2019 International Science Opportunities for Year 12 and Year 13 students
New Zealand students can apply to attend international science and technology events, supported by a Talented School Students Travel Award. Applications close Thursday 14 March 2019.
Students selected by Royal Society Te Apārangi for these opportunities will be supported, in general, for up to 70% of their international travel and registration costs by the Talented School Students Travel Award fund. There are two opportunities listed that are fully funded.
To be considered, all students must complete the 2019 International Science Opportunities for Students Application Form [DOC 56.00 kb].
Students applying to the fully funded opportunities for either a Māori student to attend the London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF), or to attend the Dr Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute, must also complete different forms - links to these can be found in the stated opportunities below.
Schools cannot nominate more than four students in total, but those students nominated can apply for one or for as many opportunities as they would like to by ticking the boxes on the application form.
London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF) | London, UK
24 July – 7 August 2019
Year 13 students only
Six students will be selected by Royal Society Te Apārangi to attend the London International Youth Science Forum, which takes place over two weeks. This is a residential event and students will stay at Imperial College, London. The theme for LIYSF in 2019 is “Science at the Interface”. Participants will attend lectures and demonstrations from leading scientists, visit research centres, scientific institutions and world class laboratories and universities.
USA International Space Camp | Huntsville, Alabama, USA
Early July 2019
Year 12 and Year 13 students
Four students will be selected to participate in this international gathering and experience at the Advanced Space School Programme at Huntsville, Alabama. Successful students will be immersed in a programme that is designed to promote space science and exploration. Activities will include hands-on astronaut training, as well as learning about the mental, emotional and physical demands astronauts must face. Students will be accompanied by a teacher for this particular experience.
The Professor Harry Messel International Science Camp | Sydney, Australia
7 - 20 July 2019
Year 12 and Year 13 students
The 40th Professor Harry Messel International Science School (ISS) will be held at the University of Sydney.
The event celebrates and honours excellence in young people who display an interest and aptitude for science, and aims to encourage these students to pursue careers in science and related areas. Around 140 ISS scholars attend from all over the world.
For two weeks the scholars attend inspiring lectures by world-leading researchers, perform hands-on experiments, participate in scientific seminars and workshops, and enjoy and active social programme.
XLAB International Science Camp | Gottingen, Germany
5 August – 2 September 2019
Year 13 students only
Royal Society Te Apārangi will select two students for this four-week intensive science programme. The camp is for interested high school students, undergraduate college and university students. Courses are offered in biology, chemistry and physics and supervised by scientists from XLAB, the University of Göttingen and affiliated research organisations.
The students perform hands-on experiments in small groups of two or three. Demonstrations are limited only to highly sophisticated experiments, eg. the use of NMR, X-Ray and others.
On weekends and in the evenings a cultural and social programme are arranged. Social contacts among students of different cultural background are as important as experimental work and scientific learning.
Summer Research School in Mathematics and Informatics | Bulgaria
July/august 2019
Yr13 students only
SRS is a summer research school for high achieving teenagers, with a pronounced interest in the fields of mathematics, informatics and ICT. It combines the best practices from leading programmes for high school students in the field such as RSI (organised by CEE and MIT) with the unique opportunities of a dynamic small-scale learning environment.
The students will work with scientific mentors, traditionally stemming from the Bulgarian Academy of Science, and guests from international research universities in the fields of mathematics and informatics. Each student will focus on a personal research topic, coming from a challenging but viable field such as Combinatorics, Number Theory, Algebra, Computing, Genetic Algorithms, Modelling and others.
The programme includes lectures on advanced scientific problems and modern technologies, meetings with representatives of the industry and different academic institutions, soft skills training and discussions on important issues such as ethics in science, responsible research and innovation.
European Space Camp | Norway
8 - 15 August 2019
Year 13 students only
The camp is held at the Andøya Space Centre (ASC) in Norway, and is a collaboration between European Space Camp (ESC) and the Norwegian Centre for Space-Related Education (NAROM).
Students who apply for this opportunity must be obtaining excellent grades in maths and science and have very good written oral communication skills. Students really do need to be passionate and wanting to pursue study in this area of science in the future.
During the space camp, students go through every aspect of a rocket campaign, including building an internal circuitry for a rocket, telemetry, and launching a full-fledged sounding rocket at the end of the week. Participants attend lectures from some of Europe's top scientists and researchers on topics as diverse as the LHC at CERN to the physics behind the Northern Lights. At the end of an unforgettable week, a multitude of social activities await the participants, including a sea safari, mountain hiking and swimming under the midnight sun.
FEAST (Future Experiences in Agriculture, Science and Technology) | Brisbane , Australia
1 - 5 July 2019
Year 12 and Year 13 students
Future Experiences in Agriculture, Science and Technology (FEAST) is a five-day residential programme at the University of Queensland designed to inspire and inform high school students about the range of exciting and rewarding science careers in the agriculture, animal, plant and food sectors.
This event is particularly suited to those students who are achieving well in the sciences and perhaps have a desire to study agricultural science or veterinary science in the future.
Why attend FEAST?
- test drive university and meet other students with similar interests
- explore science disciplines through hands-on activities and workshops
- attend industry run sessions reinforcing the many exciting career outcomes on offer to graduates
- experience living in the Halls of Residence and take part in fun social and sporting activities
- chat with current university students and staff and have all your questions answered
Youth ANZAAS (Australia, New Zealand Association for Advancement of Science) | Australia
Early July (date to be confirmed)
Year 12 and Year 13 students
Royal Society Te Apārangi will select six students to experience a five-day programme together with up to fifty Australian secondary school students. Students that are selected will visit top scientific and technological institutions and participate in a hands-on programme.
Asia Science Camp | Guangdong, China
28 July 3 August
Year 12 and Year 13 students
Royal Society Te Apārangi will select five students to attend the 11th Asia Science Camp in Manado, Indonesia. The programme will involve lectures from Nobel Laureates and will include science workshops, discussion sessions, excursions and social activities. The group of New Zealand students will be accompanied by a teacher.
National Youth Science Forum | Canberra, Australia
15 January to Saturday 26 January 2020
Year 12 students only
The National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) is a 12-day residential programme for students entering Year 13 in 2020 who are passionate about science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
The NYSF programme aims to show participants the wide variety of study and career options in STEM fields.
Fully funded opportunity:
Dr. Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute | Rehovot, Israel
1 - 26 July 2019
Year 13 students only (please note it is important that students are aged 18 as at 1 July 2019)
A unique and fantastic opportunity has been provided for one Year 13 student to attend the 51st Dr Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute in Rehovot, Israel in July.
This is a fully funded opportunity funded by the Raye Freedman Trust which will cover travel, accommodation and some spending money.
The ‘Bessie programme’, as it is more fondly known, brings together approximately 80 highly talented senior secondary students from all over the world to experience the challenges and rewards of scientific research. During the three-week programme, the students spend time conducting research in the campus labs. The work combines the exploration of problems in the field of biology, chemistry, physics and mathematical and computer science, and in instruction of sophisticated laboratory equipment, advanced computers, a particle accelerator, and lasers. Students will stay at the Laub international Science Youth Village with meals supplied by the Institute restaurants. Students are required to be mature, resilient and easy going, and need to relate well to other students but also academic staff.
For students applying for this particular opportunity please complete these two forms. Application Form [DOC 56.00 kb]2019 and Bessie F. Lawrence Application Form 2019 [DOC 529.50 kb]. Both forms need to be sent to Debbie Woodhall by 14 March 2019.
Fully funded opportunity:
For Māori students to attend the London International Youth Science Forum
26 July – 7 August
Year 13 students only
This fantastic opportunity has been sponsored by the London International Youth Science Forum and the Talented School Students Travel Award. For Māori students that are applying for this particular opportunity, please complete the application form [DOC 52.50 kb] [DOC 52.50 kb]. The criteria for this particular opportunity are as follows:
- The applicant must identify as Māori and be a New Zealand citizen or have permanent New Zealand residency.
- The applicant must be studying at least two science subjects and attaining at least a merit or preferably an excellent grade, especially in the science learning areas.
- The applicant should have a genuine interest in science and be considering studying science/engineering/technology at a tertiary level.
- The applicant does not need to fluent in Te Reo but must have a good understanding of the language and also have good knowledge of Tikanga and be confident enough to share some of this knowledge at the London International Youth Science Forum
- The applicant must have very good oral and communication skills.
For those applying to the above opportunities, please supply all material by 5pm, Thursday 14 March 2019to:
Debbie Woodhall
Royal Society Te Apārangi
PO Box 598
Wellington 6140
Additional notes
Most of these opportunities are not teacher accompanied as these events are quite structured and fully supervised. However, if applicants and their parents/guardians feel uncomfortable with these conditions, we would strongly advise you not to apply. Furthermore, if more than one student is to be selected for a particular opportunity, then we strongly recommend that these students travel together.
