The Yidan Prize has announced that PhET Interactive Simulations, a University of Colorado Boulder project, has launched a PhET Fellowship program focused on promoting STEM subjects in educational institutions across Africa and Latin America. 

This year, the program will accept 32 inaugural fellows—15 from Africa and 17 from Latin America—who will serve as teacher leaders in secondary or tertiary education. Together, the fellows will promote robust teacher communities and help advance students’ access to quality STEM education, reaching at least 1,600 teachers across the two continents. In Africa, fellows hail from Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Gambia, Uganda, and Zambia. In Latin America, their reach includes Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and Venezuela. In addition to working in their own communities, fellows will work with one another across the region and the globe. 

“Education and the ability to think scientifically are fundamental for people to learn how to make better decisions and be more successful in all aspects of their lives,” said Carl Wieman, founder of PhET Interactive Simulations and a Yidan Prize and Nobel Prize laureate. “Through this fellowship program, we are nurturing a pool of local talent to advocate for a scientific approach to teaching maths and science. We especially want the most marginalized students to benefit from high-quality STEM education, so that they are better prepared to face the challenges of tomorrow.”

(Photo Credit: Getty Images/epicurean)