Imperial competition celebrates young scientists

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Professor Tom Welton with the winners of the competition

Professor Tom Welton with the winners of the competition

Secondary school students from across London flocked to Imperial last week to compete in the Schools Science Challenge 2015

The competition, launched this year in Imperial’s Faculty of Natural Sciences, aims to engage school pupils in science and encourage team working. 

This year’s Challenge called on teams of GCSE and A Level students from secondary schools across London to make a case for what they thought was the most significant scientific achievement of the last century. 

I was very impressed by all of the teams - they all gave great presentations about their ideas and really showed there enthusiasm for science and what it can achieve.

– Professor Tom Welton

Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences

More than 45 teams entered this year’s competition, with six being shortlisted and invited to come to Imperial to for a showcase event held on 17 March. At the event, the teams gave their presentations to a panel of judges, including Professor Tom Welton – Faculty Dean, Dr Simon Foster from the Department of Physics, Dr Philip Ramsden from the Department of Mathematics and Imperial alumnus and science presenter and comedian Helen Arney. 

Team Neutron - which was made up of Year Ten pupils Louisa Albertini, Evie Bedford, Emily Binns and Millie Tupper from Gumly House Convent School FCJ - took home the top prize for their presentation about the discovery of the link between smoking and cancer. 

Deserving winners

As their prize, the team will visit Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron – a world leading science facility which accelerates electrons up to very high speeds to produce bright beams of light that can then be used to study a vast range of subjects. The team also took home a trophy and individual prizes for each team member. 

Professor Welton said: “I was very impressed by all of the teams - they all gave great presentations about their ideas and really showed there enthusiasm for science and what it can achieve. For me, what stood out about Team Neutron is the way that they made me think about the question in a very different way to how I had been thinking up to then. Congratulations to the deserving winners!” 

June Marks, a Biology Teacher from Gumley House Convent School FCJ, said: “The Challenge was a fantastic opportunity for our students to research a subject of their choice outside of the science curriculum and gain some experience working as a team. 

Each of our teams entered with enthusiasm and were very supportive of each other. The team who went on to win had a lot of fun making their presentation and all improved their confidence in expressing their views on a science topic.”

Reporter

Deborah Evanson

Deborah Evanson
Communications Division

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Contact details

Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 3921
Email: d.evanson@imperial.ac.uk

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