Chemistry lovers take the Cambridge challenge

Students in the UK and around the world have put their chemistry skills to the test this year in a new competition supported by the Department of Chemistry. The winners will be celebrated this evening at a ceremony in the Houses of Parliament.

The Cambridge Chemistry Challenge is a monthly online competition which is open to anyone, any age from anywhere in the world, though primarily aimed at students from secondary schools and sixth forms. Five ‘Google-proof’ questions, issued on the first of each month from January to June, are set by an experienced team of teachers and University chemists.

Designed to push boundaries and stretch knowledge, the aim is for the competition to encourage students to engage with science by mining data from the internet and other resources to explore their theories.

"At school students are taught the facts but here they have to be creative, apply knowledge of other subjects and think outside the box" says Peter Wothers, a mainstay of outreach activities from the Department of Chemistry. "I these are exactly the kind of skills which are needed for university. It is so useful for students wanting to go on to study chemistry at undergraduate level because it gives them that competitive edge!"

Launched in January 2011, the Challenge is the brainchild of Peter Wothers, and is also supported by The Rushton Bequest from St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge International Examinations and OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations). The competition has proved extremely popular, with teachers and students from more than 50 countries around the world entering online.

"We set this up because we wanted to give students and teachers a new and fun way of approaching chemistry and it’s fantastic to see this competition strike a chord with so many students across the world" says Wothers.

"In terms of the written paper for UK schools – it seemed important to target students at Year 12 because this is when they are developing subject interests and considering their university options."

At the end of the online competition in June the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge team set a written exam for Year 12 students at schools in the UK. This was taken by more than 3000 students in 250 schools across the country. The top performing students attended a residential camp at the University’s Chemistry Department. They will be presented with their ’Chemistry Challenge’ awards by Cambridge MP and research scientist Julian Huppert at a ceremony in the Houses of Parliament this evening. The awards are made from glass crystal, with a 3D image of an atomic orbital engraved in each one.

The Cambridge Chemistry Challenge will continue into 2012 due to popular demand from students and teachers. The new year will bring exciting developments such as a poster that springs to life when used in conjunction with a mobile phone app. Developed with Zappar, an app company created by former Cambridge engineering students Simon Taylor and Connell Gauld, the poster features flaming elements that spring to life when students point their phones at it, and will be distributed by the RSC as part of the Education in Chemistry magazine.

The first online challenge will be available at 00.01, Sunday 1 January 2012. If you would like to find out more visit www.c3l6.org