“An invaluable part of Sci-athon is the experience of working with a multidisciplinary group of scientists from a broad range of backgrounds within chemistry to accomplish a singular goal. Leading a team such as this provided me with an exercise in leadership, cross-functional communication, and cultivating a great team culture, all important skills valuable to both academia and industry.”
“There are a lot of problems to solve in the world. Diverse perspectives can solve problems much more quickly and efficiently than the same perspective.”
“I was already a fan of collaboration in science, but with the breakneck pace to develop these ideas gave me new appreciation for the power of it… no matter what, someone else will think differently and you can both be right. Or both be wrong.”
“Honestly, I think events like this are so important when thinking about address large real world concerns. Academia often likes to think about one specific niche, and I was happy to branch out.”
“I valued collaboration before this, but I value it even more now! There are so many creative solutions that we can build from each other’s knowledge that we would have never come up with alone (or even with people from our own fields).”
“I think that having students who were interested in topics from polymer chemistry to lasing materials helped contribute to the completeness of our proposal. I found myself drawn to and hanging on what my peers discussed during our meetings as it broadened my knowledge of the subjects and introduced me to solutions to problems that I never thought about in my own work.”
“The group work was definitely the best aspect of Sciathon. Being able to meet and talk to people outside of my field and university was a wonderful experience.”
