On a wet, windy November night, Anish Shah (Yr13), his parents and I attended the celebration event for students that participated in the Nuffield research placements programme over the summer holiday. The Nuffield programme provides engaging, hands-on research projects, where students have the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution towards the work of a host organisation through well-supervised but independent research.
The celebration was held at Imperial College, London, and there were wonderful speakers including a keynote from Dr Jackie Bell (definitely one to watch – I suspect we may see her in space!). The students explained their research projects and wider learning to the assembled academics, families and other guests. Anish worked at LifeArc, a medical research charity, doing the type of research into antibiotic resistance in bacteria that you would expect to see from third year university students. His project has been presented as both a report and a scientific poster and we are hopeful that it will be published. We are incredibly proud of what Anish has achieved and know that the experience will stand him in good stead for the future!
The breadth of research by the students was astonishing, from the impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns on adolescent mental health to how we may protect corals for the future. There were projects from science, quantitative social science, computing, technology, engineering and maths (and combinations of these!).
Year 12 students can apply now – more information is available at www.nuffieldresearchplacements.org.
Mrs Doust
Head of Biology