SiS Initiatives

Science Club
Science Club, a partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago, engages middle school students in science through fun, hands-on activities. Northwestern graduate students and serve as mentors, guiding small groups of club members weekly through the initiative's curriculum. The project is supported by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) A new 10-week session of Science Club begins every fall, winter, and spring quarter. Each session culminates with an event, such as a science fair, where club members present their work to their families and friends. Now in its seventh quarter, Science Club serves approximately 40 students at the Robert R. McCormick site in the Uptown neighborhood. For more information on Science Club, including how to become a mentor, please visit their website or see our Get Involved page.

Junior Science Club
Adapted for younger students, Junior Science Club engages second through fourth-grade members of the Boys & Girls Club in fun, science-themed activities and demonstrations. The new project was piloted at the McCormick site in spring of 2010 with four sessions led by members of the University’s Undergraduate Chemistry Council. If you are a science or engineering undergraduate and would like to participate, please visit our Get Involved page.

ScienceRide
The University’s after-hours shuttle service, SafeRide, is the setting for a mobile science quiz show with Northwestern undergraduates. As they travel to their destination, riders have the opportunity to answer science-related questions and win prizes. The pilot episode premiered in winter of 2010 on the Science in Society Blog, followed by the first official episode this past fall. Look for new episodes, produced in conjunction with the Weinberg School Multimedia Learning Center and the School of Communication’s Department of Radio, Television and Film, on the blog this spring. ScienceRide is supported with funds from the Office for Research and International Institute for Nanotechnology.

Science in Society E-Magazine
Science in Society (SiS) is an educational e-magazine that brings Northwestern research to the community. Launched in 2009, it features a calendar of events at the University designed for the lay audiences, multimedia from past events, interviews with leading scientists, original articles written by faculty, students, and staff about their work, and the Science in Society Blog, with perspectives from scientists and non-scientists alike.

SiS offers the public an insider’s look, from the researcher’s perspective, at the exciting work taking place in Northwestern labs. Additionally, it provides faculty, students and staff authors and bloggers with a platform to share their work and ideas, as well as a unique training opportunity with one-on-one editorial assistance. If you are interested in writing an article about your work for the magazine or serving as a blog contributor, visit our Get Involved page for more information.