Girls shaping the future: using STEM projects to solve local community problems
The “Girls Own STEM” project is a multi-year initiative by Association Bioteka in which high school girls with an interest and motivation for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) develop their own local projects using STEM tools and methods. Their goal is to address an environmental, social, or economic problem in their community while simultaneously developing essential skills and competencies for their future careers and contributing to the progress of their surroundings.
During the 2023/2024 season, the project is running under the initiative “STEM Mentors for STEM Girls”, supported by citizen donations and the Croatian business sector, along with the voluntary engagement of 17 mentors. These mentors have dedicated months to helping the girls generate ideas and implement independent local STEM projects!
After being introduced to their mentors and the “STEM Mentors for STEM Girls” initiative at the autumn Girls Own STEM Camp in October 2023, nine girls continued developing project ideas to address problems they identified in their communities. With their personal experiences, knowledge, and skills gained through Girls Own STEM, along with support from the Bioteka team and guidance from experienced mentors—professionals from the business sector—the girls are implementing a total of seven projects. Six of these are newly developed, while one continues from last year’s project. All are aligned with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Meet our girls and their outstanding projects! Each of these initiatives contributes to the local community through STEM education, environmental conservation, health, or intergenerational activities that connect younger and older generations.
Andrea Brzica
Andrea is a high school senior at XV. Gymnasium in Zagreb. In her free time, she is passionate about experimental physics and astronomy, but she also loves science communication. As a true Miočanka (a term for students of XV Gymnasium) with an Excel spreadsheet for everything and as the eldest sibling who enjoys working with children (to some extent), she decided to launch a STEM promotion and education project for children in the Laduč Children’s Home.
Through her project, “STEM in the Laduč Children’s Home”, Andrea aims to introduce children to different STEM fields and concepts in an interactive and fun way. Additionally, she wants to train their educators and provide them with access to educational materials and workshop guides using easily accessible and donated equipment. Her goal is to address the lack of sustainable and high-quality STEM education in children’s homes.
So far, Andrea has conducted five workshops at the children’s home, helped repair a 3D printer, which will remain there for future use, and presented a GLOBE workshop—designed and delivered as part of her project—at the Inter-County GLOBE Meeting at Rugvica Primary School. She still has two more workshops to complete, along with finalizing an online platform with educational materials (where she is also honing her programming skills!) and conducting training sessions for the staff so they can independently run STEM workshops for the children.
STEM Mentors:
Martina Ćurić (Schneider Electric), Sonja Popović (msg global solutions), Slađana Krpić (Poslovna Inteligencija), Lucija Pilić (Gamechuck), Nina Jurčić (North Star), Martina Ptiček (Porsche Digital), Martina Bagarić Maršić (Asseco See), Maja Ovčarik Perković (Rimac Technology)
Anita Ćubela
Anita comes from Gornji Desinec and attends Jastrebarsko High School. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with friends, training as a majorette, and participating in drama club. Her project is designed to help the environment because she loves nature and animals. She wants to make the world less polluted and encourage people to take better care of it by adopting new, improved habits. She also aims to implement a project that will have a long-term impact on the environment rather than just a one-time effect.
The project “30 Days of Change” is designed as a competition in which participants must complete various environmentally-themed tasks over 30 days to win a prize. Throughout this period, eight different tasks will be set, which participants will document through photos and videos. The winners will be those who complete all tasks, with an additional reward for the village/town with the most participants. These tasks encourage people to try something new during the month and continue these habits, spreading them to their family and friends. The project is still ongoing, so if you’re from Jastrebarsko or the surrounding area, visit the project’s Instagram page and join in!
STEM mentors:
Maja Ovčarik Perković (Rimac Technology), Kaja Pavlinić (Speck Agency), Nina Jurčić (North Star), Marijana Šarolić Robić (Tech Companies and Startups Attorney), Iva Majstorović (Enstring), Lucija Pilić (Gamechuck), Anita Cvetić Oreščanin (Poslovna inteligencija)
Antonia Lilić
Antonia is 16 years old and comes from a beautiful town in Dalmatian Zagora—Drniš. The inspiration for her new project came from the wonderful memories and new knowledge she gained during her first project within the “Girls Own STEM” initiative. She is happy to have the opportunity to share her knowledge with others, believing that we must do what we love, as only then will we be truly satisfied with our results. She enjoys working with others, and her daily goal is to pass on as much knowledge as possible.
With her project, INDUSTRY STUDIO, Antonia aims to train younger generations, especially first-year high school students, in fundamental IT knowledge through a series of practical workshops and activities. She hopes to establish a sustainable system where, in the following years, these students will become mentors to the next generation. Participants will learn the basics of web development and create websites, some of which will hopefully be launched online and used by real people, businesses, and organizations in their local community. The project is nearing completion, and participants are currently working on their own websites for local businesses or small enterprises of their choice.
STEM mentors:
Martina Ćurić (Schneider Electric), Martina Ptiček (Porsche Digital), Belma Gutlić (ChainSafe), Lucija Pilić (Gamechuck), Karla Andrić (Haiku Communications)
Ivana Karan & Selena Dedić
Selena loves TV series and movies, especially those with fictional and psychological themes. She adores animals, especially cats, enjoys music, and has a talent for writing—she even won first place in the national “Color the World” competition! Ivana spends her free time playing basketball and tennis and is passionate about IT, programming, and mathematics. She also enjoys watching Eurovision every May with her family.
Their project, “What’s Up Borovo”, continues from last year’s initiative of the same name. The goal is to explore the local identity of the Borovo community and integrate it into the city’s tourism offering. They aim to map significant places, events, and personal stories and make them accessible to both tourists and locals. Additionally, they plan to create both a physical and virtual museum where collected stories and findings will be stored and showcased.
What they enjoyed most was communicating with people of all ages, gathering historical information about Borovo. They wanted to include all interested community members in their activities—researching, mapping significant locations, and participating in public and educational events. They successfully achieved this. The collected stories are stored in a traveling museum—a suitcase that will visit interested institutions, while the virtual museum (a website) is nearing completion. They also collaborated with a local elementary school, where students from Borovo expressed their perspective of their surroundings through artistic and literary works.
STEM mentors:
Nina Jurčić (North Star), Lucija Pilić (Gamechuck), Martina Ptiček (Porsche Digital), Kaja Pavlinić (Speck Agency), Slađana Krpić (Poslovna Inteligencija), Anđelka Strajher (Megatrend Business Solutions)
Jurja Mautner
Jurja comes from a small village near Požega called Draga. She loves reading and photography and is also passionate about dancing and graphic design. She is particularly excited about conducting workshops in schools, as this will be great preparation for her future career—she is studying to become a mathematics teacher at the Faculty of Science (PMF). She decided to create her own project because she wanted to try something new, even things she might have been afraid to try otherwise. She wants to contribute something valuable to improve her local community!
Her project, “3D4U” (3 Dimensions for You), aims to increase the use of STEM tools and 3D models in mathematics classes to help students better understand concepts by applying them to real-life situations. She has designed a prototype model that students can use across multiple math topics. She has held meetings with her mentors and is now working on a website that explains the purpose and use of the model. She is also preparing a digital survey for elementary school students about their access to and experience with mathematical tools. In the meantime, she will work with her mentors to design different workshops using the model and finalize the website.
STEM mentors:
Ana Duvnjak (Apis IT), Karla Andrić (Haiku Communications), Nina Jurčić (North Star), Martina Ćurić (Schneider Electric), Maja Ovčarik Perković (Rimac Technology), Martina Bagarić Maršić (Asseco See)
Petra Aušperger
Petra is a third-year student at the Bjelovar Medical School, studying to become a pharmacy technician. She also plays handball in her free time. Her project, “STEMHealthy”, focuses on raising awareness about health preservation, disease prevention, and healthy lifestyles.
Through this project, various workshops were conducted in collaboration with Bjelovar Medical School, Klaudija Aušperger (MSc in Chemistry), Zagreb Diabetic Association, and Mia Duvnjak (MSc in Nutrition).
Workshops included: “My Day with Diabetes”, “Get to Know Yourself”, “Hidden Sugars”, “Carbohydrates as Molecules”, “Exercise for Health”, A debate on proper nutrition, “Healthy vs. Unhealthy Meal Composition”, “Preparing a Healthy Meal Myself!”
Students became more aware of health preservation, calculated their daily food intake, created molecular models of nutrients, and learned about smartwatches as tools for tracking physical activity.
Mentors:
Karla Andrić (Haiku Communications), Martina Ćurić (Schneider Electric), Ana Duvnjak (Apis IT), Lucija Pilić (Gamechuck), Marijana Šarolić Robić (Tech Companies and Startups Attorney)
Support & Future Plans
We express our deep gratitude to all who have supported this initiative—donating their time, money, and love to help these young women bring their STEM ideas to life!
We are preparing for the 3rd generation of “Girls Own STEM”! Soon, we will open a Call for Business Sector Donations. If you would like to support this initiative, please contact project leader Jelena Likić at jelena.likic@bioteka.hr.
To nominate a high school girl for the 2024/2025 season, email katarina.horvat@bioteka.hr.
Thank you!