CCNY President Vincent Boudreau [far left] with outstanding STEM school students from the Ukraine at the start of the second edition of the "Science for Ukraine" program. Photo credit: Egor Kurganov, UCF.
For the second time in three years, some of Ukraine’s brightest high school students can count on The City College of New York as they continue on the path to become their embattled nation’s next generation of scientists and engineers.
The “Science for Ukraine” program is the brainchild of former CCNY physicist Alexander Khanikaev, a pioneer of topological photonics and one of the world’s Highly Cited Researchers (HCR). It brings students, mostly from the STEM-focused Ukraine Physics and Mathematics Lyceum (UPML) in Kyiv, and is supported by the Simons Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, as well as CCNY and the Graduate Center, CUNY.
Recently, 30 students from UPML spent three weeks at CCNY as the latest cohort of the program designed to be an immersive, intensive experience for top-performing students, many of whom are winners or finalists in international science Olympiads.
They worked directly with researchers and advisors from both CCNY and the CCNY-based CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, as well as Khanikaev’s team at CCNY and from the University of Central Florida. The students conducted experiments in photonics, including wave phenomena, polarization, interferometry, and two-dimensional materials like graphene, and immersed themselves in nanoscience, neuroscience research, and environmental science. At the end of the program, students presented research posters to showcase what they learned.
The program also introduces the students to the U.S. higher education system—something Khanikaev hopes will inspire longer-term opportunities. Students learned how to apply to American universities—including how to write application essays and prepare for interviews.
“Some of the students who participated [two years ago] are now students here in the U.S.” said Khanikaev. “And even if they decide to stay in Ukraine, it’s great for rebuilding the country after the war ends.”
Click here to read more about the second edition of the “Science for Ukraine Program.”
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Jay Mwamba
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