By Georgia Barrington-Smith, 16th December 2024
AINSE had a great end to the year with our 8th Annual Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship (WISE) School running from December 2nd– 6th. Over the course of the week, seventy undergraduate students engaged with inspiring women across the STEM industry and began a yearlong mentorship program that will continue throughout 2025.
The WISE program began with a week of online and in-person presentations and workshops from exciting guest speakers, ANSTO facility tours and several social activities. Over the five days, the 2024/2025 WISE cohort engaged and networked with other students across Australia and New Zealand and a diverse group of inspiring professionals across STEM, policy, and entrepreneurship each offering a unique insight into their fields and career paths.
Speakers from across these disciplines led meaningful discussions about the challenges women face in the workforce, including discrimination, imposter syndrome, and maintaining professional and personal boundaries. These discussions created an open platform for students to discuss these challenges and seek advice for the future.
On Wednesday afternoon students attended a workshop on design thinking hosted by Carol Azzam-Mackay, Design and Innovation Manager at nandin, ANSTO’s Innovation Centre. In this interactive workshop students learnt how to translate scientific discoveries into impactful solutions.
As well as the presentations students were given a unique opportunity to explore ANSTO’s key research infrastructure through a tour hosted by the ANSTO Discovery Centre, both virtually and in-person. This included a behind-the-scenes look at the OPAL Multipurpose Reactor, Australian Synchrotron, Australian Centre of Neutron Scattering and many more. Students then engaged in an AINSE WISE Alumnae panel with former WISE students Alexandra Bastick, Ingrid Ronnfeldt, and Jennifer Tinker, who shared their career journeys following their WISE School experiences.
At the end of the week the 2024-2025 WISE mentorship program officially opened with all students involved in a hybrid ‘meet the mentors’ networking event to mark the beginning of their 12-month mentoring journey. The mentorship program provides students with support from their ANSTO mentors who advise them on pertinent topics such as ‘how to deal with difficult feedback’ and ‘how to effectively network’.
On Thursday forty-three students travelled to ANSTO’s Lucas Heights campus while the others remained online. Following the ‘meet the mentors’ event, students travelled to Circular Quay in Sydney City to continue networking with their new mentors at a harbourside dinner. This provided a great setting for the students to continue building professional relationships and exercise their networking skills. The following morning students were fortunate to speak with ANSTO CEO, Shaun Jenkinson and other board members of ANSTO at a networking breakfast where they heard about exciting career opportunities and ongoing projects at ANSTO.
The final day included a fun science communication workshop led by Communications and STEM Manager Michael Rose and an engaging presentation from Michelle Durant, who shared her exciting and non-linear path to becoming AINSE’s Managing Director. After five inspiring days, the AINSE’s 2024 WISE School closed, marking the start of their mentorship journey over the next year.
AINSE would like to extend our immense appreciation to all the WISE School guest speakers and mentors for their key efforts in making the 8th Annual WISE School a success! We are excited to follow the students on their journey through their mentorship program and into their future careers.
To be a part of this remarkable experience apply to the 9th Annual AINSE WISE School, opening August 1st 2025!
To keep up to date with AINSE’s recent news and events including our research spotlight on Dr Rebecca Duncan for Polar December, visit https://www.ainse.edu.au/news-and-events/
Or to explore AINSE scholarships and funding opportunities visit https://www.ainse.edu.au/scholarships/