Competition to share the cutting edge-research in Physics and Astronomy

Physics and Astronomy challenged students to create an exciting overview of their three research groups – Astronomy, Nanotechnology and Photonics, and Particle Physics – that would interest and inspire younger pupils.

The Outreach and Public Engagement Team ran the Science and Art competition for AS and A-Level students. The goal was to develop three introductory web pages to explain the cutting-edge research of the three groups at a level accessible to GCSE students and the general public.

The three winners of the competition were:

• Samuel Parker, from Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh, for his description about the Nanotechnology and Photonics research of the Quantum, Light and Matter group • Katie Prescott, from Peter Symonds College, Winchester, for her description about the Astrophysics Research of the Astronomy Group • Thomas Waite, from Turton Sixth Form College, Bolton, for his description about Particle Physics research

They were all awarded £100 for their efforts and Katie also won £100 for creating an amazing piece of artwork depicting a black hole dramatically interacting in a binary system with a nearby star.

Dr Sadie Jones, Outreach Leader in Astronomy, said: “We wanted to encourage students to create some exciting copy about our cutting-edge research that would help GCSE pupils and the general public understand what we actually do here in Physics and Astronomy. We were very pleased with the winners’ results and these are now live on our web pages and we hope they will inspire many more young people to develop an interest in our research.”

The winning entries can be seen on Physics and Astronomy’s new public engagement web pages at www.phys.soton.ac.uk/outreach/sciencecompetition