- Registration deadline: July 20
- Abstract deadline: July 27
- Contact: BRITE@bcm.edu
The BRITE High School Student Symposium welcomes all high school students who want to explore biotechnology and biomedical research at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston’s Texas Medical Center. The event will be Aug. 10.
The program offers interactive scientific sessions led by high school students who’ve conducted their own research. While students have the option to submit an abstract and present a poster or PowerPoint presentation, it is not mandatory to do so — everyone is welcome to participate. Through the symposium, students will gain insights into scientific conference procedures, stay updated on biotechnology advancements and learn about crafting scientific abstracts and presentations.
Registration is free for all students and will include a one-day event featuring keynote speeches with the opportunity to submit an abstract and present a poster or oral presentation. Remote attendance is possible but will be assessed based on the student’s interests.
All students will be contacted prior to the symposium regarding parking instructions and other details. Students planning to submit an abstract will receive communication regarding abstract format and submission links. While students will collaborate with their mentors to prepare abstracts and poster / oral presentations, we will also host meetings via Zoom to assist with abstract construction and address any questions they may have.
ASPIRATION Program: June 18 to Aug. 10
In addressing the challenges of secondary school STEMM education, our innovative AI-guided Scientist-mentored Primary Literature Adaptation for STEMM Education (ASPIRATION) program aims to leverage AI-guided tools to help students comprehend complex scientific articles and produce simplified multimedia stories, incorporating text, images, videos and other elements.
Students may apply and attend this special eight-week summer program for free. The estimated time per week will be 10-20 hours with time spent on Zoom meetings with mentors and remote self-study time. The virtual program will be June 18 to Aug. 10.
Through collaborative efforts between scientists and mentored high school students, the ASPIRATION program establishes a model for AI-guided clarifications of complex scientific literature into understandable content to create a product tailored to students with varying levels of literacy. These resources, designed for both public and educational settings, serve as a bridge to foster greater STEM literacy and contribute to more informed communities.
Mentoring Program and Literature Adaptation: BCM BRITE will recruit and pair high school students with Baylor College of Medicine scientist-mentors. These high school students will undergo training in scientific literature comprehension and interpretation, along with training in AI-guided tools for literature adaptation. Students will work with a mentor one-on-one to actually translate a selected scientific article into simplified language and create an easy to understand product. The eight-week summer program will include well-defined goals and materials.
The goal is to create a user-friendly multimedia platform for AI-guided and adapted primary scientific literature. This platform will incorporate simplified text, easy-to- understand figures / images with videos / storytelling to aid comprehension.
Students will have the opportunity to present their work at the BRITE high school student symposium on Aug. 10.
Deadline to apply is May 25, and selected students will be notified by June 2.
Application closed for 2024. Please visit our website for future opening dates.
