David Fallon was the winner in the Chemistry category of STEM for BRITAIN, a UK-wide competition run by the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee.

He presented his chemistry research, on applications of photolabelling, to dozens of politicians and a panel of expert judges. He received a £2000 prize and medal after being judged against 29 other shortlisted researchers’ work.

David is a student on Strathclyde’s collaborative chemistry programme with pharmaceutical company GSK. He is Strathclyde’s fourth gold medallist – and seventh medallist overall – at STEM for BRITAIN, and its predecessor, SET for BRITAIN, in the past eight years.

He told the Royal Society of Chemistry: “I feel elated to win, I absolutely didn’t expect it. Just to see all your three years of work on one page is fantastic enough, but then to end up winning the medal is just absolutely fantastic.

“I’d really recommend [that others apply in future]. I got questions on my poster from so many different fields, that you just don’t get if you only present at scientific conferences. It was a fantastic experience to express my work in lay terms – because it needs to be expressed that way if it’s going to benefit the rest of society.”

Stephen Metcalfe MP, Chair of the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee, sponsors of the chemistry awards said: “The Parliamentary & Scientific Committee is delighted to sponsor the chemistry awards. This annual competition is an important date in the parliamentary calendar because it gives MPs an opportunity to speak to a wide range of the country’s best young researchers.

“These early career engineers, mathematicians and scientists are the architects of our future and STEM for BRITAIN is politicians’ best opportunity to meet them and understand their work.”

 

Links

STEM for BRITAIN

University of Strathclyde