Smells like teen spirit: shattering secondary students’ perceptions of chemistry through fragrances

Chemistry students are investigating how ionic liquids could be used for sustainable synthesis of fragrances, as a part of 'Ionic Liquids: Towards Greener Fragrances' research.

The innovative project in Northern Ireland is designed to change young people’s perception of the subject and open their eyes to less traditional applications of chemistry beyond the taught curriculum. Enabled by an RSC Outreach Fund grant, it has already demonstrated its potential to change students’ attitudes towards chemistry and cement their decisions to pursue the subject beyond school.

Piloted last year, 'Towards Greener Fragrances' supports a broader research agenda of using unconventional techniques to devise greener routes towards specialist chemicals. This is potentially useful in the manufacturing of scents for personal care products and food flavourings.

Professor Gosia Swadzba-Kwasny, director of the Queen’s University Ionic Liquids Laboratories (QUILL) at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, developed 'Ionic Liquids: Towards Greener Fragrances' in collaboration with the Institute for Research in Schools (IRIS). The purpose of the project is to provide young people with a different perspective on chemistry, allowing them to experience the creativity of scientific research and learn how it relates to the real world.

“We want to inspire young people from all backgrounds and show them how interesting and exciting chemistry can be when applied to real-life problems. Equally, we want them to see that they can be part of it all,” she said.

"Our pilot showed that through this project, students gained hands-on research experience, which allowed them to utilise reactions studied at A-level. They also developed practical skills and gained insight into the research profession.”

'Towards Greener Fragrances' helped teachers to enhance and contextualise the chemistry curriculum at A-level and GCSE levels. One school reported that the project enabled the pupils to gain ‘some excellent insight into the topics that they would not have seen in action’. For example, students had the opportunity to analyse their own samples using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), followed by a masterclass on processing and interpreting their data.

All pilot schools have since incorporated the skills and techniques learned from the project into their A-level curriculum.

Feedback from students has been unanimously positive.

One year 13 student from Our Lady’s Grammar School said: “Amazing project. It really cemented my drive to pursue chemistry as a career.”

Camryn, a pupil at Limavady Grammar School, added: “Instead of just reading from a book, I had the chance to figure out what works and doesn’t, so the learning stuck with me.”

IRIS is an educational charity championing students’ engagement in scientific research in school, partners with academic and scientific institutions to provide research opportunities to state secondary schools and colleges.

And director Jo Foster said the success of the project was dependent on funding from the RSC Outreach Fund grant and the energy and professionalism of the QUB team in both delivering, supporting teaching and enthusing pupils.

“We couldn’t have made such a tremendous impact without funding from the RSC and the exceptional support from the QUILL team and from Dr Kevin Morgan, lecturer in education at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Not many students get to experience an emerging field of science at school and for those who do, it can be life-changing,” she said.

“Students taking part in 'Ionic Liquids: Towards Greener Fragrances' were enthused by the practical elements of the project, the relationships developed with the researchers and the experiences of visiting real chemistry laboratories to analyse samples. This is reflected in the extremely high retention of students over the year, and that all schools are planning to run the project again in 2022/23.

"While the practical work has been challenging, it has been accessible to all students enabling them to devise their own parameters, develop skills, lead sessions and it has enlightened them about the plethora of opportunities studying chemistry can provide.”