The Eskom Expo for Young Scientists is hosting a number of Research and Innovation Camps around South Africa in a bid to equip budding researchers at schools with the tools to produce award-winning projects.
A number of camps have already been held in the Free State, Mpumalanga, and the North West, and a series of camps will be held in all nine provinces in March 2022. Eskom Expo’s physical District Expos are scheduled to take place in May 2022, while Regional Expos will begin in July 2022, and the hive of activities will culminate in the Eskom Expo International Science Fair from 4th to 7th October 2022.
While some Research and Innovation Camps will be held in a single day, others will be weekend-long events for grade 4 to 12 learners, accompanied by their teachers. At the camps, learners will kick-start their research in preparation for the District and Regional Expos. The main objective of the camps is to assist learners with the ideation stage of their research, which is often challenging but always critical for the success of the research project. Through interactive ideation exercises, learners will develop their research ideas into researchable topics to produce a Research Plan and consider potential ethics issues.
Teachers will benefit immensely from attending the camps. They will leave equipped with skills to support their learners with some of the challenges they may experience.
Eskom Development Foundation CEO Cecil Ramonotsi explains: “The primary aim of the Eskom Expo is to encourage our youth to get involved in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation (STEMI), thus expanding the country’s skills base.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown restrictions have hindered Eskom Expo’s physical activities during the last two years. The Research and Innovation Camps have been designed to support schools that were unable to participate due to the pandemic.
Learners and teachers are invited to contact an Eskom Expo Provincial Coordinator by clicking this link to participate in a Research and Innovation Camp in their city: https://exposcience.co.za/get-involved/.
Registration for the 2022 Eskom Expo is open. Aspiring scientists and innovators can visit the Eskom Expo website at www.exposcience.co.za for more information.
