Applications will close on 23 September for this year’s intake of Superstars of STEM – a two-year program run by Australia’s peak body in science and technology that seeks to remove gender assumptions about scientists and increase the visibility of women in STEM.
Created by Science & Technology Australia, the program plans to develop a critical mass of celebrity Australian female scientists and technologists as valuable role models for young women and to progress gender equality in STEM areas, including as portrayed in the media.
The five years of the initiative will equip 150 female scientists and technologists with advanced communication skills and provide opportunities to use these skills in the media, on the stage and when speaking with decision makers.
Successful nominees attend a series of five workshops in the first year, with their second year taking them into the media and to schools and conferences to practise their newly honed skills.
An esteemed selection of mentors is recruited for each intake, which for participants commencing in the inaugural program last year comprised leaders from many sectors, including well-known ABC journalist Sabra Lane.
Participants in the program are selected based on their applications and to ensure there is diversity geographically, and across disciplines and career stages, including at very senior levels. Successful applicants currently in the 2017/18 program include Flinders University’s Professor Justine Smith.