University of Southampton scientists triumph at 'SET for Britain'
Researchers from the University of Southampton have picked up prizes at a prestigious event to celebrate science and technology at the Palace of Westminster.
Scientists from the Schools of Physics & Astronomy, Chemistry and Medicine and the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) took part in the 2010 'SET for Britain' competition.
The annual event was established to draw MPs' attention to the work of early-career research scientists, engineers and technologists. Prizes are awarded for scientific posters detailing research projects.
PhD student ThaoNguyen Nguyen, from Dr Eugen Stulz's research group at the School of Chemistry, won the Roscoe Medal for best science presentation in Chemistry. Her work examines DNA and its use in nanotechnology and cancer therapy based on treatment with light.
Dorota Bartczack, a PhD student in Dr. Antonios Kanaras' group at the School of Physics & Astronomy, received the Mendel Medal for Biological and Biomedical Sciences for her poster presentation entitled "Cellular Functions Controlled by Nanoparticles", which addressed the control of cell operations using nanotechnology.
Research Fellow Dr Kimberley Bruce, from the School of Medicine, was awarded the runner-up prize in Biological and Biomedical Sciences. Her poster addressed the link between a mother's high-fat diet during pregnancy and the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in her child as an adult.
Behrad Gholipour, Christopher Holmes, Richard Parker and Giorgio Adamo, from the ORC, also presented their latest research in the fields of chalcogenide glasses, planar optical materials and nanophotonic metamaterials.
SET for Britain is organised by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, and is supported by organisations including the Institute of Physics, the Society of Biology, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Royal Society of Chemistry.