide range of research areas

• Plasma physics and high power electronics

• Physics of atmosphere and ocean

• Nonlinear acoustics and remote sensing

• Nonlinear optics and physics of extreme fields

• Nonlinear dynamics and neural dynamics

Why education is important for us?

1. The average age of actively working scientists grows steadily

I was the ‘mean scientist’ for more than 15 years.

I grew old together with the Institute.

2. Attractiveness of scientific work falls steadily as well

Most attractive careers are football players, fashion models, TV or movie actor, bank manager, layer, software designer.

Scientist is far from the top of this list. It is real headache for all countries

3. A gap between ordinary school education, ordinary university education and competences required for scientific work increases

‘To know’ is not equal to ‘be able’

‘To perform tasks’ is not equal to ‘solve scientific problem’

What to do?To organize our own education environment

t

Science and Education Center of IAP RASImmersion into science

• School with advanced program in physics and math

• Specialized ‘PHI’ classes at the Institute

• Association of physics teachers of Nizhny Novgorod region

• System of contests in physics, astronomy and computer science

• Summer educational camp ‘Smart Summer’ (June, July)

• Summer workshop in physics and math (August)

• School of Young Researchers

• Scientific conferences in our region and beyond• ROST Science and Engineering Fair

School level

Postgraduate level

University level

• Advanced course in English, philosophy• Seminars and lectures on frontiers in modern physics

• Advanced School of General and Applied Physics

• Fundamental Radiophysics Speciality

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First step to the research: summer camp “Smart Summer”

Where: 15 km off Nizhny Novgorod, Green City

When: June, July

Participants: ~200, grade 5+, selected by interview

Educators: teachers, Institute employees, alumni

Activities: lectures, workshops, research activities, excursions, sport

Funding: own funds, grant of Russian Academy of Sciences

Duration: 21 day

Parents pay 50% of cost, the rest is covered by Russian Academy of Sciences

Workshops and independent research with personal tutors

Summer conference: Best projects will be published in collected papers

Excursions to the laboratories outside Nizhny Novgorod region (Moscow, St.Petersburg, Kazan, Caucasus etc.) for winners of summer conference

“Smart Summer”: some details

Excursions to the laboratories of academic institutes and scientific museums in Nizhny Novgorod

Lectures of academic scientists and university professors on physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, math

Summer Workshop: Facts

Where: 15 km off Nizhny Novgorod, Green City

When: August

Participants: ~100, grade 8+, selected by interview /tests

Educators: students, postgraduates, young scientists (most of them – alumni). Important: they do not allow us to rule

Activities: lectures, workshops, labs, seminars, projects, sport

Funding: Institute funds, grant of NGO “Dynasty”, Russian Foundation for Basic Research

Summer workshop in Physics and Math

1-st Workshop was organized in 1988

28-th Workshop will open the doors this August

‘EVERYTHING PASSES, AUGUST REMAINS’

During these 27 years ~1300 students became the alumni of this WorkshopMore than 90 of them actively work in IAP RAS~ 70% choosed higher education in physics, math and ITAll instructors and mentors now are the alumni of Workshop

Ilya, postgraduate of IAP RAS, and his sister Nastya, alumnaof Intel ISEF 2011

Dmitry, student (1998); director of Workshop (2006); deputy director

of Institute (2015)

After summer:School of Young Researchers

School of Young Researchers: Facts

Where: Science and Education Center of the Institute of Applied Physics

When: October - April

Participants: ~60, grade 6+ (selected mostly from summer students and students of ‘PH’ classes)

Educators: Employees of IAP RAS & Nizhny Novgorod State University.

Activities: lectures, workshops, meetings with scientists.

Directions: physics, astronomy, mathematics, computer sciences, chemistry, biology, behavioral sciences

Main activity: Project implementation

Funding: own funds, grants of Academy, NGO “Dynasty”

Junior group: first steps in research work

What is retroinnovation’?

Aims - to find out

• How to plan experiments

• How to make experiments correctly

• How to analyze data and errors

• How to formulate results

• How to make presentation

To study the well-known

object to improve skills and

(moreover) to come up with

something new

Senior group: work in laboratories in real teams of researchers

Introduction into speciality

Visiting laboratories of Institute to choose future project and tutor

AUDITORIUM: Lectures of famous scientists

Organized by NGO “Znanie-NN” and Nizhny Novgorod Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Sciences twice a month

Training courses:

• Computer-aided data processing• Presentation skills

Final Event: April ConferenceSince 2014 – Regional conference

• Oral presentations, 10 min• 8 sections• Judges from IAP RAS and

University• Gives extra points for entering

Nizhny Novgorod UniversityWinners are recommended to take part in ROST Science and Engineering Fair

Russian Landscape: Affiliated fairs of Intel ISEFAffiliated fairs of Intel ISEF

Volga SEF – Volga SEF – ROSTROST, Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny NovgorodROST means ‘GROWTH’ROST means ‘GROWTH’

‘Junior’, Moscow

‘Scientists of the Future’, Moscow

Baltic SEF, St.Peterburg

‘Avangard’, Moscow

‘Step into the Future’, Moscow

Started in 2007 by Nizhny Novgorod Science and Information Center

2008 Affiliated to Intel ISEF; 2010 Expanded to VOLGA Federal District

FOUNDERS AND SPONSORS• Nizhny Novgorod Regional Government (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry and Innovations)• Intel Corporation in Russia• Nizhny Novgorod Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Sciences and Institute of Applied Physics• Institutions and enterprises of Nizhny Novgorod Region and Volga Federal District

Where: Nizhny Novgorod, Science and Information Center

When: November (registration of applications starts September 1)

Participants: ~100, grade 9-11 (preliminary expertise of applications is mandatory; grades 6-8 allowed out of competition)

Judges: employees of Academic Institutions, Universities and Hi-tech Enterprises (at least PhD degree is required). +ISEF Club Judges

Sections: physics & astronomy, mathematics, computer sciences, chemistry, biology, environmental sciences, engineering, robotics

Form of presentation: poster session, 15 minutes per interview

Funding: funds of sponsors, grant of Ministry of Industry

ROST Science and Engineering Fair: Facts

3 stages of ROST SEF

1. Filing applications

Each participant presents application with brief description of project. These abstracts are considered by a group of experts. Each project must meet the criteria corresponding to general Intel ISEF rules. Projects are selected to take part in intramural stage

2. Educational stage

2a. Participants can get advices on presentation of their projects, consult with an expert on scientific component of projects (E-mail, Skype conversation)

2b. Schedule of the first day of Fair includes lectures, visiting laboratories and museums of science and technologies

3. Presentation of projects

Initially both oral presentation and poster session were used. Now we decided to leave only one kind – interview with judges near the poster. 15 min slot is allowed for individual discussion

ROST-2014

Can successful project be implemented at school?What is the role of teacher?

• To find students who are interested in scientific research

• To awake their interest to this kind of activity

• To suggest the topic of study

• To consult students in searching information, in measurements, in explanation of results

• Sometimes: let them be independent

Good idea: connecting with scientific lab to continue studies

Retroinnovations in school projects

• Project should only pursue educational goals

• Some educational journals publish successful projects as an example for organizing research in school (mostly in biology and ecology);

Is retroinnovation good for senior grade students? I think NO.

STEM CENTER

Model is useful to help students and scientists to find each other

Where to implement project?

Who will implement

my project?

STEM center is a non-formal structure within scientific laboratory, institute or university allowing to organize interaction between

students and young scientists

Where: Nizhny Novgorod Downtown

When: September-May, individually - summer time

Participants: >200, grade 5+, selected by interview / tests

Educators: 2-step tutorage (professionals → university students & postgraduates → students)

Activities: educational excursions (>800 students), school research laboratories, STEMC with Institutes and Universities

Specialities: robotics, microelectronics, IT, software design

Funding: budget of regional Ministry of Education

STEM CENTER (continued)

Executive organization: Volga Center for Aerospace Education

Step 1. To find students who want to be involved in scientific research

Main complication: administrators of schools and teachers don’t want to give smart students outside

Solution: to make student’s work attractive for teacher

Cookie to organize STEM center

Step 2. To find labs and mentors ready to waste their time on tinkering with students

Main complication: some scientists and administrators are unfriendly to the presence of students in their laboratories

Solution: to show advantages, sometimes – using administrative facilities

Step 3. To bring mentor and student together and start the project

Main complication: psychological incompatibility or conflict

Solution: to keep track on project implementation

Step 4. Consulting both student and mentor at all stages of their joint work

Complication and solution: to find experts for this purpose

Step 5. The project must be presented at the regional Fair

What You Grow Is What You Have

AFTERWORD

And do not forget that ROST means GROWTH

If you want to find new generation of researchers in your lab

If you hope for scientific thinking of young people regardless their profession

You must put your soul and much efforts into this process

Little by little you will get good results.

Look at them. It is new generation of scientists

Summer Phys-Math Workshop, August 2014, Green City, Nizhny Novgorod