Science | University

19 Mar 09

Xiaoqi Feng outside the Houses of Parliament with her award

Three Oxford researchers have been awarded prizes in the SET for Britain competition.

Xiaoqi Feng won the Mendel Medal in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences category, and Dr John Morton won the Cavendish Medal in the Physical Sciences (Chemistry and Physics) category, with Mark Rayner coming runner-up in the same field.

SET (science, engineering and technology) for Britain aims to present ground-breaking research at Westminster and get MPs and Lords talking to young researchers.

This year the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee has joined the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Biology and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry to revive the SET for Britain event which had stopped following the death of its founder, Dr Eric Wharton, in 2007.

There were nearly 600 entrants, with 180 selected to present their posters at the House of Commons last week and four medal-winners being chosen overall. SET for Britain aims to encourage, support and promote Britain's early-stage and early-career research scientists, engineers and technologists. The awards are given to the researchers whose posters best communicate their work.

Dr Morton, a Royal Society University Research Fellow at St John’s College, was surprised to win and pleased he had the chance to talk to politicians about his work. ‘The event was an excellent opportunity to present my research to a wide audience. This was both enjoyable and challenging - one person I spoke to was unsure whether physics had produced anything at all useful for society! This event showed to politicians some of the (younger) human faces behind physics research in the UK and provided insights into the fundamental scientific research that forms part of tomorrow's indispensible technology.’

Dr Morton is one of the leaders of the Quantum Spin Dynamics group at the University and received his medal for his poster entitled ‘Solid state quantum memory using nuclear spins in silicon’.

Xiaoqi Feng is in the third year of a DPhil in Plant Sciences at Magdalen College. Her poster, ‘Male meiotic cells and their tapetal nurse calls are derived from distinct cell lineages in higher plants’, looked at a discovery about plant reproduction which could help with developing new strategies for seed production.

Another aim for SET for Britain is to encourage interaction between researchers and Xiaoqi Feng found the event useful. ‘I am very happy I won – it came as a real surprise, especially considering the high standard of the other entries I saw! But what was even more rewarding was getting the opportunity to meet young researchers in different fields from all over the UK and to find out about their cutting-edge research.’

Xiaoqi Feng says her work wouldn’t have been possible without the support she’s received from colleagues and friends. ‘I am also very grateful for the funding for my study and research provided by the Clarendon Scholarship and the ORS Award – without it, none of this would have been possible.’

She added: ‘It is essential that young scientists are able and willing to communicate with the general public and politicians, to make sure that science stays in touch with real life and to promote science-friendly policy that can benefit society.’

Both Oxford medal winners received their medals and a £3,000 cash prize at a reception at the House of Commons during National Science and Engineering Week.

 Dr John Morton (left) and Xiaoqui Feng (second from right) with the other medal winners.