What is the STEM Incubator Program?
The STEM Incubator is a cohort-based summer research program specifically developed at Amherst College in 2019 to educate and mentor first-generation or low-income students without previous STEM research experience.
Mission and Vision
The mission of the STEM Incubator is to develop research-ready sophomores through a dynamic onboarding platform that seeks to lower the barrier of entry for students to early-career research experiences through a focus on hands-on exploration across STEM disciplines and on increasing feelings of self-efficacy, student agency, and belonging.
Through this work, we intend to establish Amherst College as a nationally recognized center for training undergraduate students for STEM careers.
Goals
Equip students with the professional and technical skills needed for entry into STEM research.
Increase students’ confidence in their ability to perform in STEM fields.
Strengthen career preparedness and broad awareness of STEM career pathways.
Connect students with faculty, staff, and academic resources at Amherst College.
Establish and reinforce cohorts to promote student success beyond the program.
Who is the STEM Incubator Program for?
STEM Incubator is for students who are exploring their interests in STEM fields. Rather than focusing on one specific area of research, STEM Incubator is a hands-on, dynamic way to learn about a variety of majors, types of scientific research, and individual self-discovery.
Our Learning Goals
Content
Expose students to current research topics in chemistry, biology, and data science, emphasizing interdisciplinary research topics, including drug delivery, nanotechnology, and biostatistics.
Relationships
Forge strong relationships between students and professors who can serve as mentors. Introduce students to Amherst staff that can support them throughout their time at the College and alumni working in scientific fields.
Research Skills
Introduce students to fundamental research skills, including finding and citing scientific literature using databases and reference management tools, experimental design, hypothesis testing, and science communication.
Creativity
Allow students to be creative in their problem-solving and experimental design, including proposing new experiments and technologies based on their research.