The YSI Times Ed. 6 - A Thrilling Summer on the Horizon
Youth STEM Initiative's summer schedule is an exciting one filled with amazing programs and new initiatives
As we approach the summer, we take a glimpse into what’s on the horizon over the next few months with Youth STEM Initiative in this edition of The YSI Times. And we’re telling you, it is shaping up to be a summer of exciting programs and events worth signing up for.
Over the last few weeks, we have been planning and preparing for our two biggest programs this summer: our Independent Research Group scientific research mentorship program with Research Girl and part 2 of STEM Quest in partnership with MedXplorer. Along with these incredible programs, we have our weekend study sessions on Discord, upcoming webinars, and even a new initiative in the works 👀
Keep reading to find out!
STEM Quest Part 2
To start with, we have once again partnered with Pakistani healthcare company MedXplorer to launch part two of STEM Quest, a three-week research workshop series we originally hosted in November/December 2024 that consisted of eight speakers from around the world who presented on topics ranging from biostatistics and evidence-based medicine to research grant-writing and the applications of AI in medical diagnostics (a full recap of it can be found here).
This time we’re having more presenters from Youth STEM Initiative and a greater diversity of topics, broadening the scope of the program from purely medical/healthcare topics to encompass more fields across STEM. And the sessions will be more engaging and interactive, so you won’t want to miss out!
Just a glimpse into our speaker list so far and the topics that will be covered…
- (YSI Researcher and Dental Student from Tunisia): LinkedIn for STEM Students
- (YSI Researcher from Moldova): How Do We Perceive Reality? - The inside story of an incomplete answer
- (YSI Researcher and Chapter Leader for Germany): Fundamentals of Machine Learning
Lamia Mchirgui (YSI Researcher and Medical Student from Tunisia): Coping with burnout as a medical student + practical strategies that worked from personal experience
Rosario De Feo (YSI Researcher and Medical Student from Italy): Exploring Public Health and Prevention
Uzra Kulsum: CTRL+P: Print Me A Brain! 3D Bioprinting and Beyond
Nuha Mohideen (UAE Youth Ambassador for Nature and Student at Monash University, Australia): A conversation on conversation
Amirali Banani: Why Do Our Emotions So Often Get The Best of Us? - A deep dive into the emotional brain
The sessions will be taking place between June 13 and July 1, with full details to be provided in the next 10 days. Stay tuned!
A huge thank you to Abeer Iftikhar, YSI Researcher and UAE Chapter Leader, and Muhammad Aadil Abbas, Founder & CEO of MedXplorer, for planning another STEM Quest, as well as to our Head of Research,
, and Dr. Abida for helping organize part two of this series!Summer 2025 Independent Research Group
Our biggest program this summer!
The Summer 2025 Independent Research Group (IRG) mentorship program, which we’re running in partnership with Research Girl, is designed for students who are ready to take the next big step in their scientific journey by pursuing an independent research project—outside the walls of a traditional academic lab.
This fully remote program runs this summer from mid-June to mid-August, and we’ll be pairing each student with an experienced researcher who will be their mentor throughout—guiding them through the research process and offering mentorship, structure, and support for their project along the way. Whether you’re looking to write your first research paper, present your work at a virtual conference in front of a global audience, or simply test a scientific hypothesis you’ve been thinking about for years, this program is a golden chance to bring your research idea to life.
We’ve received around 150 mentee applications and 30 mentor applications from around the world, and we’ll be reviewing applications and releasing the results very soon with the next steps!
Mentor and mentee applications close today at 23:59 Eastern Standard Time (EST), so make sure to get your applications in by then!
We are super excited for the launch of this incredible scientific research mentorship program in a few weeks and thank everyone who has applied so far. Our goal with IRG is to inspire students globally who are passionate about science to discover more about a topic they’re passionate about, master the research process through practice and personal mentorship, satisfy their curiosity, and ultimately develop the skills that will help them excel in their future research endeavours as the scientists of tomorrow.
A massive thank you to Mia Soviero, Founder & CEO of Research Girl, and to Cesca for making this all possible and for helping plan everything as we prepare to begin the program next month!
More info about IRG can be found on our website.
New events (and initiatives)
This summer doesn’t just entail exciting programs at Youth STEM Initiative, but also new activities and initiatives that bring the team together, promote learning and collaboration, and further strengthen the YSI community.
Discord Study Sessions
Cesca came up with a brilliant idea to create study sessions where YSI members can join calls to study in a chill space online with peers, work together on projects, and learn more about each other. This led to the creation of our new Discord server, where all of this will take place!
The perks?
💡 You get to study in a group with your peers
💡 Ask questions, get support from each other on assignments and projects
💡 A chill virtual space to bond and learn about each other’s work
Join Youth STEM Initiative Scholars on Discord to stay updated with upcoming study sessions and other events! So far we have two weekend study sessions scheduled in June with the following dates/times:
Sunday, June 8 at 14:00 GMT hosted by Cesca
Saturday, June 14 at 17:00 GMT hosted by Amirali
Feel free to attend these sessions in our server by joining the study-sesh-room voice channel at the scheduled times <3
Webinars
We are planning a few exciting webinars for this summer, following last summer’s webinar bonanza that featured graduate student researchers and medical doctors from top institutions globally. The details for these webinars will be posted in the coming weeks, so stay tuned and RSVP for them once they’ve been scheduled!
Also, check out the slides from our recent webinar last Saturday with Sara Vargas here.
A new initiative 👀🎙️
Don’t want to make you too excited, but we may or may not be planning a new podcast initiative for YSI where members can get together to discuss fascinating topics across STEM, scientific projects they’re working on, recent breakthroughs and innovations that are turning heads, personal STEM-related experiences worth sharing, etc.
But that’s about as much as I’ll spoil for now…more details will be out soon ;)
Thank you for reading the sixth edition of The YSI Times! Subscribe to our newsletter on LinkedIn and here on Substack to stay updated with everything at Youth STEM Initiative <3
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