STEM Archives - Page 3 of 12 - Millennium Point

Originally set to close on Friday 2^nd December 2022, the STEM Grants application is now officially extended to Friday 16^th December 2022 to give everyone a chance to apply this year. Over the last five years, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded over £2 million to charities, not-for-profits, community groups and schools to further STEM education.

Millennium Point STEM Grants are available from £1,000 to £20,000 to individual applicants to support science, technology, engineering & maths (STEM) education in Birmingham and the wider region.

You can apply here.

Building the future with STEM

Over the past five years, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded over £2 million to charities, not-for-profit community groups and schools to further STEM education. Millennium Point Charitable Trust has previously seen the rewarding outcome of past projects such as ‘Breaking the Barriers to STEM’ with a fantastic STEM garden. Ahead Partnership engaged students at their Digitech Festival with inspiring guest speeches and activities from STEM industries. Ark Tindall Primary transformed an outside space into a Science Area to enhance their STEM curriculum.

Discover more about past fantastic projects here.

Available to help you, every step of the way

We want everyone applying to have the best chances of success. That’s why our fantastic Trust Team have put together some useful information on our website. If you have any questions have a look at our frequently asked questions page, you can always contact our team with any other queries. You will also find out STEM Grant Application Guidance there too. The guidance intended to assist organisations in applying for funding from the Millennium Point Trust’s STEM grants programme.

Anyone applying can also look at our latest blog with tips on applying for the Millennium Point STEM Grants.

Discover more about Millennium Point Trust

Our multi-award-winning charitable trust invests more than £4.8m each year towards furthering STEM education within the West Midlands.

Over the years we have provided funding to Scholarships, Grants and projects that benefit the region. Find out more about our Trust in our brand new brochure here.

By booking with Millennium Point you’re helping support STEM growth

Everything Millennium Point Charitable Trust achieves is made possible by the commercial activity that takes place in our landmark building. It all feeds back into the Charitable Trust, enabling it to donate and invest in STEM-related organisations, projects, and initiatives.

When booking events with Millennium Point you are widening your CSR and supporting the local region. Find our how and more about our 11 unique event spaces here.

Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.

STEM education has a much bigger impact on our everyday lives than you may realise. STEM isn’t just about teaching maths and science, it helps to develop a skill set that changes the way we think, act and feel.

Providing STEM education helps to shape the world we live in, through the creation and development of new technologies that help improve and simplify our everyday lives.

Championing innovation

It has often been pointed out that innovation and diversity have a strong correlation. Due to this, STEM education gives underrepresented groups the opportunity to access inspiring role models. According to STEMWomen, this makes underrepresented groups more likely to feel as though they belong to something.

Furthermore, The Royal Society published an article where it states that only 18.7% of academic staff in STEM are from ethnic minority groups, with only 1.7% being black. Improving STEM education to underrepresented groups will help increase diversity and encourage a more welcoming environment for these groups. This will also help to encourage future talent as they will see what people have achieved before them.

Providing opportunities in STEM for everyone will help to create a wider talent pool, helping to increase the chances of innovation.

STEM and its impact on the world

STEM students and professionals tend to be motivated about the impact their projects have on the world. STEM is also inclusive of people with disabilities and gives students and professionals the opportunity to be innovative and passionate about the work they produce.

However, there is still an aim to increase the opportunities STEM gives to those with disabilities. For example AccessSTEM wants to increase the number of people with disabilities completing post secondary STEM degrees and entering the STEM workforce. AccessComputing has similar goals, but is narrowed down to just the computing industry.

Why is STEM education important?

STEM education is extremely important as it helps to shape the way we think and act. Providing STEM education also increases the ambitions of young people. For example, a report by STEM learning found that before ambassadors visited a school, 80% of students wanted to be YouTuber’s, Vets, Footballers or Gamers. However, after ambassadors showed the students bigger, global projects they found that students wanted to explore more opportunities within STEM.

Furthermore, STEM are working on providing better education to help reduce the gender gap in STEM education. According to WISE, only 24% of the STEM workforce are female, meaning there is a large talent pool that is being overlooked. However, further investment in STEM education will help to close the gender gap.

For example, Girls Who Code is a non-profit organisation that’s aiming to reduce the gender gap within technology globally. The course teaches girls computer science, bravery and sisterhood. Research shows that if they carry on the way they are, they should be able to close the gender gap by 2030.

This shows that STEM education is important as it teaches students new skills, while developing how they think, feel and act, as well as working on important issues such as closing the gender gap within STEM industries.

What skills can children learn from STEM

STEM subjects can be easily adapted to the age group, size group, ability and interests of the group you’re working with. A great thing about STEM subjects is that they’re very practical and some activities can appear like games for children, making them more enjoyable.

Due to this, STEM education teaches skills such as:

Critical thinking
Independent learning
Great communication and collaboration
Digital literacy
Problem-solving
Creativity
Self-reflection

Millennium Point’s impact on STEM Education

Millennium Point annually provides funding to not-for-profit organisations, schools and colleges across the West Midlands Combined Authority area.

Millennium Point also offers STEM grant, where applicants can apply for up to £20,000 for their STEM related project, depending on whether they meet eligibility criteria, as well as being able to demonstrate a measurable impact in their STEM education or career choice.

STEM grant applications are now open. Click here to apply.

Furthermore, over the past five years the Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded charities, not-for-profit organisations, schools and community groups over £2,100,706 to further STEM education.

Where does the money come from?

Profits from our commercial activity, goes straight into our charitable trust, allowing us to donate and invest in STEM related organisations, projects and initiatives.

To discover more about what Millennium Point has to offer, click here.

We’ve had another rewarding year for Millennium Point Charitable Trust’s STEM Grants Programme. Each year we grant organisations and educators in the local region funds for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) projects and better teaching materials. We received 100 applications this year with lots of creative and innovative STEM projects put forward to receive funding.

Meet the recipients

We would like to give a big congratulations to our latest recipients of a Millennium Point Charitable Trust STEM grant:

1st Lye Boys’ Brigade Company
Arthur Terry Learning Partnership c/o The Coleshill School
Dudley Academies Trust
Free@last
Hallmoor School
Heathfield Primary School
Hillcrest School and Sixth Form Centre
King Solomon International Business School
Ladypool Primary School
Little Sutton Primary School
Lyng Primary School
Parkfield Community School
Perry Hall Primary School
Prince Albert Primary School
Saltley Academy
Starbank Primary School
STEM High Fliers
Tile Cross Academy

Helping education and communities across Birmingham and the wider region

As we wish to maximise the impact of our grants, we encourage grant applicants to apply for smaller grants of between £1,000 and £5,000. This will mean that we can potentially help more organisations. There will still be the opportunity for a few larger grants (of up to £20,000) to be given but in the main we will be concentrating on helping the wider community with smaller grants.

Along with the grants scheme there is also the Millennium Point Trust Scholarship which funds one young person’s undergraduate degree each year at Birmingham City University. You can find out more about our scholarships here.

Interested in receiving a grant for STEM projects? Get in touch

To find out more information get in contact with our team or on our website here.

We are delighted to announce that Hatem Kasseir from Yardley, has been named the winner of this year’s life-changing Millennium Point Charitable Trust Scholarship, earning a fully-funded degree at Birmingham City University (BCU). This degree is joint funded by Millennium Point Charitable Trust in Partnership with Birmingham City University.

How Hatem became a Scholarship winner

Hatem was currently studying an Extended Diploma in IT (Network and Security) at Solihull College and had ambitions to study Computer Science at university. Information of the Millennium Point Scholarship landed in Hatem’s inbox, where he knew straight away, he had nothing to lose by applying.

In Hatem’s application he made it clear how much winning the Scholarship would mean to him, his great passion for computers and his mission to use computing and technology to better lives as a whole. The Millennium Point Charitable Trust team were hugely impressed with Hatem’s application, and selected him along with four other finalists.

All the finalists attended an assessment day at Millennium Point, where they each presented to a panel of five judges, Hatem impressed the panel the most and was selected as the lucky winner of this year’s Scholarship, which has already helped launch the careers of seven outstanding STEM students. Hatem’s degree in Computer Science at Birmingham City University (BCU), will start in September 2022.

Pictured left to right: Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of Millennium Point and Scholarship winner Hatem Kasseir.

Hatem’s reaction to winning

Hatem was shocked and over the moon at being chosen as the winner. The Scholarship winner said “My first reaction was a bit of shock, happiness and excitement. I didn’t know what to do, I was just really happy because I’d put a lot of work and effort into it, so to get that end result was fantastic.

The message I want to give to everyone is that there’s so many opportunities out there so always go for that opportunity, never think you might not have a chance or that it’s just too far for you, always try and reach your goals, no matter how high they are and keep dreaming on.”

A few words from the CEO

Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of Millennium Point added: “When we met Hatem it was really clear from the start that he had real passion for his chosen subject of Computer Science and he was set the task of choosing a problem and how he could come up with a solution. It was really clear and well articulated and when asked about what the Scholarship would actually mean to him, it was really clear that it meant so so much.”

Identifying STEM talent

Now approaching it’s tenth year, the Millennium Point Trust Scholarship has already changed the lives of nine people from the region through their degrees, including 2017 Sagal Qodah, who has since gone on to graduate with a First Class Honours degree in Civil Engineering. She now works for Jacobs Engineering Group, showing the great paths people can take with their career, via a Millennium Point Scholarship.

Apply for the 2023 Scholarship

Each year, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust jointly funds an undergraduate degree in partnership with Birmingham City University at their Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, which covers over 20 different courses across computing, digital technology, engineering and the built environment. We’re helping people across the region unlock their future in STEM. For more information on how to apply or get involved in the 2023 Scholarship program please, visit www.millenniumpoint.org.uk/scholarship.

Our CEO Abbie Vlahakis and members of the Millennium Point Charitable Trust were invited to King Solomon International Business School to unveil a plaque commemorating our support for their eco-friendly STEM garden.

The “Breaking The Barriers To Stem” project is a great example of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education projects we fund in the West Midlands region. It was great to catch up with staff and pupils at King Solomon, seeing the positive impact the project has had.

(Pupils from King Solomon International Business School holding the plaque, with Abbie Vlahakis, Millennium Point CEO and Jean McLeod, Head of PSP.)

Who’s running the project?
The project is managed by a parent’s voluntary organisation in partnership with King Solomon International Business School – Birmingham’s first all-through (4-19) Christian free school, which specialises in international business and entrepreneurship. The Parent School Partnership (PSP) was established in 2015 by parents of pupils who attend the school. To this end, PSP activities have been by donation of time, gifts and resources from willing parents and community partners – and now Millennium Point.

What’s it all about?
An inner-city school in Birmingham with a high proportion of BAME (Black, Asian and Ethnic Minorities) pupils, its ambition at the start of the project, was to ‘break barriers’ and increase STEM engagement across the entire pupil population, whatever their gender or ethnicity, through a series of onsite activities, workshops, clubs, as well as STEM-related off-site trips. For a lot of children at the school, this will be their only chance to experience this kind of specialist learning in addition to the national curriculum and the aim is for them to be immersed into the world of STEM; give them opportunities that they otherwise would not have to boost STEM participation and be excited about the possibilities of careers in STEM.

The PSP and school has identified gaps in the children’s exposure to STEM learning and wants to reach individuals from urban, challenged or hard to reach backgrounds by providing all of this free of charge to prevent barriers to their involvement.

The project includes the following:

Code Club – an after-school club designed to immerse students in the world of code – HTML, Java, CSS etc.
Eco-friendly sensory wildlife garden – designed to help students explore science in a practical way and learn about life cycles, growing, plants, climate, habitats, weather. The Code Club will create a QR code for the various plants and environments, which can be scanned to get the information about the optimum climate for growth etc.
Equipment – for a variety of science and maths experiments, including one which will measure the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide levels in classrooms and outside areas.
Excursions – a range of STEM-related school trips, including Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust; Planetarium at Thinktank; Jaguar Land Rover Wolverhampton; Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

What impact has the project made?
The project has been a breath of fresh air to the school, offering opportunities within STEM, that without the funding, would not of been possible. The garden has helped pupils explore science in a fun engaging way, developing their education around life cycles, growing plants, climate effects, habitats and weather.

It was also fantastic to hear the positive impact the “Code Club” has had on the pupils. Pupils have been immerged in the world of code, with top technical practices such as HTML, Java and CSS being learned at the school.

These skills go a long way in providing the pupils a brilliant opportunity to kickstart their career within STEM.

How the Millennium Point Charitable Trust can help you
The Millennium Point Charitable Trust is committed to supporting the growth of STEM education in the West Midlands region, through funding, resources, projects and events.

Explore what we do or get in touch to see how we can work together.

Deadline for the Scholarship is drawing near, with just 48 hours to go now is the time to submit your application.

In partnership with Birmingham City University, each year Millennium Point Trust fund an undergraduate degree at BCU. There are over 20 courses to choose from in industries for Built Environment, Computing, Digital Technology and Engineering. The deadline is in just under 28 hours at 5pm Friday 11^th March 2022, and can be done via your computer, laptop, tablet and mobile.

You can apply all online on our website here.

Applying is quick, easy and all online

You can easily apply for a Scholarship on our website, through your phone, tablet, or computer. The competition is open to applicants aged 17 and over within the West Midlands Combined Authority, who are looking to start a qualifying degree in September 2022.

Read the application from carefully and start to answer each question. Think about why you want to study your chosen degree and what you want to do in the future. Also discuss any personal attributes and skills that could help you be the next winner of the Scholarship.

It’s a two-stage application, with the final stage being an assessment day. If you make it to the final, you will be invited to participate in developmental workshops that will focus on supporting our personal development and professionalism in both interview and presentation skills.

Last year’s winner Asima

The 37-year-old mum of five was studying Social Science and Humanities at Dudley College, before she secured the scholarship in aims to study planning.

All the finalists attended an assessment day at Millennium Point, where they each presented to a panel of five judges, Asima impressed the panel and was selected as the lucky winner of the Scholarship, which has already helped launch the careers of six outstanding STEM students.

Asima said ‘The Scholarship application was very simple, easy, and quick. The judges were a delight to present in front of, they made me feel so comfortable and relaxed and there is so much you can learn from them. I enjoyed the training and all the help provided prior to the presentation, it was very valuable and enjoyable experience. I also loved the interaction I got from the judges.’

Need any help finishing your application?

We want everyone to have the best chance of success when applying for our Scholarship scheme, and sometimes bigging yourself up can be a little daunting. That’s why we have created a helpful guide to aid you through your application. Keep an eye out on our social media for any new blogs, videos or resources that can help further.

You can always contact our friendly Trust team for any other enquiries you may have.

Deadline is fast approaching, apply today and see what you can achieve

The Millennium Point Trust Scholarship has kickstarted the career for 7 outstanding students already. By applying you could be in a chance to win a fully funded degree. So you won’t have to worry about paying back any fees.

The application deadline is fast approaching, closing on Friday 11^th March, apply on our website today.

Why do we do this?

At Millennium Point we believe that STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is important for the future of the region. Now, more than ever young people need our support and encouragement for them to unlock their potential. The scholarship is just one of the ways we can provide support to help them achieve their goals.

Applications are now open for the life changing scholarship with courses in Engineering. In partnership with Birmingham City University, each year Millennium Point Trust fund an undergraduate degree at BCU.

There are over 20 courses to choose from in industries for Built Environment, Computing, Digital Technology and Engineering. Applications are now open, and the deadline is 5pm Friday 11^th March 2022, this is a two-stage application process where successful applications will be invited to an assessment day on Tuesday 10^th May 2022.

Apply on our website today!

Courses in Engineering

There are several courses to choose from, have a look through and see everything you can achieve!

What can you do with a engineering degree?

Birmingham City University wrote why by doing an engineering degree you will be joining an ever evolving and diverse industry. A career in engineering is not only exciting but will provide you with opportunities to be innovative and shape the world we live in.

Applying is easy and simple

The competition is open to applicants aged 17 and over within the West Midlands Combined Authority, who are looking to start a qualifying degree in September 2022.

Need help with anything?

You can always contact our friendly Trust team for any other enquiries you may have.

Why do we do this?

Want to start your career in Engineering, apply for our Scholarship today!

Applications are now open with the deadline on Friday 11^th March 2022, apply now and see what you can achieve!

Don’t miss out on our life-changing Scholarship. Applications close on Friday 11^th March 2022.

What is the Millennium Point Scholarship?

Now in it’s 8^th year, the Millennium Point Scholarship is an annual competition, aimed at anyone aged 17 or over that is looking to go to university. One lucky winner in the West Midlands will get their undergraduate degree fully funded by Millennium Point in partnership with Birmingham City University. The initial application takes less than 30 minutes and can be done online on a laptop or any mobile device. The top applicants will then be invited to an interview before a winner is announced.

What courses can I study?

There are over 20 courses to choose from in industries for Built Environment, Computing, Digital Technology and Engineering. For more information on what courses are available click here.

A look back on the 2021 winner

2021 saw 37-year-old mum of five, Asima Adnan crownded the Scholarship winner. After impressing the panel of judges, Asima began her fully funded Planning degree in September. Find out more about Asima’s journey to victory by watching the video below.

You’ve got two weeks to kickstart your career

With just two weeks to go don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity, kickstart your new career today by clicking below.

Please note that this scholarship is only applicable to Birmingham City University’s Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment. You must also be based in the West Midlands to apply.

We are here to help

Bigging yourself up can be quite daunting — we get that! But it’s an awesome skill to have which is why we’ve made a handy little guide to help you with your application process. For more information and useful tips please click here.

Applications are now open for the life changing scholarship. In partnership with Birmingham City University, each year Millennium Point Trust fund an undergraduate degree at BCU.

Apply on our website today!

Courses in Digital Technology

There are several courses to choose from within Digital Technology, have a look through and see everything you can achieve!

What can you do with a Digital Technology degree?

Birmingham City University wrote why by doing a Digital Technology is an exciting industry to be in, with a bigger demand than ever for jobs. Digital Technology is a huge part of everyday life and with new inventions and chances for innovation, embarking on a career in digital technology has never been so exciting.

Applying is easy and simple

The competition is open to applicants aged 17 and over within the West Midlands Combined Authority, who are looking to start a qualifying degree in September 2022.

Need help with anything?

You can always contact our friendly Trust team for any other enquiries you may have.

Why do we do this?

Want to start your career in Digital Technology, apply for our Scholarship today!

Applications are now open with the deadline on Friday 11^th March 2022, apply now and see what you can achieve!

Applications are now open for the life changing scholarship. In partnership with Birmingham City University, each year Millennium Point Trust fund an undergraduate degree at BCU.

Apply on our website today!

Courses in Computing

There are several courses to choose from within Computing, have a look through and see everything you can achieve!

The future with a computing degree

Birmingham City University wrote why a computing degree is important and the value that it brings to multiple industries. ‘In the future all industries will acquire some element of tech. Technological advancements have not only changed the way we live but are becoming more vital to a range of industries. In fact, the computer and information technology field is expected to grow by 13% from 2016-2026, which is faster than the average growth rate of all occupations (National University)’.

Applying is easy and simple

The competition is open to applicants aged 17 and over within the West Midlands Combined Authority, who are looking to start a qualifying degree in September 2022.

Need help with anything?

You can always contact our friendly Trust team for any other enquiries you may have.

Want to start your career in Computing, apply for our Scholarship today!

Applications are now open with the deadline on Friday 11^th March 2022, apply now and see what you can achieve!