Chemists win parliamentary prizes

The top prizes in the chemistry session of SET for Britain all went to young scientists working on research that may help medicine in the future. The three winners were selected from a shortlist of 30 who brought their posters to Parliament for the finals of the annual competition.

Yuval Elani, a Research Fellow at Imperial College, London, claimed the top prize – a gold medal and £3000, for his poster about his research developing artificial cells that mimic biological ones for medicinal and drug delivery applications.

"It’s a great honour. This was a different experience from scientific conferences. It will encourage me to try to engage more with non-scientists and engage people with some of the great science that is happening in the UK," he said.

The second prize of a silver medal and £2000 went to Natalie Theodoulou for her poster on research carried out at GlaxoSmithKline that focuses on the development of chemical tools to enable drug discovery.

"It’s really exciting, especially because I’m still a PhD student and I’m still learning," said Natalie, who is studying on a collaborative industrial programme between GSK and the University of Strathclyde.

"It’s fantastic to present to so many people and it has given me a lot of confidence."

Ryan Gorman, a final year chemistry PhD student at the University of York, was awarded the bronze medal for his poster about his research into making drug synthesis affordable and more environmentally-friendly using copper catalysis.

"I learned a lot today about presenting to people from different backgrounds. It’s a good challenge to try to explain your chemistry to people who aren’t in the field. You can get so stuck in your ways when you’re just talking to other chemists so it’s great to talk about the bigger picture."

Andrew Miller MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, said the future of British science was in safe hands: "This annual competition is an important date in the parliamentary calendar because it gives MPs an opportunity to speak to a wide range of the country’s best young researchers.

"These early career engineers, mathematicians and scientists are the architects of our future and SET for Britain is politicians’ best opportunity to meet them and understand their work."

Professor Helen Fielding, from the Royal Society of Chemistry Council, said: "As a member of the chemistry judging panel, it has been inspirational to see so many excellent posters from the finalists. Chemistry is crucial to society, playing an important role in energy, health, food, and tackling climate change.

"Inspiring young people into science is also crucial for the UK’s economic growth and job creation. We hope that many more talented scientists – like these finalists – have the opportunity to contribute to society. I’m thrilled to see such excellent and inspiring science going to Parliament."