Inspiring the next generation of scientists and medics
Tuesday 26 October 2021
St Catharine’s College is pleased to support the launch of a new widening participation programme in partnership with the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) and with funding from the University of Cambridge Central Admissions’ Office Widening Participation Project Fund.
TheInspiring Scientists at CIMR programme aims to open up the world of university scientific research to inspire students in Year 12 (or equivalent) at a state school/college or academy in Cambridgeshire who are curious about science and research as a future career, but who may have:
reduced opportunities to pursue these interests, or
perceived barriers to application and entry to Cambridge and similar universities that may be more limiting than their potential and actual academic abilities.
CIMR and St Catharine’s are running a free four-day non-residential work experience programme on 15–18 February 2022. The first three days will be at CIMR on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus to give students first-hand experience of a biomedical research environment within the University of Cambridge and the opportunity to learn more about how CIMR research can lead to new treatments. The final day is based at St Catharine’s in central Cambridge, with interactive sessions offering advice on making applications to selective universities and insights into life as a Cambridge student.
Professor Stefan Marciniak (2011), Fellow of St Catharine’s and Professor of Respiratory Science at CIMR, commented, “I am delighted that the Inspiring Scientists at CIMR programme is benefiting from the support of St Catharine’s. Both CIMR and St Catharine’s share the common goal of widening access to higher education in STEM. Several of the Institute’s PhD students are members of St Catharine’s – including Nikita Zubkov, Eimear Rutherford, Max Schwiening and Haoyang Ying in my own lab – and this presents an ideal opportunity to work together to offer an enriching experience over four days that will help to inspire the next generation of scientists and medics.”
Left–right: St Catharine's students Max Schwiening, Eimear Rutherford and Nikita Zubkov with Professor Marciniak at their CIMR laboratory that a group of Year 12 students will be able to experience in February 2022 (credit: Jenny Dickens)
CIMR is a biomedical research institute that is part of the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cambridge. CIMR’s mission is to determine the molecular mechanisms of disease to advance human health, with a focus on translation between biological research and clinical applications. The Institute has 24 research teams studying how normal biological processes inside cells can go wrong during infections or because of rare genetic changes. By understanding these processes and the molecules involved (particularly proteins), CIMR aims to discover better treatments for diseases and enable better outcomes for patients.
Places on the February 2022 programme are limited to twelve. Organisers are particularly interested in receiving applications from students who may be interested in studying Natural Sciences or Medicine at degree level.
