Science is Cool (ScIC for short) is a leading science conference dedicated to STEM education. Thousands of teachers from hundreds of countries have participated since March 2020.

Take a look at this quick highlight reel to see what the buzz is all about:

Okay, now that you’ve gotten a taste of SciC, let’s take a trip back to the beginning to revisit how it all started.

It all started with a very big bang...

Rewind to April 2020. In-person events around the world were quickly canceled leaving everyone’s calendars empty. There was a critical need for educators to connect and feel part of a community.

The PocketLab team (that’s us) got together and asked ourselves how we could contribute to the STEM community. We wanted to create a space where government, business, and education could connect to fix STEM together.

We decided to create a free virtual event with 7 days to pull it off.

Our friends in the science industry raised their hands high and volunteered to come share their knowledge. The goal was to inspire and encourage teachers to find innovative ways to move their classrooms forward during our new normal.

With only one week to plan and announce the event, we would’ve been happy to get 300 educators to show up. To our surprise, almost 3,000 teachers from around the world participated in the first ScIC.

We’ve since grown our audience to over 130,000 participants and have attracted educators representing over 200 countries.

If your average conference feels like a Monday morning, ScIC feels like a Friday afternoon.

We’ve always been advocates of science teachers. We design an innovative system of hardware sensors, software, and lessons that empower teachers to bring truly unique learning opportunities into their classrooms (check out our Lesson Library).

We never intended to offer professional development for STEM educators. But ScIC gave us the opportunity to do something different — to build a community that gives educators a voice and a space where STEM advocates feel heard.

These are not your average events...

We call them unconferences for a reason. We develop them based on educator feedback and insights.

They’re intended to be a place where STEM coordinators, administrators, and teachers can come together to have very honest discussions about the future of STEM.

They’re fun and laid back, but also resourceful enough for professional development.

Here’s what participants have to say about ScIC.

After each event, we survey the audience and find Net Promoter Scores in the mid 80s, which ranks us among the highest rated brands in the world. In surveys and social posts we get thousands of testimonials like these:

• “Loved, loved, loved this conference.”
• “These conferences are amazing! I love that I can attend virtually from Colombia. I would never be able to attend in person!”
• “Best professional development I have ever attended”
• “It was fun and at the same time very informative. It always amazes me how you make science so COOL!”

The education community has spoken loud and clear. There is a consistent request for more, so we will continue to deliver high-value content that provides the best of education and entertainment.

Science is Cool because of people like you.

PocketLab is committed to keeping our ScIC events free, and at the highest levels of teacher education.

To embody the words of one of our presenters, Dr. Robert Lue, Harvard University Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology:

"Free should be as good as it can get. Free should be awesome. We have the resources in this world to make that happen.”

Speakers and presentations at ScIC events have included: 

• Dr. Liz Warren of the ISS 
• StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson
• National Geographic Society
• Walt Disney Imagineering 
• Paul Anderson with Bozeman Science
• Lego Education
• Jason Lindsey with Hooked on Science
• The Smithsonian 
• Science Friday 
• Twitch Education
• The Exploratorium 
• The Biomimicry Institute

Get involved to make science even cooler.

We plan ScIC events based on audience feedback and by listening to teachers. We are always on the lookout for partners and contributors. We gladly accept proposals for presentations and connections to others who are interested in contributing to this community. 

P.S. Please send a line if you are interested in submitting a proposal or have a partner referral. Reach out to us at contact@thepocketlab.com. Let's talk about how we can fix STEM education together. 

Written by Jolyn Janis and Michael Doane