In fact, we recommend that you run STEM Person of the Week with your whole school or whole year groups; this way, children, young people and teachers can share what they’re learning beyond the classroom and into their social spaces and staff room.

So yeah, I had a great few months, I learned a lot about battery modelling, but I also learned a lot about the type of work culture I want to be part of when I finish my PhD. A Scientist Just Like Me is designed to raise awareness of diversity in science-related jobs and to provide illustrated examples of a wide range of science-based careers. It consists of a series of short slideshows, each one ‘telling the story’ of a particular scientist or person working in a science-related job. As a disabled person, I was welcomed by the team, treated with respect and compassion, and was given the freedom to work in the best way for me - which meant I was productive and valued too. This is something that sounds so small, but has been a series of confrontations in the past and to just be accepted and trusted to work in the best way for me from day one was huge. The A Scientist Just Like Me resource was created by PSTT Fellows, Kulvinder Johal, Alison Trew and Ali Eley during 2021. CIR researchers launch ‘Intensive-Share’ – a patient and public involvement group for paediatric critical care researchBut really, I got to experience working in a team that genuinely acted as a team. A team that celebrated each other's victories and sat together in frustration when faced with challenges. I felt part of this team from the first day - being included in things like professional headshots and getting my fair share of merch too.

STEM Person of the Week (SPOTW) has been created by the NUSTEM Group at Northumbria University. We’re a group of STEM Outreach practitioners and researchers who are looking to increase diversity within STEM. We do this through evidence-informed practice, working with children and their key influencers (parents and teachers) from pre-school to post-16. SPOTW was created in partnership with one of our partner primary schools, who piloted the first iteration of the resource. We know from our own research that, when asked to describe scientists, children use a limited and very stereotypical vocabulary. In our surveys, when asked to write 6 words to describe a scientist, over 40% of the total words used were some sort of stereotype: crazy hair, explosions, lab coats, genius, etc. The SPOTW resource is designed to counter this vocabulary through a more nuanced set of attributes that scientists themselves use to describe their characteristics.

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