It was an exciting day on Saturday, 18 November 2017, for nearly 450 girls who came together in Geneva to explore science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM) through 30 workshops. Hosted at the University of Geneva by "Expanding your Horizons - Geneva" (EYH), this was the fifth such event, which is held every two year, and is designed to encourage girls to study STEM subjects.
The free event targets girls from the ages of 11 to 14 years living in Geneva and the surrounding region. It was packed with activities to show that science and technology can be fun and interesting for girls -- opening up new doors to educational and professional opportunities. In addition to hands-on experiments, the girls also had the chance to participate in workshops in both French and English, delivered by local professional women in the field of science, mathematics, engineering and technology.
Some of the innovative workshop topics included: ''Flying drones'', ''Eating insects (the new trendy source of protein)'' and ''Watching superconductivity in action (with liquid nitrogen)".
Parents were also invited to participate in workshops where were shared ideas for encouraging and supporting their daughters to maintain an interest in STEM at school and later to consider a career in these fields.
Members of the EQUALS team from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technology provided volunteer support at the event.
Learn more about the valuable work of the Expand your Horizons initiative here.