40 students from as far away as Great Britain, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, USA and Australia are spending the day with scientists at St. Boniface Hospital Research, as part of the International Student Science Fair (ISSF), hosted for the first time in Canada by Fort Richmond Collegiate and the Pembina Trails School Division, in partnership with Manitoba Education.
The ISSF is an annual event that brings together high-school students, teachers and school leaders who are passionate about mathematics and science, to share and develop the learning and teaching of science research and education. Forty-two schools from 17 countries are participating in this year’s fair, the theme of which is Living Sustainably – The Role of Science and Technology.
Plans for the day include a keynote presentation, “Hope and Healing: At the Forefront of Health Research” by Dr. Grant Pierce, St. Boniface Hospital Executive Director of Research, as well as the following workshops:
Isolation and Characterization
Dr. Michael Czubryt
Principal Investigator, Molecular Pathophysiology
Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences
Analysis and Interpretation
Dr. Jeffrey Wigle
Principal Investigator, Vascular Development
Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences
Intervention and Assessment
Dr Thomas Netticadan
Heart Failure Research Laboratory
Canadian Centre for Agri-food Research in Health and Medicine
Pain Perception- the Promise of Pharmacokinetics
Dr Bram Ramjiawan
Director, Research Innovation And Regulatory Affairs
St. Boniface Hospital
MSc student, Xavier Louis, Netticadan laboratory, gives presentation.
MacKenzie Murray, Glenboro School, Manitoba, observes lab presentation.
About ISSF
The International Students Science Fair (ISSF) was officially launched in 2005 to facilitate international interaction
and collaboration in science education. The ISSF brings together students, teachers and school leaders to share and develop their ideas about science in a modern world. The ISSF is the major event of its type in the world with a focus on the combined sharing and development of teaching and learning in science education. Each year’s event creates a learning HUB for participants that provide a range of forums promoting the development in teaching and learning of science research and science education.
The goals of the ISSF are to provide students with opportunities to:
- effectively communicate scientific knowledge and concepts to an international audience
- think critically about how effective leadership in science can provide solutions to complex societal issues, and
- make cross-cultural connections with gifted science students, teachers and principals
The ISSF also aims to build the capacities of participating science educators through leadership programs for teachers and educational leaders. Through these formal and informal programs, science educators can engage in professional discourse and develop ties with their counterparts from schools around the world.
The ISSF was conceived in 2004 at the Australian Science and Mathematics School in Adelaide, South Australia when educators from many countries including Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Korea and Japan came together and shared their reflections and understandings regarding student and teacher engagement within the science and mathematics fields of study. The ISSF was officially launched in 2005 to act as a platform for budding scientists to display their scientific knowledge and defend their findings in a non-competitive setting. The event provides students from around the world valuable opportunities to work in collaborative settings to exchange ideas, hone their research techniques and engage their inquisitive minds on the sciences with like-minded peers. Opportunities are provided that extend student thinking, allowing them to use their knowledge in interesting ways and encourage all participants to explore their ethics and assumptions. In particular, the team work for the problem solving and sharing sessions gives students and educators the chance to work with peers from different nations, thus promoting the intercultural understandings needed in the 21st Century. A significant component of ISSF is the cultural and social interactions which help develop friendships and collaborative opportunities amongst our students and educational leaders which may be the basis for future cooperation and study.