Chemist wins Westminster Medal at SET for Britain 2014
Dr Maria Jose Marin Altaba, 30, a researcher at the University of East Anglia won the coveted Westminster Medal for her chemistry research at yesterday's SET for Britain 2014 competition in the House of Commons.
Maria, who comes from Castellón de la Plana in Spain, presented her research to dozens of politicians and a panel of expert judges as part of a poster competition. Her research on a colour-change test that uses gold nanoparticles to rapidly detect and distinguish between human and bird flu was judged against 29 other shortlisted researchers' work and came out on top.
SET for Britain aims to help politicians understand more about the UK's thriving science and engineering base and rewards some of the strongest scientific and engineering research being undertaken in the UK.
The Westminster Medal is awarded to the competition's overall winner. To compete for the award, Maria had two minutes to explain her research to a panel of judges comprising Andrew Miller MP, BBC Science Correspondent Pallab Ghosh and Professor Michael Elves of science policy foundation Newton's Apple.
Maria said, "It's unbelievable, I feel very proud! It's a real honour to be given this award. It was great to speak to Norwich MPs Chloe Smith and Simon Wright during the competition who were both very interested in my research and what I'm planning to do next."
Maria also won the gold medal in the chemistry section of the competition.
Professor Lesley Yellowlees, President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: "Scientific research and innovation are fundamental to the UK's future and communicating the value of what scientists do is also fundamental. SET for Britain is a fantastic opportunity for talented young chemists to talk to our politicians and show them how their research has the potential to impact on our future. I've had a fantastic day hearing all about their exciting discoveries and I'm absolutely delighted to award Maria with her medals."
Richard Longden, Group Communications Manager at INEOS Group AG, sponsors of the gold medal in the chemistry section, said, "Our business relies on innovation from the best and brightest chemical engineers, which is why we are proud to be sponsoring tonight's gold award for physical sciences.
"We actively encourage young people to pursue their interests in science and engineering to help maintain skills essential to the UK, to secure the future of vital industries such as the chemicals industry.
"Raising the profile of Britain's early-stage researchers at Parliament and elsewhere is vital to the continued progress and development of UK R&D.
"It is very encouraging to see academia, industry and Government working together to harness the talent and energy we can see here today."
The winners of the silver and bronze awards in the chemistry section were:
- Dr Adrian Boatwright, University of Leicester (silver)
- Daniel Toolan, University of Sheffield (bronze)
The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee run SET for Britain in collaboration with:
- Council for Mathematical Sciences
- Institute of Physics
- The Physiological Society
- Royal Academy of Engineering
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Society of Biology
- Society of Chemical Industry
SET for Britain is supported by:
- BP
- Clay Mathematics Institute
- Essar
- INEOS
- Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG)
- Germains Seed Technology
- Boeing
- Bank of England
- Institute of Biomedical Science
Press office
- Tel:
- +44 (0) 20 7440 3351
- Email:
- Send us an email