APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.

GSK Science in the Summer™ is a free, informal science summer program for youth entering grades 2-6. 

Supported by GSK and offered in collaboration with The Franklin Institute, the goals of Science in the Summer are:

  • To increase youth interest and confidence in doing science and pursuing STEM careers, especially for youth in under-resourced communities
  • To build educator confidence and skills to facilitate high-quality informal STEM experiences for youth
  • To build organization capacity to provide high-quality STEM programming

The Franklin Institute supports organizations to fold the program into their existing structure and increase educators’ confidence and skills to lead high-quality STEM programming. 

Check out this year's program here!

 

PROGRAM BENEFITS

Accepted organizations commit to a seven-month program cycle (February to September with programming from May-August) and receive the following benefits:

  • High-quality STEM curriculum and materials for five program activities, including kits of materials, educator guides, lab notebooks, and sticker sheets
  • Webinars for Program Leads including orientation, program kick-off, and reporting
  • Facilitation and curriculum content training for STEM Specialists via two in-person trainings at The Franklin Institute
  • A stipend to support STEM Specialist training time, replenish materials as necessary, support field trip transportation costs (if applicable), and other program-related expenses
  • A field trip to The Franklin Institute including free general admission for program youth or general admission vouchers for youth participating at libraries
  • Ongoing technical support from The Franklin Institute program team


PROGRAM EXPECTATIONS

  • Identify two staff to act as Program Leads, responsible for materials management, ongoing communications with the program team, tracking attendance, reporting on deliverables, and ensuring your organization meets all program expectations
  • Identify a maximum of two educators per site to act as STEM Specialists, delivering all SIS programming at their site

  • Deliver 4 out of the 5 activities of free programming to the approved number of youth in grades 2-6, between June and August

     

WHO SHOULD APPLY

Check back this fall to apply for next year's Science in the Summer™ program cycle!

The Franklin Institute will accept applications from Philadelphia-area organizations that meet the below requirements:  

  • are located in the city of Camden, NJ or the following PA counties: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia
  • offer programming for youth entering grades 2-6 between the months of June - August
  • have educator(s) who are able/willing to be trained as the STEM Specialists who will deliver the five-activity curriculum
  • are committed to bringing accessible programming to youth, especially for youth in under-resourced communities

Examples of organizations that may apply include community-based organizations (CBOs), out-of-school-time providers (OSTs), after school providers (ASPs) that have summer programming, low-cost or free summer camps, day cares/early childhood service providers, and public school summer programs.

 

QUESTIONS?

Contact us at scienceinthesummer@fi.edu for more information.

 

TESTIMONIALS


The GSK Science in the Summer™ program allowed us to increase our summer engagement, I mean, a million times over. The curriculum that was provided was very accessible both for the students, but also for the educators that were facilitating the activities with the kids. And so, it really helped empower our counselors, our instructors, and our partners who were facilitating the program at their sites.
 – 2023 Partner

Honestly, when my executive director asked me in 2016, are you sure science is your jam? My answer would have been, I don't know. I guess I’ll find out. And now it's like, yes, absolutely. Science is my super duper jam. Just tell me what you want me to teach and give me a couple of days so I can kind of figure out how I'm going to teach it and I'm good to go. [This program] made me fearless.
 – 2026 Educator

I wish all of the organizations that I worked with operate the way that [GSK] Science in the Summer™ does. The amount of communication and the accessibility to support from The Franklin [Institute] was and is just immense and immensely helpful. The outline, the structure of the program, the high level of communication. I never felt alone or abandoned or left to the wind. I never had to figure anything out on my own. There was always a resource or a person that was available when I had questions. 
– 2023 Partner 

In an image on the left, a young boy holds up two pencils with strips of thin paper clipped to them. The strips of paper show ink spreading in water. In an image on the right, a young girl smiles as an educator helps her clip paper strips onto her pencil.

 

Learners participating in the Be a Forensic Chemist activity from the 2026 Be a Chemist! curriculum. 

 

A young girl and two other learners lean close together, with one learner holding a funnel containing filter paper and soil, and the other investigating with a pipette.

 

Learners participating in the Be a Water Chemist activity from the 2026 Be a Chemist! curriculum.