DeepMind and The Brilliant Club partner to deliver unique STEM courses to students at state schools across the UK
The Brilliant Club is delighted to be partnering with DeepMind, a leading artificial intelligence company, to improve diversity and access within the UK AI ecosystem. With the support of DeepMind, we will deliver exciting STEM courses to young people from less advantaged backgrounds and support them to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to access the most competitive universities.
Currently in the UK, just 3% of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds access the most competitive universities, compared to 33% of the most advantaged. By working together, we will work towards a fairer society in which no young person’s future is limited by their background.
To address the underrepresentation we see today in STEM career paths, it is essential that a wide range of young people have the chance to realise their full potential in STEM subjects. By giving students the opportunity to experience how STEM subjects are taught at university and learn from the experts themselves through The Brilliant Club’s Scholars Programme, we believe that students will be inspired to go on to courses that can lead to a career in AI courses at the country’s most competitive universities.
Anne-Marie Canning MBE, CEO of The Brilliant Club, said:
“We are excited to be working with DeepMind to deliver high-quality STEM courses for less advantaged students in schools across the UK. By connecting state school students with subject-expert PhD researchers, they have the chance to learn beyond the curriculum and to build the knowledge, skills and confidence to follow their passion for STEM at a competitive university in the future.”
Funding from DeepMind will enable 3,500 students aged 14-18 to learn beyond the school curriculum about science, technology, engineering or maths, guided by a PhD tutor who is an expert in their field. Each PhD tutor will design and deliver an academically-stretching course based on their own research. Examples of STEM courses designed by our PhD tutors include “How Many Engineers does it take to Make Ice Cream?” and “Artificial Intelligence and Us: Being Human in the Age of Machines”.
DeepMind is partnering with a number of education partners to work together to tackle school-level barriers to underrepresentation in AI and develop the next generation of AI creators. To increase awareness of AI and future career paths, DeepMind employees will also deliver webinars to our communities of students, teachers and PhD tutors to share more information about the kinds of degrees and future career paths relating to AI that are within their reach.
Obum Ekeke, OBE, Head of Education Partnerships at DeepMind, said:
“At DeepMind, we have a long-term vision to support the next generation of AI creators, ensuring they truly represent the wider world. This vision starts with education. By focusing on education at an early age and making science and AI feel relevant and accessible to all, there’s an opportunity to help break down the barriers that are leading to underrepresentation in this field. Our hope is that this education programme can help instil confidence in the next generation of students and eventually play a part in creating an inclusive and accessible global AI ecosystem.”
If you are interested in running The Scholars Programme in your school, more information can be found here.
If you are interested in becoming a Scholars Programme tutor, please click here.