The Sandra K. Abell Institute for Doctoral Students (SKAIDS) was established to support the professional development and education of doctoral students involved in the study of science education. Over the years, SKAIDS has provided a space for doctoral students to establish a community within NARST and to build long-lasting relationships with peers and mentors. 

Sandra (Sandi) K. Abell, in whose memory the institute is named, was a University of Missouri professor of science education and was instrumental in conceptualizing, planning, and hosting the first Summer Research Institute. Sandi passed away in 2010. Sandi was an internationally recognized scholar, who spearheaded the University of Missouri’s effort to build one of the nation’s leading K-12 science teaching and research centers. Sandi served as President of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching and won numerous awards for mentoring graduate students, teaching and scholarship.

Goals for the Institute

• Form a network of emerging and experienced science education researchers
• Make the hidden curriculum of the PhD process explicit to the graduate students and help them understand the place of their research in the broader research community
• Improving science education research through dialogue with a community of researchers

SKAIDS Fellows present their research posters stemming from their work during at NARST Annual Meeting following the summer institute.

SKAIDS was hosted by the following Institutions over the years: 

• 2009 (the very first institute – known then as the NARST Summer Research Institute, or SRI, officially, but referred to as NARST Summer Camp by all involved) was sponsored by the University of Missouri. Organizers were Sandra K. Abell and Pat Friedrichsen. 
• 2011 was co-sponsored by BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) & Penn State University and was held at BSCS in Colorado Springs. Organizers were Janet Carlson (BSCS), Joe Taylor (BSCS), Scott McDonald (PSU), & Carla Zembal-Saul (PSU).
• 2013 was co-sponsored by the University of Georgia & Michigan State University and held in Washington DC.  Organizers Julie A. Luft & Angie Calabrese Barton. 
• 2015 was sponsored by the University of Colorado Boulder. Organizers were Erin Marie Furtak & Joe Polman. 
• 2017 was sponsored by the National Taiwan Normal University.  Organizers were Mei-Hung Chiu, Sibel Erduran, & Hongming Liaw.
• 2019 was sponsored by Middle Tennessee State University. Organizers were Julie Luft, Greg Rushton, Grant Gardner, Anna Grinath, & Joshua Reid.
• 2021 was a virtual experience hosted by Humboldt State University and organized by Rouhollah Aghasaleh (Humboldt State University, CA), Sara Tolbert (University of Canterbury, NZ), and Kathryn Scantlebury (University of Delaware, DE). 
• 2023 was co-sponsored by Clemson University & Michigan State University and held at the Clemson University Outdoor Lab. Organizers were Amelia Gotwals, Christina Schwarz, Julianne Wenner, & Brooke Whitworth.
• 2025 was sponsored by Northwestern University. Organizers were Jason Buell, Yang Zhang, & Brian Reiser.
• 2027 – host and location TBD