U of T Adventures In Science Program

Good afternoon SHSM students,

We are currently recruiting participants for our U of T science mentorship program, and would love for you to apply to join us! Please read below for more information about AIS, and to access the quick application form if you are interested in joining!

Quick overview of the program: Adventures In Science (AIS) is a unique mentorship program in which we explore science communication together in its many forms. As a high school mentee, you will be grouped with several other high school students and mentored by U of T medical/graduate students throughout the academic year. From October to April, we meet virtually, once a month on a Wednesday, for our mentorship sessions.

Monthly mentorship sessions: This year, our mentorship sessions will take place virtually over a secure video platform, and we are so excited for what we have in store for you. The purpose of these sessions is to develop your skills in scientific communication, teamwork, and teaching, and are a lot of fun! Each mentorship session will be 1.5–2 hours and will start with an awesome interactive presentation from guest speakers and/or your mentors. We have a jam-packed year exploring science in many different forms. Here is our tentative schedule:

When we’ll meet	Our topic of the day	What we will be doing together!
Wednesday, October 28th	Science from mentors!	Get to know your mentors and their work! All graduate and medical student mentors will have the opportunity to show you around their labs, demonstrate some research techniques, or discuss their work, through a fun and engaging series of presentations.
Wednesday, November 18th	Science, distilled	Where can we go to find reliable, accessible science information? How do writers and researchers distill complex findings to the level of their specific audience? We will touch on these topics in this introductory session, and practice these skills throughout the entire program.
Wednesday, December 9th	Science as art	A picture is worth a thousand words. We will learn directly from biomedical illustrators about how to turn an idea or concept into a piece of art, and get our creative juices flowing. The second half of this session will mark the beginning of your own longitudinal science communication project.
Wednesday, January 20th	Science, disseminated	How should science be communicated to the public? In a world full of all kinds of information, how can we tell what is factual? Science communicators who use social media or other publicly-disseminated platforms will discuss how they present bite-sized science to a very online community.
Wednesday, February 17th	Science, considered	Science doesn’t exist in a vacuum, but rather in a societal space that should be navigated using ethical and moral principles. You will hear from individuals who discuss the intersection between science and ethical decision-making.
Wednesday, March 10th	Science for computers	Learn about the world of programming and how scientists use it through an interactive presentation from a coding expert. You will also get the chance to design and run your own code to see these skills in action!
Wednesday, April 7th	Science from you!	This session is devoted to showcasing your own longitudinal science communication project. Share your near-finished work with your fellow AIS mentorship groups in a low stakes, supportive environment and receive helpful feedback before the April 14th deadline.
Wednesday, April 28th	Science perspectives	Are you curious about the lives and work of past mentees, prominent scientists, and practicing physicians? Hear directly from faculty scientists and medical doctors from the University of Toronto and from AIS alumni who are actively pursuing science through our special panel session, and join us in wrapping-up our year together!

After the interactive presentation, the smaller mentorship groups will then enter into (breakout room-like) discussions to brainstorm ideas and develop their longitudinal project/lesson.

Longitudinal project/lesson: AIS is a volunteer program that also enables you to give back to your community! This mentorship program will culminate in the creation of a science presentation (in the form of a virtual lesson, science podcast, pre-recorded science video, etc.) that can be shared with elementary school students around Toronto. You will be guided by your mentors, and most of the work toward this project/lesson will occur during the mentorship sessions throughout the year. These presentations are the accumulation of a lot of hard work and the manifestation of the reciprocal mentorship that takes place in our program. Each year, we are blown away by the creativity our mentorship groups demonstrate in their projects, and are excited to see what science projects you will develop this year!

Other cool reasons to join AIS:
• Help develop your skills in science communication
• Learn from mentorships with medical and graduate students
• Learn from experts in the field through our guest speaker presentations
• Boost your post-secondary applications

If this program sounds like something in which you would be interested, please feel free to sign up using the link below:

Apply to become a mentee! ⟸ link to quick Google Form for SHSM students

In case the embedded link doesn’t work, you can click HERE: https://forms.gle/EsfjuxzFj1Zq671k8

The deadline to apply is October 16th!

Once again, we are so thrilled that you are interested in joining us this year. After we close registration on October 16th, we will let you know whether we were able to accept you into the program and/or share more details. We hope to see you soon! If you have any questions, please email us at utadventuresinscience@gmail.com.

Megan and Matthaeus
AIS Co-Directors, 2020–2021
utadventuresinscience@gmail.com