Opportunities in the Community

Volunteering Opportunities

Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community while building transferable key skills, such as leadership and communication, needed to succeed in your future career. Here are some of the countless volunteer opportunities in the area:

Advocacy Resources

Getting involved with advocacy efforts is a great way to promote the importance of science at the community level and beyond, especially if you are interested in policy careers.

How to Advocate

Federal Science Funding Information

Science Policy Issues and Position Statements

Postdoc Slack

The ultimate way for postdocs to stay in touch!

To facilitate some quick communications and to enhance the community building practice amongst our postdoc community, we have a postdoc slack channel. Pick and choose channels that suit your interests and chat with friends and colleagues.

Please join here and use your “uchicago.edu” email to sign up.

 

 

Teaching / Outreach Opportunities with Students

Since postdocs at UChicago have not been traditionally allowed to serve as TAs, finding other creative ways to gain micro-teaching experiences in the community has helped BSD postdocs interested in teaching careers gain teaching and outreach experience.

  • Bio-Rad Science Ambassador Program provides scientist volunteers with materials for DNA cheek swab precipitations, which you can use to facilitate a volunteer outreach event with students.

  • Expanding Your Horizons Chicago is a one-day conference where 200 middle school girls participate in hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math workshops.

  • Splash/Cascade is UChicago student volunteer group that teaches science or other courses to high school kids on campus.

  • Neuro Club is run by UChicago undergraduates and geared towards teaching Neurobiology to high school kids.

  • Society for Neuroscience: Several public outreach events including brain awareness days and working with local teachers to volunteer.

  • Mad Science of Chicago: Part time job teaching K-6 kids around the city and suburbs at after school science enrichment programs.

  • The Think Tank is a mobile neuroscience lab and education station, powered by the Experience and Cognition Lab at The University of Chicago to accelerate diverse participation in STEM.

  • Project Exploration is a nonprofit science education organization that works to ensure communities traditionally overlooked by science—particularly minority youth and girls—have access to personalized experiences with science and scientists.

  • The Curiosity Machine is an online community of scientists, engineers and children creating together to solve Engineering Design Challenges.

  • Dream On Education provides the brightest 6-8th graders in at-risk communities with tutoring, mentoring, and cultural and professional exposure.

  • Materials Research Science and Engineering Center runs after school science clubs, assists with school science nights, and hosts public outreach events with K-12 students. 

  • Artifice is a community tech center in the Woodlawn neighborhood that teaches youth how to build website, make video games, build robots, repair computers, and more!

  • STEM Scouts STEM Scouts is a co-ed program for 3rd- 12th grades that meets once a week at various schools and organizations throughout the Chicagoland area, many in near north neighborhoods. 

  • Tutoring Chicago offers free one to one tutoring services to economically disadvantaged children in grades 1-6.