Pathways
Programs
During this event for Pathways students, bones take center stage. Students are introduced to the science behind human evolution and forensic anthropology through a series of hands-on exploratory demonstrations with real human bones and fossil casts. Students learn the structure and function of the human skeleton and how markers of injury can be diagnosed and used for research or criminal investigations.
Brain Education Day is an annual neuroscience event for for 100 students in Yale Pathways to Science. Students explore the brain with Yale’s top neuroscientists through speciman dissection, visits to the mock fMRI scanner, tours of the Yale Cushing Center, learning how the brain uses electricity to send signals, and controlling a robotic claw using electrical activity produced by their own muscles.
Day of Immunology is an annual event for 80 high school students hosted by Yale’s Department of Immunobiology in collaboration with Pathways to Science. Through interactive workshops, students are introduced to exciting facets of immunology, including allergy, infection, the microbiome, and vaccines. Throughout these activities and lab tours, students also learn about local opportunities to get involved in immunology research and about diverse careers in the biomedical sciences.
At Discover Chemistry Day, Pathways high school students take part in hands-on chemistry experiments that encourage inquiry, examination, and exploration. Students can work with a gas chromatographer, separate caffeine from tea, engage in simulations of receptor-binding molecules that give rise to our sense of smell, and much more. This event is hosted by graduate students in the Yale Department of Chemistry.
At this event, Pathways students work with Yale graduate students in biology to build their own DIY microscopes. Together Pathways and graduate students use the microscopes to explore cells, crystals, and everyday materials that students bring from home. After the event, students are able to keep the microscopes to continue the exploration at home.
Hosted by GradSWE, Engineering Days bring middle and high school students in Yale Pathways to Science to tour laboratories and try their hands at an engineering design-build. Past Engineering Days have included building an air-quality monitor, a bionic arm, and a self-watering garden.
The Environmental Science Café brings Pathways high school students to listen to short talks about new and exciting work at the Yale School of the Environment. Graduate students also provide hands-on workshops related to the café talks. Previous topics include how scientists use X-rays to study plant evolution, how to 3D print a flower, and how drones are used in forest management. Students are also invited to attend the annual Yale School of the Environment Research Day.
An event for Pathways middle school students, Exploring the Intersection of Physics, Engineering & Biology allows students to interact with Yale scientists working at the intersection of these fields. Through hands-on activities and demonstrations, Pathways students learn how to build a balloon-powered car and watch demonstrations such as “Fluorescence: Glowing in Science” and “Viewing the Nanoscopic World.”
At this annual event, Pathways middle school students are invited to explore Yale’s beautiful urban farm. Students learn the science of farming, the importance of sustainability, and urban horticulture techniques.
At this annual event, Pathways students are invited to explore Yale’s incredible Marsh Botanical Gardens and Greenhouses to discover the importance of plants to life on earth. Students learn about plant diversity and evolution through hands-on science activities and close examination of diverse florae, including a vast array of carnivorous and desert plants.
Aimed at increasing interest in ophthalmology, Pathways students are invited for a full day of learning about the eye. Students use software to “travel” into the eye, are trained on slit lamp machines, and try their hands at cow-eye dissection. This annual event is hosted by the Yale Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science.
Hosted by the Yale Center for Health & Learning Games and the play2PREVENT Lab, Pathways middle and high school students are invited to explore how video games can be used to change the way people think and act. Students learn how games are created, why they are important, and how doctors, mathematicians, and scientists use them for their jobs. Students also play games created by the play2PREVENT lab.
At Public Health Day, Pathways scholars are invited to explore the diversity and interdisciplinary nature of public health applications through interactive workshops, hands-on demonstrations, and discussions. Participants learn about cutting-edge research happening at the Yale School of Public Health and have lunch with current graduate students.
At this event, Pathways high school students are invited to discover the science of reproduction with Yale Medical School faculty. Students use microscopes to identify different cells of the reproductive tract, as well as learn the differences between human and other mammalian reproduction.
Since its inception in 2017, Yale Pathways to Arts & Humanities has welcomed hundreds of New Haven public high school students to Yale’s campus for dozens of arts and humanities programs and events. Pathways to Arts & Humanities explores how humans use literature, art, music, theater, history, and language to understand our connection to the world and to one another. Programs encourage creativity, help solve real-world problems, and allow students to become civically engaged both locally and globally.
Pathways to Arts & Humanities students are invited to visit Yale Manuscripts and Archives in Sterling Memorial Library for an afternoon of archival research and digital curating. Students learn about the work of archivists and explore scrapbooks and letters from late 19th-century Yale students and New Haven residents. After the workshop, students curate their own digital “exhibits.”
At this event, Pathways students get an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the brand-new Yale Center for Preservation and Conservation including the: Gates Conservation Lab, Exhibition Preparation Rooms, and the Photo Documentation Studio. Students also participate in a hands-on demonstration of the Traveling Scriptorium to learn about medieval pigments and book binding.
With an overarching goal of encouraging and supporting promising young scholars to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math, Yale Pathways to Science opens the door for middle and high school students to explore STEM at Yale University. The more than 1,900 Pathways students are considered the youngest members of Yale’s scientific community and are invited to more than 130 special events, academic lectures, demonstrations, hands-on activities, summer programs, and research opportunities throughout the year.
Pathways middle and high school students are invited to this annual festival at Yale’s West Campus for a full day of lectures, hands-on demonstrations, student panels, science exploration games, and tours of the state-of-the-art West Campus facilities, under the guidance of more than 50 Yale scientists and students. Past themes for the festival include “Colors & Dyes” and “The Science of Energy.”
The Pathways to Science Summer Scholars program brings 100 high school students from New Haven, West Haven, and Orange public schools to study science for two weeks on Yale’s campus. Summer Scholars provides an intensive, hands-on science curriculum that emphasizes discovery, critical thinking, and problem solving. Rising seniors have the opportunity to live on campus during the program and engage in a variety of college-prep enrichment activities. The curriculum is designed by Yale University faculty, graduate and professional students, as well as teachers from local public schools. Yale students serve a vital role as teaching assistants and mentors.
Pathways students get a behind-the-scenes look at the Yale Wright Laboratory and undertake hands-on activities that reveal how Wright Lab researchers can make the invisible visible. Wright Lab is transforming our understanding of the universe by exploring fundamental questions about the physical world through a broad research program in nuclear, particle, and astrophysics; inspiring and preparing a diverse group of future scientists; and promoting the value of science in society. Wright Lab researchers explore the frontiers of science, investigating dark matter, neutrinos, how matter is made and interacts, quantum phenomena, the beginnings of the universe, and more.
The Yale Pathways Research Internships (YPRI) connects highly qualified Yale Pathways students with science research internships at Yale. During the summer, students participate in a series of workshops and activities that supplement their internship experiences and enhance their scientific research skills. Students are paired with Yale undergraduate mentors, who provide one-on-one-one guidance throughout the six-week internship experience.
Pathways Summer Scholars is a free two-week summer arts and humanities-focused program for local high school students. Each summer, Yale faculty, graduate students, and staff come together to create a program designed to share Yale’s rich resources with New Haven students. Pathways Scholars take a variety of workshops where they examine the vast resources of the Beinecke, discover art and sculpture at the Yale University Art Gallery, explore the world of comics, learn professional photographic techniques, practice graphic design, study ancient languages, and more.