Article submitted by Stephen Daly - Rotary District 9820 NYSF Chair
The NYSF and Rotary thank clubs across D9820 for supporting the Year 12 Program. Rotary plays a key role enabling students to pursue their passion in STEM and connect with like minded students across the country. Rotary's involvement in the selection process has ensured that over the last 5 years 35% of all successful applicants have come from remote and regional Australia.
Despite the difficulties of the bushfires in January and now the impact of COVID-19, the NYSF Year 12 program will be running in 2021 and applications are now open. There will be approximately 600 places offered and I would expect that as D9820 filled our 2020 quota of 28 students, we will be able to choose a similar number of students for 2021.
The selection process will need to be different, given the current circumstances. I encourage you to make direct contact by phone with school contacts. Despite the learning from home environment that will likely exist for term 2, teachers are in contact with their students and will be able to encourage them to apply. The more you can do to support schools and applicants, the more likely that students across our district will be successful. More than ever Rotary can encourage year 11 students across our district to experience life changing STEM opportunities with some of the nations best scientists. The program is designed to encourage continued study in these fields and develop an awareness of careers that are critical for our nation's future.
In 2021 the program will run at the following locations and dates:
- Session A; Mon 4th - Wed 13th Jan 2021 at the Australian National University, Canberra
- Session B; Mon 11th - Wed 20th Jan 2021 at the University of Queensland, Brisbane
- Session C; Mon 18th - Wed 27th Jan 2021 at the Australian National University, Canberra
At this stage it is most likely that selection interviews will be undertaken via zoom, or a similar method. As events develop, I will keep you informed.
Now that school is back I encourage you to contact schools and to make yourself familiar with the program by going to https://www.nysf.edu.au/rotary-resources/.
