Community Collective
Building scientific excellence through education, outreach and mentorship
At MCP, we are committed to excellence in science, collaboration, and community. We believe that cultivating a strong scientific community is essential to this mission. When we foster an environment where individuals feel valued, differences are embraced, and everyone is empowered to contribute, curiosity-driven science and innovation can reach their full potential.
The Community Collective in MCP is made up of all types of department members from faculty, staff, graduate students, post-doctoral students, and department leadership. Together the Community Collective works to improve and increase community engagement broadly. This collective meets monthly to collaborate and empower our department to pursue initiatives that positively impact both our internal and external community. Representatives from the collective work in five key initiatives:
The MCP Peer Mentor Program (PMP) provides new trainees (staff, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows) with peer support that will enhance their learning, empower their personal and professional growth, and increase their sense of belonging in the MCP community. This program builds intentional relationships between trainees in the department while also providing senior trainees with experience in training and mentoring.
The Story, Effort, and Experiments (SEE) Seminar Series casts researchers in their context as humans, community builders, and truth seekers. The seminars will allow others to see the speakers’ personal narratives and struggles, their efforts to advance collaboration in their environments, and their body of scientific work. In addition to highlighting and elevating exceptional investigators, our hope is that SEE will provide concrete examples for trainees of how others have found a balance in their research pursuits, being true to their individual background, and improving their communities.
The Outreach program provides local elementary, middle and high school students exposure to scientific research as viable future directions for students. Currently, this program has built a partnership with the YMCA and Kipp Valiante East Palo Alto where members of the MCP community can provide STEM demonstrations to elementary school students.
This team focuses on utilizing Stanford’s vast resources and expertise to educate community collective members and the department as a whole.
This group works on promoting a strong sense of community and belonging within MCP by organizing inclusive events and creating shared experiences. By hosting events they aim to build connections among all department members, fostering an environment where every individual feels valued, supported, and part of a community. Examples of past events this group hosts include a pumpkin carving contest, PI Day Trivia Night and a Science Olympics where MCP community members come attend some friendly competition.
