The Oxfordshire Youth Chemistry Conference, held at Wychwood School, had the topical theme this year of ‘Out of this World – how chemistry contributes to space exploration’. The conference aims to inspire and showcase excellence in science across the county.
The conference opened with an inspirational recording from Helen Sharman CMG OBE, chemist and the first British astronaut. Her words were particularly moving, where she explained how people set their own limitations, pupils should be courageous and push themselves, as you never know where the road will take you. This was followed by a very (very) brief introduction to astrochemistry, an exciting talk that set the scene for the presentations from pupils from Fifth Form upwards and from a range of schools.
Ella (Fourth Form, Swift) and Sophie (Fourth Form, Vanbrugh) eloquently discussed the role of the lunar cycle in our lives, Poppy (Fourth Form, Feilden) and Evie (Fourth Form, Swift) spoke passionately about the formation of a nebula and Samarth (Fourth Form, Vanbrugh) confidently proposed his view of the vital work being done using the James Webb telescope. It was an absolute delight seeing the pupils present beautifully on their subject of choice, they were amazing.
