September saw the second stage of the BGS Lonza Junior and Senior Scientist of the Year competitions. The top 20 entrants from Year 10, plus the best of Year 13, were brought together to give rapid five-minute summaries of their research to teachers from a range of backgrounds. This really tested not just their scientific knowledge, but their ability to communicate ideas clearly and concisely. The standard of all entries was superb, and all entrants should be very proud of their contributions. In the end we managed to narrow them down to 10 finalists from Year 10, and three from Year 13. These will now develop their presentations further before visiting Lonza's research labs in November, where they will present to the Lonza scientists and aim to be crowned Scientist of Year!

This year, research topics for Year 10 included:

• Why do we Sleep & Dream?
• Physics of Sound and Music
• The Chemistry of Crime

This year, Year 13 could choose to reserach from these topics:

• Can we make stem cells differentiate into enamel-forming cells to help repair tooth enamel?
• What's so super about superconductors?
• The hormonal blueprint of early brain development
• A brief history of time and crystals
• Nuclear fusion - Why we are always 30 years away

Mr Haldane, Joint Director of Science, said;

"Every year I'm amazed at the standard of the top entries, and this year is no exception. It's a real celebration of how much our most dedicated students can achieve."