ReachSci STEM Mini-PhD Programme

Join our virtual intensive research training programme to become an outstanding researcher

Who is the programme designed for:

Mentors: Early career researchers, or faculty members from a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) related- field, ideally a researcher who is currently doing research at their university.

Participants: A team of 2-6 bachelor's or master's degree students who are planning to conduct STEM-based research in their local and current university from October to November, 2023. The research project can be lab or office-based (reviews of any kind are not accepted). The team needs to have a supervisor confirmed to mentor them.

The programme helps you develop:

  • Research project originality.

  • Research project planning.

  • Designing and conducting robust experiments.

  • Manuscript writing.

  • Full research independence.

  • Critical analysis of self and others.

  • Data analysis and figure making.

  • Oral and written presentations.

Mentors (Supervisor):

  • Receive a Cambridge University ReachSci Society Research Access Champion badge and a certificate.

  • Access all our events, workshops, and future opportunities.

  • Join ReachSci’s global community and network with researchers around the world.

  • Gain ReachSci Research Access Champion Badge and certificate to recognize your impact.

Participants:

How is the programme useful for you?

ReachSci Online STEM Mini-PhD Programme

The programme consists of eight intensive weeks of research training and assignments.

The lectures will be available online to watch on Monday of every week, and then the team will work on their weekly assignments to apply what they learned, on Friday of every week we have the feedback sessions, and it is required to attend at least one feedback session to present the assignment and get feedback from us and from the other teams. The feedback sessions will take place on Fridays at 7-9 a.m. and 7-9 p.m. (UK time) from October 16th to December 10th.

Below is the weekly programme structure:

Week 1: Basics of research presentations

Week 2: Research project design

Week 3: Research proposal and introduction

Week 4: Methods and results prediction

Week 5: Results and statistics

Week 6: Discussion and fundamentals

Week 7: Presentation

Week 8: Revision

Expectations and duties

Mentors (research project supervisors):

  • Support the participants through the programme by providing feedback and resources. The programme does not provide field-specific feedback to participants, and all the field-specific feedback to the participants is expected to be given by the mentor who is also expected to be an expert in that field.

  • Supervise the participants and assess their work weekly.

  • We expect a weekly commitment, starting from September until the students publish their work, of at least 1-2 hours per week.

Participants:

  • Must be able to participate in the programme from October to December, 2023. The programme will consist of weekly online sessions, weekly assignments, and weekyl peer-review feedback sessions. The teaching part of the programme ends with the early manuscript submission to our team and the official end of the programme for each team is when their manuscript is submitted to a Scopus-Indexed journal and accepted.

  • Must have a mentor during the programme to help with feedback and research project.

  • Must be able to do all the weekly assignments and submit a high-quality research manuscript by the end of the programme.

  • Must be interested to continue the work until the research project is published (It can take a year from the programme start date)

  • Must be interested to present their accomplished research work at least one conference other than the ReachSci conference.

Requirements to join the programme:

  • The research project topic must revolve around an area of research in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

  • It must be a novel research project and it can be an office-based or lab-based research study. The research must be primary, reviews of any kind are not accepted. 

  • To be eligible, participants must apply as a team of 2-6 members and all the team members should be current Bachelor's and Master's students.

  • The participant must have already confirmed a supervisor to mentor them before applying to the programme.

  • The participant must be able to attend and watch fully all the online lectures, do all the assignments, and attend at least one feedback session a week to present their work and get feedback from October 16th to December 10th.

Interested teams can apply now

Deadline: September 30th, 2023 at 23:59 PM BST (UK time)

Timeline for participants:

1. Application submission deadline (September 30th).

2. ReachSci confirms the selection of participants (October 9th).

3. Programme starts (October 16th).

4. Training ends (December 10th).

5. Submit a manuscript to a good journal within a year from the programme starting date.

6. Present at a conference, other than the ReachSci conference, within a year from the programme starting date.