STEMM-HEAR
STEMM opportunities for college students with Hearing loss experience to Engage in Auditory Research (STEMM-HEAR)
Technological advances over the past 20 years have greatly improved the capacity of people with hearing loss to listen and speak; improved hearing increases information received and, with training, children with hearing loss can learn to listen, speak and participate in all activities. Now, there are individuals with hearing loss who have succeeded in executive and professorial careers in STEMM, particularly in auditory sciences.
So Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has implemented a mentoring model called STEMM-HEAR as a template to guide research leaders in providing impactful research experiences. By acquiring research experiences with mentors who are auditory scientists with hearing loss, students with lived experience of hearing loss will develop improved capabilities needed to maximize their potential in STEMM. The model will accelerate the recruitment of these students into careers in STEMM, including the hearing sciences.
JHU will recruit trainees annually to work in hearing sciences laboratories at Oregon Health & Science University, University of Southern California, Creighton University, Rice University, Stanford University and University of Minnesota. By participating in summer internship programs at these institutions, these students will acquire and share research experiences via a peer network mentoring program within a community of scientists and engineers with hearing loss.
Apply to the Program
STEMM opportunities for college students with Hearing loss Experience in Auditory Research (STEMM-HEAR)
Funding from the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will provide stipends to eight college students who have a personal interest in or experience with hearing loss to participate in summer research internships in auditory sciences laboratories at affiliated universities.
Students who have a personal interest in or experience with hearing loss must have completed their sophomore, or junior year of college by June 2025, have at least a 3.0 GPA, and be majoring in a STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) or a pre-med major.
STEMM-HEAR focuses on supporting outstanding students who have 1) a personal interest in or experience with hearing loss and are doing STEM or pre-med studies, and 2) the capacity to participate alongside students with typical hearing in research laboratories in auditory sciences.
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