Year 10 students from around the region are getting a taste of university life at Central Queensland University this week.

The Get Set for Uni program, a CQU CQ Connections initiative, aims at giving students the opportunity to experience science, engineering and technology subjects on campus. CQ Connections coordinator Olive Mallory said the program enabled students to see if they were interested in these areas with the possibility of pursuing a career.

“It helps students decide what subjects to choose for Year 11 and 12,” Mrs Mallory said.

“Although science subjects are not prerequisites for many university programs, it makes it easier if they have done some science subjects at school.” The Get Set for Uni program gives students a hands-on approach to science, engineering and technology courses. Faculty lecturers lead the classes through a variety of experiments, tasks and displays.

Through the science program students discover biology, experiment on the senses, use electronic microscopes and visit the aquaculture ponds. In engineering, students respond to a design brief and learn the principles behind engineering. Technology sees students design a web page and see it live on the Internet, as well as finding out about artificial intelligence.

Around 50 students from local schools have been involved in the program this year. Another 30 students will be participating in the program this Wednesday, 5 June, at the Rockhampton campus.

This is the third year the program has successfully operated at CQU.