Girls organise science research programme to grow interest in STEM among S’pore female students

The TL;DR: Teens organised a two-month-long research programme with academics and industry experts as mentors to encourage female students to pursue their interest in STEM.

Published Sep 22, 2026, 06:20 AM

Updated Sep 22, 2026, 06:20 AM

Teen girls in Singapore organised a two-month science research programme to encourage female students' interest in STEM, with mentorship from academics and industry experts.

The programme involved 66 girls from 13 schools working on diverse projects, including nuclear fusion and local wildlife, fostering teamwork and research skills.

INTEGIRLS Singapore aims to increase female STEM participation, addressing underrepresentation and inspiring girls through accessible, peer-led initiatives that offer real-world STEM experiences.

SINGAPORE – From finding out about the effects of food-waste antioxidants on repeatedly heated hawker-centre cooking oil , to observing the routine of otters in Singapore, 66 girls put their research skills to the test in a two-month-long science research programme.

They did so in a programme their own peers, a group of schoolgirls aged 16 and 17, put together from scratch and which lasted from early July to early September.

The girls-for-girls programme, the INTEGIRLS Singapore Science Research Program, was spearheaded by five teens who are part of INTEGIRLS Singapore, which was set up here in 2022 as a chapter of an existing US-based group.

The five are: Singapore American School students Amber Anbei Chi, 16, and Jenny Jeong, 17; United World College Dover Campus students Lauren Pak and Nayoon Kim, both 16; and Raffles Institution student Stephanie Jeslyn Goutama, 17.

INTEGIRLS Singapore aims to encourage interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) among girls.

In Singapore, the number of women working in STEM jobs was 35 per cent in 2024, up from 29 per cent in 2014, and above worldwide figures.

Globally, women are underrepresented in the STEM workforce. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024 found that women represented 28.2 per cent of the STEM workforce compared with 47.3 per cent in non-STEM sectors. This could also contribute to a gender wage gap due to the higher salaries in the STEM sector.

This was the first time INTEGIRLS Singapore had organised a longer-term programme, though it had one-off events in the past.

Amber, the INTEGIRLS co-chapter head, said she had joined many maths, robotics and science competitions and programmes. She noticed “in many of those spaces, I often found myself as one of only a handful of girls in the room”.

She added: “Through INTEGIRLS, we hope to make some of these opportunities more visible and accessible, allowing girls to meet researchers and mentors, experience STEM beyond the classroom, and discover for themselves where their interests and strengths may lie.”

Lauren, the group’s other co-chapter head, said of organising the research programme, a first for the group: “During the planning period, we worked on the programme structure, contacted mentors and participants, looked for sponsors and partners, prepared for the opening ceremony, organised the research teams, and planned for the in-person showcase logistics. Altogether, we sent more than 420 e-mails to mentors, participants and sponsors.”

The core team from INTEGIRLS Singapore (from left to right): Jenny Jeong, 17, Lauren Pak, 16, Amber Chi, 16, Nayoon Kim, 16,and Stephanie Goutama, 17. PHOTO: INTEGIRLS SINGAPORE

The core team from INTEGIRLS Singapore (from left to right): Jenny Jeong, 17, Lauren Pak, 16, Amber Chi, 16, Nayoon Kim, 16,and Stephanie Goutama, 17.

PHOTO: INTEGIRLS SINGAPORE

The girls recruited the participants from 13 different international and MOE schools, including Nan Hua High School, National Junior College, Nanyang Junior College and Temasek Junior College. They also recruited mentors, including faculty members from local universities, to guide participants in their projects.

One of the participants, Raisa Saluja, 15, from UWCSEA Dover, said she joined the research programme as she was interested in exploring research projects outside of school and wanted the chance to work under a mentor.

Saying that she was excited about the “more independent and collaborative environment”, she added: “The programme has made me more interested in considering a STEM-related major or career, since I enjoyed exploring and putting our research into action to investigate complex problems.”

Her team’s research project focused on nuclear fusion and investigated how magnetic field strength affects the electrical power output of a simulated tokamak (a doughnut-shaped magnetic chamber), work that could potentially add to the development of fusion power plants.

Lee Seok Woo, the programme director of the Master of Science in Nanotechnology and Nanoscience, and an associate professor at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, mentored her team.

Said Lee: “In the STEM field, there is always a strong need to discover and encourage more female scientists. So, when I was first approached by INTEGIRLS, I was both surprised and absolutely delighted to learn that middle and high school students had taken the initiative to organise such a meaningful event themselves.”

The girls’ research results and outcomes were presented on Sept 5 at a science research showcase. PHOTO: INTEGIRLS SINGAPORE

The girls’ research results and outcomes were presented on Sept 5 at a science research showcase.

Another participant, Zoe Alaia Djojonegoro, 14, researched smooth-coated otters, which contributed to observations of local wildlife. Said the Singapore American School student: “The most interesting finding was that the morning routines of otters are quite flexible and they don’t have a fixed schedule.”

Said Michelle Tan, an NUS Department of Life Sciences alumnus and member of the Otter Working Group, one of the mentors for wildlife biology projects: “Overall, INTEGIRLS is a valuable opportunity for female students to not only gain exposure and interest in STEM subjects, but also learn soft skills such as teamwork, resilience, communication and responsibility.”

INTEGIRLS’ Amber said of the feedback received from the programme: “Some also commented that student-organised programmes like this can, in certain ways, work better than traditional university-organised outreach activities because young people often understand what interests and engages other young people.”

For more information: https://singapore.integirls.org /

Ang Yiying is a correspondent who writes about issues and trends for and about young people.

Education and schools

简而言之：青少年组织了一项为期两个月的研究计划，邀请学者和行业专家担任导师，以鼓励女学生追求她们对 STEM 的兴趣。

发布于 2026 年 9 月 22 日上午 6:20

更新于2026年9月22日上午6:20

新加坡的少女们组织了一项为期两个月的科学研究计划，旨在激发女学生对 STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）的兴趣，并得到了学术界和行业专家的指导。

该项目共有来自 13 所学校的 66 名女孩参与，她们从事包括核聚变和当地野生动物在内的各种项目，培养了团队合作和研究技能。

INTEGIRLS Singapore 旨在提高女性在 STEM 领域的参与度，解决代表性不足的问题，并通过提供真实 STEM 体验的、由同伴主导的、易于参与的活动来激励女孩。

新加坡——从探究食物垃圾中的抗氧化剂对反复加热的小贩中心食用油的影响，到观察新加坡水獭的日常活动，66 名女孩在一个为期两个月的科学研究项目中检验了她们的研究技能。

她们参与了一个由同龄人（一群 16 岁和 17 岁的女学生）从零开始组建的项目，该项目从 7 月初持续到 9 月初。

INTEGIRLS 新加坡科学研究计划是一个由女孩们为女孩们开展的项目，由五名来自 INTEGIRLS 新加坡的青少年牵头。INTEGIRLS 新加坡于 2022 年在此成立，是美国一个现有组织的分支机构。

这五人分别是：新加坡美国学校学生 Amber Anbei Chi（16 岁）和 Jenny Jeong（17 岁）；世界联合学院多佛校区学生 Lauren Pak 和 Nayoon Kim（均为 16 岁）；以及莱佛士书院学生 Stephanie Jeslyn Goutama（17 岁）。

新加坡 INTEGIRLS 旨在激发女孩们对 STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）的兴趣。

在新加坡，2024 年从事 STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）工作的女性人数将达到 35%，高于 2014 年的 29%，也高于世界平均水平。

在全球范围内，女性在STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）领域的从业人员比例偏低。世界经济论坛发布的《2024年全球性别差距报告》显示，女性在STEM领域的从业人员占比仅为28.2%，而非STEM领域的女性从业人员占比则高达47.3%。由于STEM领域的薪资水平较高，这也可能导致性别工资差距的扩大。

这是 INTEGIRLS 新加坡首次组织长期项目，尽管过去也举办过一次性活动。

INTEGIRLS分会联合负责人Amber表示，她参加过许多数学、机器人和科学竞赛及项目。她注意到，“在很多这样的场合，我经常发现自己是房间里为数不多的女生之一”。

她补充道：“我们希望通过 INTEGIRLS 项目，让这些机会更加显而易见、触手可及，让女孩们有机会结识研究人员和导师，体验课堂之外的 STEM 领域，并自行发现她们的兴趣和优势所在。”

该小组的另一位联合负责人劳伦在谈到组织这项研究项目时说（这对该小组来说是第一次），“在筹备阶段，我们制定了项目结构，联系了导师和参与者，寻找赞助商和合作伙伴，准备了开幕式，组建了研究团队，并规划了线下展示活动的后勤工作。我们总共向导师、参与者和赞助商发送了超过420封电子邮件。”

INTEGIRLS新加坡核心团队成员（从左至右）：17岁的Jenny Jeong、16岁的Lauren Pak、16岁的Amber Chi、16岁的Nayoon Kim和17岁的Stephanie Goutama。照片：INTEGIRLS新加坡

INTEGIRLS 新加坡核心团队成员（从左至右）：17 岁的 Jenny Jeong、16 岁的 Lauren Pak、16 岁的 Amber Chi、16 岁的 Nayoon Kim 和 17 岁的 Stephanie Goutama。

照片：INTEGIRLS 新加坡

这些女孩从13所不同的国际学校和教育部学校招募参与者，包括南华中学、国家初级学院、南洋初级学院和淡马锡初级学院。她们还招募了导师，包括来自本地大学的教师，来指导参与者开展项目。

参与者之一，来自 UWCSEA Dover 的 15 岁学生 Raisa Saluja 表示，她加入该研究项目是因为她有兴趣探索学校以外的研究项目，并希望有机会在导师的指导下工作。

她表示，她对“更加独立和协作的环境”感到兴奋，并补充道：“这个项目让我对选择 STEM 相关专业或职业更感兴趣，因为我喜欢探索和将我们的研究付诸实践，以调查复杂的问题。”

她的团队的研究项目专注于核聚变，并研究了磁场强度如何影响模拟托卡马克（甜甜圈形状的磁室）的电功率输出，这项工作有可能促进聚变发电厂的发展。

南洋理工大学电子电气工程学院纳米技术与纳米科学硕士项目主任兼副教授李锡宇指导了她的团队。

李说：“在STEM领域，我们一直迫切需要发现和鼓励更多女性科学家。所以，当我第一次接到INTEGIRLS的邀请时，得知是初中生和高中生主动组织了这样一场意义非凡的活动，我既感到惊讶又非常高兴。”

9月5日，女孩们的研究成果在科学研究展示会上亮相。图片：新加坡英特女子中学

9月5日，女孩们的研究成果在科学研究展示会上进行了展示。

另一位参与者，14岁的佐伊·阿拉亚·乔约内戈罗（Zoe Alaia Djojonegoro）研究了光滑皮水獭，这有助于观察当地野生动物。这位新加坡美国学校的学生说：“最有趣的发现是，水獭的晨间作息非常灵活，它们没有固定的时间表。”

新加坡国立大学生命科学系校友、水獭工作组成员、野生生物学项目导师之一的Michelle Tan表示：“总的来说，INTEGIRLS项目为女学生提供了一个宝贵的机会，她们不仅可以接触并了解STEM学科，还可以学习团队合作、韧性、沟通和责任感等软技能。”

INTEGIRLS 的 Amber 在谈到该项目收到的反馈时说：“一些人还评论说，像这样的学生组织的活动在某些方面可能比传统的大学组织的推广活动效果更好，因为年轻人通常了解其他年轻人感兴趣和参与的事情。”

更多信息请访问：https://singapore.integirls.org/

Ang Yiying 是一位记者，她撰写有关年轻人的问题和趋势的文章。

教育和学校