Public engagement by ICGEB’s scientists and students reaches thousands of young people across three continents each year. The Cape Town Component has been running the School Outreach Programme for the past five years, now a set feature in the Component’s annual outreach calendar.
This week, ICGEB Cape Town welcomes Thandokhulu High School learners to the Component for the first visit of 2025. In addition to Thandokhulu High Shool, ICGEB Cape Town has officially partnered with two additional schools in the greater Cape Town area, including Heideveld Secondary School and Manenberg High School.
The visiting learners spend a full day in the various labs, doing hands-on experiments and working alongside the ICGEB researchers and students. Activities include: extracting DNA from bananas and strawberries, tissue culture, protein quantification, as well as using the Foldscope – one of the ICGEB’s key outreach and educational tools.
The School Outreach Programme not only contributes to South Africa’s STEM activities by encouraging learners to consider a career in STEM, but also provides ICGEB researchers and fellows the opportunity to communicate their science to the learners, bringing science closer to society.
We look forward to another fulfilling School Outreach Programme, sparking curiosity about science and setting the scene for our future South African scientists.
