Through our Virtual Placement Programme, Year 12 student Thariq, from London has been getting to know STEM professionals, gaining valuable insight from leading researcher’s webinars, and been mentored by a PhD student from UCL.
“I initially heard about In2scienceUK through a friend. I was really intrigued by the goal of In2scienceUK and I thought it was admirable.
The mentoring side of In2scienceUK, and how the mentors and lecturers treat you almost like a peer, makes this programme different from the other options out there.”
Before joining In2scienceUK, Thariq had struggled to find someone like-minded to share his passion for astrophysics with. We teamed him up with mentor Maria Niculescu-Duvaz, a PhD student from the Galactic Astrophysics Research Group at UCL, who spends her time studying supernova explosions. “I enjoyed the fact that I was talking to someone who is passionate about astrophysics as much as myself, and her explanation of the work she does sounded so fascinating.”
Thariq has also had insight into University-level science by attending our researcher-led webinars “The lecturers are experts in their discipline and the tasks they give are nothing like anything I’ve done before…”
Thariq’s future aspirations are to go into teaching and research, and we’re over the moon that the In2scienceUK Virtual Placement Programme has helped in his first steps towards attaining these goals.
We’re extremely thankful to our partners, including UCL, and their Access and Widening Participation Team, who support students like Thariq.
Click here to learn more about how our partner university UCL’s Access and Widening Participation team helps support others like Thariq.