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Inspiring the next generation of cancer researchers
Posted on Friday 27th September 2013
Cancer Research UK joined with Queen's University Belfast in a science competition to encourage the next generation of cancer researchers.
AS-level Biology students from Northern Ireland were invited to design a poster focusing on one area of cancer research and promoting Cancer Research UK and the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (CCRCB) at Queen's, and asking for support from their chosen target audience. In addition to producing an A3 poster, they were also asked to submit a paragraph of no more than 200 words to explain their poster and its aim.
Ten of the entrants were invited to the CCRCB on 13 September for a day in the labs, including DNA extraction and PCR and other techniques relevant to the A-level Biology syllabus. They also had an opportunity to participate in a careers 'speed dating' session to learn about the range of careers that are available in the field of cancer research - from clinical trials management to drug discovery and more.
The students were thrilled to be able to work in to a professional laboratory setting under the supervision of professional and dedicated researchers. They each received a workbook outlining all the tasks they completed on the day.
Parents and teachers were invited to a reception at the close of the day at which Professor David Waugh, Director of the CCRCB, announced the winner. The winner, Aaron Carlisle from Dromore High School, was presented with an iPad, courtesy of the Almac Group, for his poster showing a heart attached to a stick of dynamite and focusing on computational cancer research to 'help defuse the time bomb' of cancer.
The CCRCB/Nikon prize, sponsored by Vector Scientific/Nikon, was awarded to Daryl Hinchcliffe for her striking image of a young girl looking up into a microscope with the headline 'only research funded by our generation can save hers'. She received a Nikon digital camera.
The student reaction to the day was overwhelmingly positive, and teachers who attended the reception spoke of the tremendous opportunity that it presented to their students to gain an insight into research as a potential career.
View photos of winners.
