PhD Career Support Group (www.stempeers.org) -A US Non Profit 501(c)3 was founded by the alumni of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India but is an institution agnostic organization. The primary aim of this group is to buildup NETWORK among scientists and
engineers and entrepreneurs. In a highly competitive world, network becomes extremely important to determine one's career growth. Not only careers but an emotional support system is also extremely crucial in a world where the dynamics of life changes very fast.
It is a known fact that most of the STEM researchers won’t be absorbed in academia as faculties. Over the years we have realized that a large number of STEM researchers and trainees have not been made aware of why and how additional training is required and that could be immensely useful in helping them achieve a sustainable career. The foundation provides educational, training, and mentoring platforms for various resources and opportunities for the STEM researchers to look beyond bench-science careers.
Imagine a world where all of us have mentors who can tell us what might or might not be a good idea. We believe there is enormous potential in people that go unrecognized or wasted by sheer lack of good mentors and mentoring. We have developed a platform where selfless mentors offer free mentoring to those who need it in academia, in job searches, in work-life balance, and more. Want to be a mentor or want a mentor? Connect with us here.
Work Life Balance
What should we prioritize in our career or life and what we actually prioritize can reveal a lot on our work life balance. We believe that happiness in life and career, even though they are two completely different things, are connected. Based on implementing design principles, and a japanese age old concept called ikigai, our goal is to educate the community and the world to help develop a balanced approach towards life. We think understanding the concept of having a balanced lifestyle is the key to becoming successful in every endeavor.
STEM Education
Scientific renaissance that started in and around the 16th century and peaked around 18th century has resulted in the world we currently live in. Undoubtedly the explosion of science and technology has an impact on everything we see today. Its role in shaping the future too is unquestionable. The path to a sustainable world has to happen through STEM education. We have developed and nurtured several platforms such as ClubSciWri, The Science Times, and the Stempeers Newsletter to help innovate contents that foster STEM education. We are constantly innovating science communication media to spread STEM education and at the same time develop a network of STEM educators who can educate future citizens of the world even in the remotest of places.
Science Policy
Science is intimately connected with policy development and implementations that can have an enormous impact on the world development. Through our massive STEM network and resources, we aim to create a collective voice that can communicate important policy decisions and their impact globally. We are committed to work and collaborate with policymakers from all over the world to help liaison with various governments and communities to educate them on how policies can help shape a better world for us.
Ethics in Science
Science is plagued with ethical issues, and it’s not even news. We have realized that a major lapse in ethics is in educating the scientists and students on the nuances of scientific ethics. We believe that , unless scientific misconduct is treated as a failure to educate the personnel involved in the practise of science, we cannot eradicate. We are developing tools and educational contents that will help educate future students and researchers on science ethics. Through our network of mentors, members can seek help when they are not sure whether a research method can fall under the definition of scientific misconduct, or how to design and implement stringent methods that meet ethical standards.
Women in Science
We live in an era where we see increasing representation of women in medicine, law, and business. 74% of STEM workforce in the world is comprised of males (Read here). Research has now shown that there are several environmental and social barriers for women representation in the STEM. Stereotypes, Gender bias, a climate of science and engineering in colleges are some of the factors that have been attributed to the poor representation. Male dominated workforce has also been attributed to a lower representation of women in the STEM which requires considerable effort from women just to be heard and respected. Our community, on the other hand, boasts of nearly 50 % women membership many of whom have volunteered to educate the community on the issue. We strive to be a community that would like to hear more from women in the STEM and help promote awareness of the gender gap in STEM. The group raises various issues that are faced by women scientists but were not discussed at a community level to impart education. If you want to be a part of the program write to us here.
Building Tomorrow's Leaders
We believe that a lot of the uncertainties and problems we see in the world today stem from lack of leadership. Perhaps no other field suffers from a lack of leadership training like STEM researchers and workers. Through our various platforms and initiatives, we attempt to build a mechanism to create tomorrow’s STEM leaders who can inspire communities surrounding them, and bring about changes that have an impact in the communities they lead. Our goal is to create leaders in small communities and networks. We believe, in time, these communities and leaders will have an enormous impact on our future. If you want to know about our leadership programs, write to us here.
Social Entrepreneurship
PhD CSG and STEMPeers are nothing but social entrepreneurship platforms that foster to create more and more social entrepreneurs who wants to bring changes to a system. All our platforms and initiatives are geared to help nurture and promote entrepreneurship. By encouraging a culture of social entrepreneurship, our goal is to help shape a sustainable world. Interested to know more? Just write to us.
Fellowship and Awards
We plan to create fellowship programs and awards to promote our mission statement and vision. Click here (http://www.stempeers.org/csgfellowship/) for more details.
