Four teams completed the Royal Society of Chemistry, Top of the Bench Competition task. The teams were asked to create a poster on a Transition metal.  Three of the teams were selected to be entered. Their entries are below.    

Dr Numbrere-Nmaju, Science Department

RSC TOTB Competition ~ 2024/2025

Articles:

This competition was certainly a valuable experience, I believe: to form a team, partaking in research, writing and design, and to produce something is great. In spite of a group dilemma of transition metals to choose from - with some unusual suggestions, much like throwing darts at the periodic table, there seem to also be many choices that are interesting, rather important in daily life and specific applications, extraordinary in properties, or relevant to the future, and even a combination of these. It was certainly enlightening to learn, through our investigation and presentation of a transition metal, of the extent and application of chemistry, and to delve into the subject which I find myself often fascinated by. Teamwork was also valuable, as we were all eventually tasked with our areas of research, and in simultaneously iterating and criticising our design ideas, we also linked all of our ideas together, both in presentation and understanding. The aspect of design was also a dilemma, but the result was resolved and enthusiastically completed.

Tianming Xie, Year 10

I am truly proud of what my group has accomplished within and outside the bounds of this poster: improved organisation, collective research, and great teamwork. This poster is one collection of our communication put into words and illustrations, but overall, our knowledge of chemistry has improved tremendously (to the point where we couldn't fit all our research on the poster!)

Great work everyone!

Isabelle Raphael, Year 11  
Leader of the BGS winning group

 Winning Poster

 

This week, I presented “Real-Life Ethical Issues In Neurology” at Senior Science Society! This is a topic I find incredibly fascinating and was eager to explore further.

This week, the Senior Science Society discussion (Thursday lunchtimes in M15) was on clinically induced seizures. My presentation began with a hypothetical scenario where everyone had to place themselves in the role of the doctor advising a patient. The scenario included a patient with a widespread condition of seizures caused by epilepsy which remains uncured. The doctor is given an opportunity to clinically induce a seizure in the patient, which would provide the information needed to cure this condition and potentially save millions, but it could also be fatal for the patient. Surprisingly, 12 people voted against the controlled seizure, whilst only 6 voted for the seizure. Most of the group believed that there were too many ethical issues in placing the patient in a controlled seizure, knowing that it could cause long-lasting physical and psychological harm. Then, when the scenario changed and the patient was now a close family member (or yourself), the vast majority (16 people) voted against the seizure and only 3 voted for it! Some people argued that it was “worth the risk”, whilst others oppositely argued that they believed their life was too precious, and would not be worth ending for a scientific discovery.

Seizures can either be focal (localised in one part of the brain) or generalised (widespread across the brain) and I explored the many techniques used to clinically induce seizures, which include photosensitivity tests, medication withdrawal (AEDs), sleep deprivation, electrical stimulation or stressors. Something I found interesting was that there are both invasive types of electrical stimulation (cortical stimulation with electrodes) and also non-invasive techniques (transcranial magnetic stimulation with magnets). This is followed by monitoring, data collection and then applications of the induced seizure. And finally, we discussed in further detail the specific ethical issues and considerations, including the Hippocratic Oath followed by doctors specifying that they will do no harm.

Presenting the science behind clinically induced seizures, as well as having group discussion about the ethics, was very fascinating to me. I can’t wait to see what is being discussed next week!!

Deya Dimitrova, Year 12

Last week, BGS Year 12 Senior Society attended King’s College’s annual Daniell Lecture. These are delivered by internationally renowned scientists and cover a topic of current interest or excitement in memory of Professor Daniell. 

First we heard from a PhD student who is exploring cutting edge nano medicine. I was particularly inspired by her masters project focussing on simultaneously diagnosing and treating diseases. We also heard from Professor Rebecca Goss, who was the first female professor of organic Chemistry at St Andrews in Scotland. It was amazing to see such an ambitious and successful woman in that position. She demonstrated to us how we can start building molecules sustainably, exploring areas of chemistry and biology. 

The Senior Science Society is a group of aspiring scientists in Year 12 who all come and meet every week. It is such a great opportunity to collaborate and fully embrace our subject. We took the initiative and booked tickets for this lecture and all attended together. It is so nice to work with like-minded students and I look forward to our meetings every week. 

Last week I had the opportunity to run a debate on the ethics behind stem cell research. I really enjoyed seeing everyone get stuck into the topic and discuss what science looks like outside the theory within our curriculum. I am really looking forward to seeing what else we will do within our society in the future… 

Matilda Jackson, Year 12

The following students took part in the national competition; Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, which really challenged the students. Our students, filled with the highly developed BGS ethos of intellect and courage, worked through unfamiliar content (Year 13 IB spec) as well as unfamiliar contexts.

Dr Numbere-Nmaju
Subject Leader for Chemistry

The Biology in Action trip certainly provided a useful and insightful look into the multitudes of different careers and opportunities within the broad subject of biology.  A small group of us, all higher biology students, attended the trip to Emmanuel Hall in Westminster, along with a few other schools too. The centre looked amazing, with amazing speakers there too. Every lecture was around 45 minutes long, discussing various different uses of biology in everyday life and so many different career paths instead of the presumed doctor, dentist, or veterinarian that always comes to mind to a lot of people, including me, when a career in biology is mentioned. There were six lectures throughout the day, varying from exam tips to research expeditions, virology, and even methods of saving species from extinction, such as the Northern White Rhino, which was certainly unique and interesting. To me, the most interesting lecture was the one on virology, with the speaker sharing her role in science and even sharing her method of discovering a once unknown outbreak of plague around 4000 years ago, which certainly inspired me to perhaps follow a career in that sector of science. Overall, the trip opened my eyes to many unique and exciting opportunities for me in science and widened my knowledge of the subject of biology and the impact it has on our living world.

George Claydon, Year 12

Overall, the trip was a great day out in such a nice venue; it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to be able to listen to such experiences from experts in the field. A variety of compelling lectures were given, one on the awesome experiences in the Amazon Rainforest, major trauma centres around the UK, an emotive talk on the Northern White Rhinos, a talk from Miss Estruch and a talk from a PHD completed doctor on her experiences with researching infectious diseases from-thousand year old human remains. Constantly engaging talks allowed all the students to be attentive all of the time. The day was all in all very eye-opening and definitely pushed me more towards Biology as a whole.

Shishir Gautum, Year 12