9 March 2010
University helps pupils get a taste of research work
Photo opportunity: 3pm on Tuesday, March 9th in Room 8, Ewing Building, University of Dundee. Bell Baxter pupils will be carrying out experiments under the tutelage of Dr Paul Campbell.
Two senior pupils from Bell Baxter High School in Cupar have completed their Advanced Higher Physics projects under the guidance of top academics at the University of Dundee.
S6 pupils Eilidh Johnston and Ceri Griffiths (both 17) have been thrown in at the deep end by completing research projects initiated by lecturer Dr Paul Campbell. The pair will now carry out a couple of follow-up experiments and write their reports on their individual projects.
Normally, pupils undertake their Advanced Higher research project at their own schools but an agreement between Physics staff at the University and Bell Baxter High School allows pupils to carry it out using the first rate equipment and facilities available.
Dr Campbell looks at the syllabus and devises a project that fits with the University’s research objectives in areas that the students have already been exposed to and have some level of familiarity with. He said the two girls have shown great aptitude so far in what he described as a 'bite-sized version of an undergraduates Honours project'.
'Both Eilidh and Ceri have demonstrated great ability when it comes to Physics, and both want to go on and study the subject at University,' he said.
'This project is an important part of our outreach work, and we really enjoy working with the pupils and showing how exciting a field Physics is. Throwing them in at the deep end with an undergraduate-level research project is great training for them.'
'Both girls have learned what research is like - these were not standard set ‘em up and go experiments, but rather we all learned something from the outputs. Hopefully they will have exercised some creativity in their approach to the experiments. I just tell them what to measure - not how to do it. They have to figure that out for themselves.
'So they had to think about the protocols themselves, and work all the kit after some training.'
Eilidh looked at the efficiency of converting [ultra]sound energy into light, as a precursor to its use as a means of activating light sensitive drugs deep in the body, without the need for a laser and accompanying surgery - a possible first step towards incision-free surgery.
Ceri examined a highly novel route to networking multiple nodes with minimum expense - it can be applied to working out the optimal road network connecting cities, or signalling pathways in cellular networks.
The pair will be hoping to emulate Ceri’s older sister, Megan, who was the first to undertake a project with the University’s School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics and who became the first pupil in Scotland to achieve a perfect score in her assessment.
That School’s outreach work recognises that researchers need to connect their work to the public at large to demonstrate the kind of research that is publicly funded and how this is useful it is to our future scientific and economic well being. It also aims to encourage more young people to consider science as a career.
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