The Center for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Education (CMSEE) is launching the STEM Incubator — Student-Led Programming project an ongoing competition that invites NSHE students to design, pitch, and teach their own K-8 STEM course. If you have an idea for a class that would light up a room full of curious kids, this is your chance to build it, bring it to life, and get paid to do it.

A different kind of opportunity

The Incubator isn’t a traditional job application. Instead of a résumé and a cover letter, you pitch your most innovative course idea. Grab a partner, sketch out a five-day course, and make your case. If your team is selected, you’ll deliver that course to local K-8 students through CMSEE’s community programs and earn a paid UNLV teaching assignment along the way.

It’s a real classroom, real students, and a genuine chance to extend your discipline into the next generation of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers.

Who can apply

Applications come from two-person teams, and every STEM discipline is welcome. To be eligible, both partners must be:

• Current UNLV students in a STEM field — undergraduate or graduate
• Eligible for employment in the United States
• Able to clear a standard background check to work with minors

You can apply as Co-Leads, sharing the design and teaching equally, or as a Lead Instructor and Teaching Assistant.

What you’ll submit

• A five-day syllabus for a course serving 15–20 K-8 participants, built around hands-on, active learning
• An itemized materials budget
• A four-minute pitch video introducing both partners and making the case for your course

What you’ll earn

Selected teams receive a program-based teaching assignment through UNLV, with instructional compensation of up to $2,500 per course. Co-Leads split it evenly ($1,250 each); a Lead and Assistant split it 70/30 ($1,750 and $750). Your course materials are funded separately, so the budget you build goes toward your students — not out of your pocket.

Beyond the contract, you walk away with something harder to put a number on: real teaching experience, a course you designed from the ground up, and a line on your résumé that stands out.

Key dates

Proposals are reviewed three times a year, and each round feeds a specific teaching season. The next deadline is September 15, 2026 (Round 2), for courses taught in the spring.

How to apply

Full guidelines, the scoring rubric, and the application are on the CMSEE STEM Incubator page: [application link].

Have a question? Reach the CMSEE team at cmseestem@unlv.edu.

Find a partner, film your pitch, and show us the course only you could teach!