Target Audience: 9th-12th Grade Students

ARC Appalachian STEM Academy at Oak Ridge is a two-week, residential, hands-on institute sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

Students and teachers conduct short-term research projects under the guidance or ORNL and ORAU mentor scientists. The culmination of this experience is a poster session where the groups present their research posters and answer questions from federal and state ARC dignitaries, ORNL and ORAU dignitaries, parents, and friends.

Students and teachers are from 10 states within the Appalachian region. One research team is comprised of teachers, and the remaining teams are comprised of students. Team members generally do not know each other initially, but friendships are established over the two-week research experience.