Stories

National Lab Network

Collaborating Today on Tomorrow's Future

National Lab Network provides educators interested in supporting promising students with direct access to potential mentors and role models who are in scientific and technology-based fields.  Through its free online portal, volunteers — university students, scientists, engineers, and mathematicians — are placed with educators and students to improve labs and discovery-based science experiences. With the help of National Lab Network, scientists and teachers are better able to connect, giving thousands of students across the country memorable hands-on experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.

National Lab Network also hosts a National Lab Day in the first week of May, which promotes hands-on STEM learning and celebrates all of the wonderful activity that has taken place as a result of the network throughout the year.  President Obama has applauded the education initiative, and on the first National Lab Day in 2010, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, "National Lab Day is a phenomenal program which has already brought together more than 4000 volunteers to work with educators and students across the country."

As a fiscally sponsored project of Tides, National Lab Network is able to stay focused on the promotion of inquiry-based learning and improvement of quality STEM education in America. Tides focuses on National Lab Network’s back-office infrastructure, ensuring impeccable financial management, administering all foundation and government grants, and supporting the project with human resources and risk management services.

More about National Lab Network in the Tides Project Directory