Cronton Students Present Nuffield Research Projects

Four gifted and talented science students from Cronton Sixth Form have helped inspire their future careers after successfully completing the prestigious Nuffield Research Project.
The programme provides students with a fantastic opportunity to work alongside mathematicians, professional scientists and engineers in universities, research institutions or industry to complete real life research projects.

The students who took place this year were:

• Maegan Pratt, previously from Wade Deacon High School
• Rahim Raja, previously from St. Gregory’s Catholic High School
• Jairus Patoc, previously from St. Gregory’s Catholic High School
• Kirsten Headspith, previously from Penketh High School

 
After completing a four week placement over the summer the students recently had the opportunity to meet up with other students from the region. They were able to present their findings to an invited audience of parents, mentors and guests from the science, technology and engineering sector at the University of Liverpool.

Maegan completed her research placement at Unilever where she worked alongside researchers in chemical engineering. She said, “The Nuffield Research Project was a fantastic experience that opened my eyes to many other areas of science. It has helped me focus on what I would like to do in my career and gave me experience of a real working environment.”

Rahim said, “I went to the Daresbury Laboratories to research accelerators at the Cockcroft Institute for my project. When I first heard about the project I knew it was for me because I love physics and want a career in research so I was really pleased to have been accepted.”
Jairus, who also completed his project at the Daresbury Laboratories said, “I really loved taking part as physics is my passion. It has helped me enormously and given me a great insight into the world of work and how my career will be after university.”

Kirsten completed her placement at the pharmacology department at the University of Liverpool. She said, “I was really pleased when I found out I had been accepted onto the Nuffield Research Scheme, especially when I discovered that there was only 66 places in total. After completing the programme I feel confident going into my final year of A levels knowing I have successfully completed a research project.”
Paul Jackson, Physics tutor at Cronton Sixth Form said, “The Nuffield Research Placement Scheme is a fantastic opportunity for the selected students to find out what life as a research scientist is really about. They find it to be a truly inspirational experience.
Last years’ Nuffield placement students have progressed to some of the most prestigious universities and this year’s students are hoping to progress to Oxford, Imperial, Manchester, Leeds and MIT to study courses including Material Science, Pharmacology, Chemistry and Physics. We look forward to finding out what interesting projects they will work on in the future.
It is a highly respected scheme; not only will it support the students with their university applications but it will also be a very valuable experience in four or five years’ time when these students apply for research degrees and jobs.“