Oxford researcher strikes gold with chemistry display in Parliament

Chris Spicer, 25, a PhD student in the chemistry department at the University of Oxford, struck gold at a competition in the House of Commons, for the excellence of his chemistry research, walking away with a £3,000 prize yesterday.

Chris presented his research on developing new chemistry for modifying proteins to dozens of politicians and a panel of expert judges as part of the poster competition SET for Britain, on Monday 18 March.

His research was judged against 29 other shortlisted researchers' work and came out on top.

Chris said, "It's great to have our work recognized in a field where there is so much great science going on at the moment."

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.

Tom Crotty, Director of INEOS Group AG, sponsors of the gold medal in the chemistry section, said, "It is crucial that there continues to be investment in skills to provide the next generation of engineers and scientists, particularly as the age profile of highly skilled engineers continues to increase. 
  
"For manufacturing to thrive, the UK needs a large and growing reserve of people with the knowledge and skills to deliver world-class manufacturing and research & development. 
  
"We're delighted to support SET for Britain as an opportunity to celebrate the success of our early career scientists and we hope it will convince politicians to invest even greater effort to ensure the next generation of engineers and scientists come to the fore."

Professor Lesley Yellowlees, President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said, "Since 1841, the RSC has been helping chemists to tell the world about their amazing discoveries, just as you are doing here today.

"You've all done yourselves proud and the chemical sciences too. And I'm delighted to award those that the judging panel felt stood out as truly exceptional."

The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee run SET for Britain in collaboration with the Institute of Physics, The Physiological Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Society of Biology and the Society of Chemical Industry, with financial support from BP, Airbus/EADS, INEOS, AgChemAccess, Essar, the Institute of Biomedical Science, GAMBICA and WMG.

Andrew Miller MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, said, "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 scientists are the architects of our future and SET for Britain is politicians' best opportunity to meet them and understand their work."

The silver medal in chemistry was awarded to Stephen Bromfield, 24, a PhD student in the department of chemistry at the University of York.