We will be announcing our next school science writing competition very shortly. Check back here for more information soon!
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the MT2019 Oxford Scientist national school science writing competition! Through our science writing competitions, we hope to encourage school students to think about science outside of the classroom, and give them the opportunity to explore their own scientific interests in a creative way. This term, students in Years 11-13 were asked to write a short article about an ‘unsung hero of science’.
We received 254 articles written to an astonishingly high standard, ranging from scientists whose work was lost to ancient history, to scientists across the globe who are conducting ground-breaking research today. The articles were judged by a panel of experts, who selected one winning article, and eight runners-up. The winning article will be published in our MT2019 issue of The Oxford Scientist magazine, as well as receiving a £50 Amazon voucher, sponsored by Linacre College.
The winning article, as selected by our panel of judges was:
Cecelia: The Tale of Two Elements by Jake Pugsley, Year 13, The Costwold School, Gloucestershire
The runners-up were:
- Ibn Sina: the Father of Modern Medicine… Who? by Mahma Hyder, Year 13, Wisbech Grammar School, Norfolk
- Charles Richard Drew: the Father of Blood Banking by Dionne Jeevarajah, Year 13, Norwich High School for Girls, Norfolk
- Edward W. Morley: the Michelson-Morley Experiment and its Successful Legacy of Failure by Kitty Joyce, Year 12, Oxford High School, Oxfordshire
- Jocelyn Bell Burnell: a Pulsar Pioneer by Divya Kartick, Year 12, Guildford High School, Surrey
- Glavny Konstruktor (the Chief Designer) by Jakub Sypek, Year 12, Peter Symonds College, Hampshire
- Mileva Maric: Eclipsed by her Husband by Krishna Gowda, Year 11, Merchant Taylors Boys School Crosby, Merseyside
- Yuan Longping: China’s Father of Hybrid Rice by Christina Jiang, Year 11, The Blue Coat School, Merseyside
- Alfred Russel Wallace: The Natural Selection for the Unsung Hero of Science by Mirela Smolenska, Year 11, Benenden School, Kent
Our Judges
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Ashvina Segaran is a breast surgeon in training who’s decided to trade in the scalpel for a pipette. She is currently doing a DPhil in Clinical Medicine, and her research is on obesity and breast cancer; particularly the tumour microenvironment and nucleotide metabolism.
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Carolyn Ten Holter has a background in law, library science and communications. She now works on responsible innovation techniques and her research focuses on responsible quantum computing.
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Danielle Perro is a DPhil student in Women’s and Reproductive health, where she focuses on endometriosis-associated pain. In addition to her studies, Danielle is involved in science communication and uses her platform, whether it be twitter or FameLab, to talk about all things women’s health, ranging from endometriosis to menstruation.
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Jacqueline Gill is a DPhil student in Evolutionary Microbiology. She was a co-founder of The Oxford Scientist magazine, established the first national Oxford Scientist school science writing competition, and has continued running the competition ever since.
If you have any questions about the competition, please email [email protected].
If your school, sixth form or college would like to subscribe to The Oxford Scientist for just £15 per year, please contact [email protected].
With thanks to Linacre College for their support of the competition.
