The National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) Next Step programs kicked off in Brisbane and Canberra in April.
“Our Next Step program aims to promote our partner organisations through laboratory and site visits in capital cities across Australia. They give the NYSF students a better understanding of the facilities available at the universities who partner with the NYSF. We also aim to show the students the kinds of jobs they can aspire to by visiting our corporate partner sites,” says NYSF Chief Executive Officer Dr Damien Pearce.
The Brisbane program visited The University of Queensland (UQ), The Edge at the State Library of Queensland, the Pharmacy Australia Centre for Excellence (PACE) at UQ, Queensland Museum and UQ Engineering.
Next Step Brisbane - Lachie Dowling
Social activities allowed students to catch up with friends from the January Sessions as well as an opportunity to meet with the Brisbane chapter of the Young Scientists Australia for dinner and a trivia night.
Next Step Brisbane - Olivia Jones and Jessica Heazlett
Canberra Next Steppers visited the CSIRO Black Mountain Discovery Centre, followed by a picnic lunch in the Parliamentary Triangle before visiting the Ian Potter Foundation Technology Learning Centre. The Australian National University’s (ANU) Mount Stromlo Observatory hosted dinner with an opportunity for stargazing. Students spent their final day in lab and site visits presented at the ANU.
Next Step Canberra - L-R - Montana Coombes, Emma Croker, Adam Ehrke, Morgan Kikkawa, Sanna Wei and Kate Swann
Manager of NYSF Programs Madeline Cooper says, “The NYSF experience doesn’t finish at the end of January. Next Step gives students the opportunity to continue the friendships they made on session while seeing cutting-edge research and facilities outside of Canberra. We’re so thankful to the organisations who give their time to host students during these visits. We were able to put together fantastic experiences in Brisbane and Canberra due to the generosity of these hosts, and there’s still Melbourne and Sydney to come!”