We (@steemstem) wanted to take a brief moment to update you on the status of our project, the progress that we have made in the last few months, our current philosophy regarding supporting STEM (and Health!) content on Steemit and some plans/ideas we have for the future of the project. 

<center>![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmY2jUCgfijKRkYnpsENa1jpv6VFwWe8Ts88cYKcQjiLcp/image.png)</center>

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# What is SteemSTEM?

The steemSTEM project is a community-supported initiative **to increase both the quality as well as visibility of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) posts on Steemit**. 

We think that the STEM disciplines are not just niche topics for discussion, but core subjects essential to the long term growth and development of Steemit as an internet social media hub. We believe that the development of a thriving STEM community will serve to both retain the current demographic as well as bring in new users through the presentation of both interesting and cutting edge material.  

The project seeks in part to achieve these goal through the direct promotion of quality content posted on Steemit. The assessment of the quality of the content is achieved by a team of curators with expertise in various STEM disciplines who donate their time for the betterment of Steemit and the community.


## Project Philosophy
The long-term goal of the steemSTEM project is to **spread knowledge of STEM subjects and to increase the quality of the STEM posts**. We (@steemstem) are doing this through **positive reinforcement**, by re-steeming, and upvoting good posts in the STEM field of expertise. The STEEM power used for this task is currently gathered in a twofold way, either via a direct delegation to the @steemstem account and or via the trailing of the @steemstem account by a bunch of followers. Do not hesitate to contact us if you want to participate (see the end of the post for direct links).

In addition, we also **host and support competitions** of various types to encourage people to give their all, showing that with better effort the outcome can only be better rewards. 

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## The SteemSTEM Project is Committed to Distributing STEEM Power

Since its inception the steemSTEM initiative has been **upvoting** all accurate, comprehensive and correctly referenced articles. Occasionally, **a high quality post was selected for re-steeming and the author was provided a reward of 5 SP, 10 SP or 20 SP (the exact amount has varied over time).** The focus of this re-steeming is primarily for newer authors in need of additional exposure.

Moreover, since the inception of the steemSTEM project, **various other contests and projects have been organized and supported**, and the community members rewarded with STEEM Power for their participation.

These efforts have allowed us to give directly back to the Steemit community a total amount of **1838.5 SP**, spread over 99 different Steemians!

## Supported Contests

The steemSTEM project has been heavily involved in supporting contests designed to challenge the Steemit community, instill a greater appreciation for STEM content and increase the vested (STEEM Power) stake of the STEM community members (both content creators and commenters alike). We have supported contests (either through helping with exposure, providing funding or both) run by a variety of STEM content creators including:

* **@jaki01**
   * [biologychallenge 1](https://steemit.com/biologychallenge/@steemstem/biologychallenge-1)
   * [chemistrychallenge 3](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@steemstem/chemistrychallenge-3)
   * [chemistrychallenge 4](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@steemstem/chemistrychallenge-4)
   * [chemistrychallenge 5](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@steemstem/chemistry-challenge-5)


* **@kenchung**
   * [Get Ready! Mathematics × Programming Competition Round 3! 數學 × 程式編寫比賽 (第三回) 你準備好了嗎?](https://steemit.com/contest/@kenchung/get-ready-mathematics-programming-competition-round-3)
   * [[Question] Mathematics × Programming Competition 4 [問題] 數學 × 程式編寫比賽 (第四回)](https://steemit.com/contest/@kenchung/question-mathematics-programming-competition-4)
   * [[40 SBD + 15 SP award!] Logo design contest for the "Mathematics × Programming Competition"! 徽標創作 - 「數學 × 程式編寫比賽」](https://steemit.com/contest/@kenchung/40-sbd-15-sp-award-logo-design-contest-for-the-mathematics-programming-competition)


* **@mystifact**
   * [Introducing the all new MystiFACT-or-FICTION Challenge!](https://steemit.com/science/@mystifact/introducing-the-all-new-mystifact-or-fiction-challenge)
   * [MystiFACT-or-FICTION challenge 1 - Can stress eventually KILL you?](https://steemit.com/science/@mystifact/mystifact-or-fiction-challenge-1-can-stress-eventually-kill-you)
   * [MystiFACT-or-FICTION challenge 1 - RESULTS](https://steemit.com/challenge/@mystifact/mystifact-or-fiction-challenge-1-results)


* **@himal**
   * [Himal-Health contest - Health Awareness on Steemit ! ...Rewards for the Good responses...](https://steemit.com/health/@himal/steemit-health-contest-health-awareness-on-steemit-rewards-for-the-good-responses)


* **@suesa**
   * [Suesa's Science Challenge](https://steemit.com/science/@suesa/suesa-s-science-challenge)
   * [Suesa's Science Challenge - Results](https://steemit.com/suesas-sciencechallenge/@suesa/suesa-s-science-challenge-results)

We have also been *trying* to support the new sciencepic tag created by @mcw as a way for anyone to feel welcome contributing to STEM on steemit

[NEW: SciencePic -- Quest for all Steemians for science photos and pictures](https://steemit.com/sciencepic/@mcw/new-sciencepic-quest-for-all-steemians-for-science-photos-and-pictures) 

## Past SteemSTEM Team Contests

The steemSTEM management team has also been involved in the creation and running a variety of contests including two writing contests:

   * [SteemSTEM Writing Competition - Sharing Knowledge on Steemit](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@steemstem/steemstem-writing-competition-sharing-knowledge-on-steemit)
   * [Results From The First SteemSTEM Writing Competition](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@steemstem/results-from-the-first-steemstem-writing-competition)
   * [SteemSTEM Writing Competition 2 - Sharing Knowledge on Steemit](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@steemstem/steemstem-writing-competition-2-sharing-knowledge-on-steemit)
   * [Results From The Second SteemSTEM Writing Competition](https://steemit.com/science/@steemstem/results-from-the-second-steemstem-writing-competition)

The purpose of these competitions was to provide the STEM community on Steemit a set of excellent examples of what well cited, posts look like, and to reward those posters for their efforts. We feel that these contests were a huge success and resulted in the generation of a nice set of high quality content.

One physics challenge has also been organized by **@lemouth**
   * [SteemSTEM physics challenge 1	- Up!](https://steemit.com/science/@steemstem/steemstem-physics-challenge-1-up)
   * [Results for the Physics challenge 1 - Up!!](https://steemit.com/science/@steemstem/results-for-the-physics-challenge-1-up)



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# Current and Future Project Activities

In continuing with the tradition of steemSTEM management team run contests and competitions, we are currently running a Steemit Science Fair! This project is being spearheaded by @biuiam who is putting in a large amount of effort to ensure a quality competition!

[Steemit Science fair](https://steemit.com/sciencefair/@biuiam/sbd-awards-first-science-fair-on-steemit-by-steemstem-open-call-for-participants). 


## Growth of the steemSTEM Management Team

As the community grows so too does the team of users dedicating their time to support the workings of the project. The steemSTEM management team currently includes (in alphabetical order) @anarchyhasnogods, @biuiam, @cristi, @justtryme90, @lemouth, @mobbs (newest managing team member assisting us in expanding curation efforts to better cover the technology tag), and @suesa. Each of these management team members has delegated at minimum 10% of their personal STEEM Power to enable the @steemstem account to accrue STEEM through curation which is provided back to the community in the form of the above rewards. The steemSTEM management team members do not receive ANY STEEM generated by the project account as payment for their participation and dedication to the project. All generated funds are returned to the community.

Moreover, **many** additional Steemians have generously agreed to trailing the steemSTEM project account’s (@steemstem)  votes. In this way, good STEM content on the platform gets better rewarded, through the active curation efforts of the steemSTEM management team members.

In addition, many of the voted posts are advertised on our [discussion channel on Steemit.chat](https://steemit.chat/channel/steemSTEM), so that Steemit STEM-aficionados can find, read and comment those posts in an easier way.

The science-fair and growing the steemSTEM curation trail are our two big projects of the moment, which are connected to the growth of the initiative.

In the case you want to help (there is no help too small!), you can either join us on the Steemit.chat, on the [steemSTEM channel](https://steemit.chat/channel/steemSTEM), and/or [follow our curation trail on Streemian](https://streemian.com/profile/curationtrail/trailing/564).

## The @steemstem Voting/Curation Bot

An “in-house” @steemstem curation bot is currently being worked on, implemented and maintained by @anarchyhasnogods as a means to complement the streemian service and **ensure consistent support of STEM content** by the steemSTEM team and community. More information about this bot and how to signup may be made public in the coming weeks.

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## Thank You Steemit Community

Finally we would like to thank each and every member of the Steemit community, for their open minds, and quest for knowledge and understanding. We will continue to tirelessly work to the best of our abilities to develop a vibrant STEM community on Steemit such that we may all be educated, entertained and amazed by the great work happening around the world to increase our understanding of ourselves, our planet and our universe.

We appreciate the generous support by the community members for this project, and look forward to continuing to work with all current and future supporters to achieve the lofty (but attainable!) goals of the project.