Gift Ideas for the Scientist in Your Life

While there is no shortage of advice on the Internet about what to buy your loved ones this holiday season, I couldn’t help but notice very few of the lists I saw included subscriptions to Molecular Therapy. What are you to do, then, if your loved one is a scientist who doesn’t need another pair of funky socks, practical lip balm, or a themed coffee mug? Below is a list of unique gifts for the scientists in your life, no matter their age.

Littlest inventor: Founded by Rachelle Doorley, TinkerLab proves there is a whole host of activities that can be done with white vinegar and baking soda alone. (If you have some on hand, borax powder and food coloring make the possibilities truly endless.) Her book TinkerLab: A Hands-on Guide for Little Inventors is full of fun STEAM-inspired ideas to engage the young and young-at-heart in experiments of all kinds. If your tiny scientist isn’t ready yet to use a pipette (even on vinegar), they might enjoy building the periodic table from these beautiful and sturdy elemental wood blocks.

Budding scientist: Whether your niece is interested in space or remote sensing, some educational companies offer free STEM learning kits that engage elementary and middle schoolers in age-appropriate exploration. This past summer, ASGCT had success providing STEM kits to Milwaukee science teachers after spending a week working together on lab-based experiments. These kits, as well as other ones from companies like National Geographic, can provide a fun way to experiment and learn together with the kids in your life.

Graduate student: Graduate students need groceries and gas, moral support and encouragement. But mostly groceries. Cash is probably best.

Principal investigator: While your professor friends might already have many NIH and foundation awards to their name, everyone can use a little help with the enormous amount of writing that must get done. Anne E. Greene wrote a very short, very helpful book for anyone writing compelling science called Writing Science in Plain English that would make a great stocking stuffer for the PIs in your life. If your scientist needs even more ways to communicate, they can spread their findings far and wide with these Women in Science postcards from author and illustrator Rachel Ignotofsky.

Ms. Gillespie is senior editor at Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation and chair of ASGCT's Communications Committee.