Postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers from across the faculties of Science and Engineering & Design are sought to volunteer as mentors for young people conducting research in the city.
Now in its fifth year, the Young Researchers’ Programme is run by the Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution (BRLSI) with support from the university’s Public Engagement Unit.
The programme matches researchers, working in pairs, with 2 – 3 young people (aged 14+). The researchers act as mentors, supporting the young people to complete a meaningful research project of their choosing and design.
The programme’s overall aim is to develop young people's ability to enquire in a disciplined and creative scientific manner, growing their scientific interests and encouraging them to generate their own research knowledge. Mentors facilitate the young people’s research plans, monitoring their progress and supporting their learning through a range of group activities.
Mentors and young people then present their research and experiences at a mini academic conference on campus at the end of the programme, to which local representatives and communities are invited.
A previous mentor on the programme commented:
In communicating ideas from the world of my research to the young people, I was required to alter my perspective of it and to distill it in understandable terms. This sharpened my own ideas and benefited my work.
And the young people involved equally benefit, with one saying:
Before the Young Researchers’ Programme I didn’t understand how people got PhDs but now I know, so that is something I would like to do when I am older.
The programme involves 9 x 3 hour meetings (taking place on the second Saturday of every month, 1 - 4pm, from October 2018). Training is provided and if you’re a postgraduate researcher, involvement in Young Researchers counts towards your professional development programme.
Applications must be received by Thursday 6 September.