From Belfast to Dover, 430 students from 52 schools across the UK presented their research to peers and the wider academic community at our London, Manchester and Exeter conferences.
From a robot that could retrieve tennis balls to role DNA origami could play in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, our talented young researchers proved, once again, that given the chance, young people can contribute to academic research while at school.
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
BIG DATA: COVIDAdeleke from Dartford Grammar School took Dame Kate Bingham through his research investigating the effect of COVID-19 on recreational mobility. Bingham led the UK government’s vaccine task force during the COVID-19 pandemic.
BIG DATA: ATLASA student from King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys talks to University of Oxford particle physics professor about his group’s research. They analysed over 12 million collision events from ATLAS data to find the Higgs boson.
EARTH OBSERVATIONBBC Spotlight interviewed Arthur from Mullion about his research on how satellites can help us clean up rivers. Using satellite images, he discovered interesting patterns of chlorophyll in rivers downstream sewage pumping stations.
BIG DATA: ATLASTiffin Girls’ School pupils presented their research Proving the Existence of the Higgs boson. We were impressed with their confident delivery and ability to successfully complete the project without support from a teacher.
DNA ORIGAMIStudents from Callington Community College presented their research at the Exeter conference. They investigated how DNA structures can be used to transport Interleukin-2.
ORIGINAL RESEARCHElliot from Liverpool Life Sciences UTC worked with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to investigate why mosquitoes are attracted to some people and not others. He studied the insect using a scanning electron microscope.
GREENER FRAGRANCESStudents from Bedford Girls’ School presented their research at the London conference. Their project looked at the viscosity and conductivity of ionic liquids.
EARTH OBSERVATIONLily from Mullion School presented her research in Exeter. She looked at the correlation between glacial melt and temperature change over time.
DNA ORIGAMIAltrincham Grammar School students shared their research into how DNA origami can be used to improve treatment for cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.
ORIGINAL RESEARCHTapton School Academy Trust students presented their research into therapeutic targets for motor neurone disease.
BIG DATA: ATLASCamp Hill students presented their unique approach to Big Data: ATLAS. They used artificial intelligence to sieve through data to help find evidence of the Higgs boson.
COSMIC MININGStudents from Hele’s School talked passionately about their stellar research into the formation and evolution of spiralling arms in galaxies.
COSMIC MININGYoung researchers from Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group presented their stellar investigations using satellite images.
OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
DR STEVE PALMERSenior Lecturer in Physical Geography, University of Exeter
DR TIM GABRIELSenior Lecturer in Chemistry, Manchester Met University
PROFESSOR ALAN BARRProfessor of Particle Physics, University of Oxford
OUR PANELLISTS
WORKING IN INDUSTRYEmily Kershaw, intern at Hi9, a tech agency that makes bots, Sarah Holmes, climate scientist at the Met Office, and Pablo de Felipe, graduate fuel cell engineer at Zeroavia, talked about their jobs and how they landed them.
ACADEMIC RESEARCHShannon McLaughlin, a postdoctoral researcher at Queen’s University Belfast and Calum Hoad, Earth Observation PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, talked about the world of academic research.
STEM CAREER PATHS Isla Davies, aerospace engineer at the University of Glasglow, Catherine Harrison, meteorite researcher at the Natural History Museum, and Hamdaan Sheikh, chemical engineering student at the University of Leeds shared their academic journeys.