Dr Robert Pfeifer, Dr Mridula Sharma, Keith Motes and Associate Professor Colin Wastell took time out recently to share their professional story with more than 300 eager high school students at SciCon15.

Held at Prairewood High School, one of Macquarie’s LEAP (Learning, Education, Aspiration, Participation) partner schools, SciCon15 aimed to inspire students from lower socioeconomic status families to undertake university education.

The day, themed ‘a life in science’, gave students the chance to hear academics share the story of their career journey and the passion they have for their respective fields of science. The four presentations from Macquarie focused on The Science of Psychology, Theoretical and Computational Physics, Quantum Computing: The Next Generation, and Speech and Hearing.

“I think it was fantastic to be a part of SciCon15,” said Dr Sharma, Department of Linguistics. “It was a perfect audience of young adults who are looking at career options, and were keen to learn about different fields, vocations, and professions while we, the academics, got to showcase our work.”

Thank you to both Macquarie’s Widening Participation Unit and the Faculty of Science and Engineering who played an important role in the conference, assisting with the program and organising speakers from the University.

Learn more about LEAP.