Sarah Walker	NASA Astrobiology Institute	I apply ideas from physics to problems in astrobiology, particularly the origin of life.
Kimberley Bryon	UCL	I look at how neurons talk to each other in the brain.
Julia Griffen	Univeristy of Bath	I use bugs, specifically bacteria, to make  compounds which I can transform into drugs which can be used to treat diseases and illnesses like diabetes.
Drew Rae	University of York	I try to answer the question “How do we best make sure that dangerous things such as aeroplanes, trains and power stations don’t kill people”.
Amy MacQueen	Babraham Institute	Trying to understand what goes on inside white blood cells to help protect us from infections and diseases.

Schools

Convent of St Jesus & Mary’s Language School, London
Tanglin Trust School, Singapore
Cantell Maths & Computing School, Southampton
Ralph Thoresby School, Leeds
Westhoughton High School, Westhoughton
Wardle High School, Rochdale
St Mary Redcliffe & Temple School, Bristol
Sacred Heart College, Omagh

Chromium Zone

Scientists

Tom Crick	UWIC	I’m a (computer) scientist and I make microprocessors run more efficiently by using mathematics to prove when computer code is optimal; this can have a big effect on our use of these devices, as we are all restricted by a dead battery on a mobile phone!
Tim Millar	University of Southampton	From crayfish and kilimanjaro to cancer: how living without oxygen can show us targets for disease.
Sarah Thomas	University of Edinburgh	Hi, I’m doing a project for Cancer Research UK and I am developing a blood test for all types of cancer that will help doctors diagnose cancer in patients early, as diagnosis is often tricky as the symptoms of cancer are so varied.
Derek McKay-Bukowski	Science and Technology Facilities Council	I am building a radio-telescope in the Arctic that other scientists can then use to explore the universe.
Dayla Soond	Babraham Institute	I study how the immune system fights off infection, battles cancer and occasionally messes up and causes disease on its own.

Schools

Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove
Dixons City Academy, Bradford
Overton Grange School, London
The Rochester Grammar, Rochester
Birchfield Independent Girls School, Birmingham
Sherrardswood School, Wewlyn
Loughborough Grammar School, Loughborough
Sanday Community School, Orkney

Cobalt Zone

Scientists

Mona Gharaie	University of Manchester	Reduce CO2 emission by energy conservation technology.
Michael Taggart	Newcastle University	I study how, in pregnant women, the muscle cells of the uterus work to push out the baby during labour and, also, why this sometimes happens too soon or too late risking the lives of tiny babies.
Joseph Finlayson	Leeds	Limitless: Examining how drugs and diet can boost brainpower.
Jen Gupta	University of Manchester	I study some of the most extreme objects in the universe – galaxies known as Active Galactic Nuclei, which are spewing out far more energy from their centres than can be explained by the stars.
Emma Bennett	University of Reading	I’m studying plant pods to try and make crops which have more seeds that contain lots of really important nutrients, which could help feed the world one day.

Schools

Convent of St Jesus & Mary’s Language School, London
Garibaldi College, Mansfield
Oulder Hill Community School, Rochdale
Wanstead High, London
Great Marlow School, Marlow
Ysgol Dinas Bran, Llangollen
Furze Platt Senior School, Maidenhead

Copper Zone

Scientists

Philippa Demonte	University of Leeds	I am a geophysics student, and my main interest is in active volcano monitoring. I am part of the Volcano Research Group at the University of Leeds, and will be at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory during the June dates.
Kate Clancy	University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	I study how our environment and behavior affect our reproduction and hormone levels, and what that means for things like contraception and IVF.
Jamie Gallagher	University of Glasgow	Growing tiny nanoscale crystals which absorb heat and turn it straight into useful, free electricity.
Emily Robinson	University of Manchester	Understanding the secret double agent inside your body which is attacking your brain… Your immune system!
Cesar Lopez-Monsalvo	University of Southampton and Queen Mary College	Gravity, disorder and why time seems to flow towards the future.

Schools

Melksham Oak Community School, Melksham
Oasis Shirley Park, Croydon
Trinity Academy, Doncaster
Wyedean, Chepstow
Swindon Academy, Swindon
Alderbrook School, Solihull
Haringey 6th Form Centre, London
King Henry VIII School, Coventry
Carrick Academy, Maybole
Dover Grammar School for Boys, Dover

Ecology Zone

Scientists

Nicolas Biber	University of Plymouth	How our plastic waste affects the environment.
Jessica Chu	University of Nottingham	To study the Malaysian rainforest plants for possible anticancer activities.
Edward Codling	University of Essex	I am a ‘Theoretical Ecologist’: I use maths and computer simulations to study the behaviour of animals (including humans) and their interactions with the environment they live in.
Christine Switzer	University of Strathclyde	My research focuses on sustainable methods for cleaning contaminated land and water.
Zara Gladman	University of Glasgow	After habitat loss, the introduction of non-native species is the biggest cause of extinctions worldwide: my research focuses on the non-native North American signal crayfish, and the impact that this aggressive invader has on plants and animals in Britain.

Schools

Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove
Mill Hill County High School, Worcester
Aylward Academy, London
Kingsmead Commuity School, Wiveliscombe
Abingdon School, Abingdon
Matthew Moss High School, Rochdale
Sirius Academy, Hull
Trentham High School, Stoke-on-Trent

Energy Generation Zone

Scientists

William Eborall	University of York	I’m working with a small sea creature called a “gribble” to learn how it is able to eat and digest wood so that we can use this to make petrol for our cars out of farming waste.
Suze Kundu	UCL	Materials Chemistry; solar energy conversion by splitting water using sunlight to make hydrogen for fuel, solving the world’s energy crisis!
James Marrow	University of Oxford	I study why metals and ceramics fail, particularly those in nuclear reactors, so we can make them stronger and safer.  I study how cracks happen, using 3D X-ray images.
Michael Dodd	University of Oxford	Understanding how the heart changes it’s fuel during heart disease.
David Ingram	University of Edinburgh	My work is with wave and tidal energy conversion machines which are trying to generate electricity by converting mechanical motion into electrical energy.

Schools

Blackfen School for Girls, Blackfen
Hillside School, Aberdour
Deyes High School, Liverpool
Buxton School, London
West Thames College, Isleworth
Heanor Gate Science College, Heanor
Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Engineering College, Skelmersdale
Tiverton High School, Tiverton
Stone Hill, Doncaster
Huddersfield Home Educators, Huddersfield
St Marys, Worcester

Evolution Zone

Scientists

Vera Weisbecker	Institut for Spezielle Zoologie, Jena University	I look at how animals (particularly mammals) evolved to look the way they do, and what role their development plays in today’s mammalian diversity; the technical term  of this research is “Evolutionary Developmental Biology”.
Steven Daly	University of Nottingham	I study the structure of molecules to see if they have interesting or useful properties, and to see if we can explain some of the unanswered questions about where life came from.
Sam Tazzyman	University College London	I use mathematics to look at animal mating and evolution – what animals find sexy and why, amongst other things.
Katie Marriott	University of Leeds	I am discovering how and why we are all aliens using chemistry.
Ed Morrison	University of Portsmouth	Evolutionary psychology, especially facial attractiveness.

Schools

Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove
Philomena’s School, Carshalton
Tiffin School, Kingston Upon Thamas
Addey & Stanhope, London
The Grange School, Aylesbury
Bury College, Bury
Birchwood High School, Bishops Stortford

Forensic Science Zone

Scientists

Sue Carney	Ethos Forensics	I examine and interpret body fluid and DNA evidence from items connected to a crime, considering whether the evidence supports the alleged crime or some other version of events, and if asked, go to court to explain my interpretation as an expert witness.
Shane Cooper	University Of Lancashire	A forensic scientist who helps students to fall back in love with science, I am researching these little antennas on your chromosomes to naturally treat cancer cells. I have varied experience from autopsies to identifying a person from old chewing gum.
Richard Case	National Policing Improvement Agency	I work in policing as a Fingerprint Expert (I look at fingerprints found at crime scenes and see whether I can work out who left them), but also give advice to police forces in other areas of Forensics; such as CSI work, DNA and footwear.
Craig McKenzie	Robert Gordon University	I solve puzzles for a living and I was a forensic scientist in Edinburgh and now teach forensic and analytical science in Aberdeen specialising in forensic and environmental toxicology.
Anna Williams	Cranfield University	I’m a Forensic Anthropologist, which means I examine skeletons, bones or fleshed bodies from crime scenes or mass disasters to work out as much as I can about the person – who they were, how they lived and especially how they died.

Schools

Convent of St Jesus & Mary’s Language School, London
Oasis Shirley Park, Croydon
Smithycroft Secondary School, Glasgow
North Chadderton School, Oldham
Gladesmore Community School, London
Saltash Community School, Saltash
Woodkirk High Specialist Science School, Wakefield
Lyndhurst Primary and Nursery School, Oldham

Genes Zone

Scientists

Richard Badge	University of Leicester	Most of your genes stay still, but we work on the ones that move around and they’re doing it right now!
Prateek Buch	UCL Institute of Ophthalmology	I research ‘gene therapy’ for inherited diseases that cause blindness.
Liz O’Day	Harvard / Lizzard Fashion	A picture is worth a thousand words- using structure to probe function (noncoding RNAs in breast cancer- what do they look like and how do they work?).  I also own a clothing company where we promote science through fashion- we make geek chic.
Jim Caryl	University of Leeds	I run a fitness gym for bacteria, the ‘Gene Gym’, to see whether being resistant to antibiotics actually makes bacteria unhealthy.
Amelia Markey	University of Manchester	Developing a miniaturised device for breaking open cells, copying the DNA and storing the DNA.

Schools

Tile Hill Wood School and Language College, Coventry
Unity College,  Blackpool
Ralph Thoresby School, Leeds
British International School, Budapest
John Hanson Community School, Andover
Admiral Lord Nelson School, Portsmouth
Sacred Heart, London

Healthy Ageing Zone

Scientists

Ollie Russell	Newcastle University	Stopping mitochondria from replicating damaged DNA, a process that can cure mitochondrial disease.
Georgia Campbell	Newcastle University	My work focuses on DNA deletions in mitochondria, the only organelle in the human body to contain it’s own genome, and how these spread to cause mitochondrial disease or contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers or Parkinson Disease.
Andy MacLeod	University of Edinburgh	I look for genes that cause differences in our ability to think, to help fight the decline in thinking ability as we get older.
Amy Reeve	Newcastle University – Centre for Brain Ageing and Vitality	I am investigating what causes brain cells to die in Parkinson’s disease.
Alex Munro	Newcastle University	I’m looking at the way people eat protein across the day and the type of protein they eat, and whether this can explain or predict their level of physical capability in older age.

Schools

Fitzharrys School, Abingdon
City of London Boys School, London
Abbeyfield School, Chippenham
Croydon High School, Croydon
St Marys Catholic Comprehensive School, Ilkley
Chigwell School, Chigwell
Nonsuch High School, Surry
Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School, Pontypridd
Mount House School, Tavistock
St Brigids, Denbigh

Iron Zone

Scientists

Ryan Ladd	University of Bath	Submarines which swim like penguins or fish and evolve!
Kath O’Reilly	Imperial College, London	I look at why vaccination works!
James Hargreaves	University of Wales Institute, Cardiff	I try to understand why bread rises during baking, how to create chocolate and why cupcakes are always yummy and soft on the inside!  🙂
Evan Keane	Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany.	I search for dead and dying stars – neutron stars and black holes, the most extreme laboratories in the Universe!
Ailsa Powell	University of Oxford	I try to discover more about how the parasite that causes malaria works and use this information to design new drugs to cure Malaria.

Schools

Arnold Hill School, Nottingham
Chantry High School, Worcester
The Ridgeway School, Swindon
Sir John Hunt Community Sports College, Plymouth
The Sutton Academy, St Helens
Toftwood Junior School, Dereham
Oakwood Park Grammar School, Maidstone
Bay House School and Sixth Form, Portsmouth
Loughborough Grammar School, Loughborough
Glyncoed Comprehensive School, Ebbw Vale

Manganese Zone

Scientists

Wei Xun	Imperial College London	I try and find if the things we are exposed to on a daily basis (nurtients in diet, the air we breathe etc) can affect people’s health in the long term, in terms of diseases such as  cancer.
Verity Nye	National Oceanography Centre, Southampton	I work on reproduction and biogeography of animals living in deep-sea hydrothermal vent environments.
Simon Trent	Cardiff University	Why are some kids hyperactive, inattentive and impulsive? Its all in the brain.
Rebecca Handley	Institute of Food Research	I work on a bacteria called Campylobacter. It is the most common cause of food poisoning and I’m trying to figure out how it survives on food.
David Armstrong	University of Oxford	My work is centred around understanding the physical properties of high performance materials for building nuclear fusion power reactors, which is basically learning how to keep a star inside a box.

Schools

Abraham Guest High School, Manchester
Court Moor School, Camberley
Mangotsfield School, Bristol
Longdendale Community Language College, Hyde
The Warwick School, Redhill
Furze Platt Senior School, Maidenhead

Marine and Underwater Zone

Scientists

Sean Clement	Blue Ventures	Marine Biologists working to preserve critically endangered tropical marine habitats worldwide, one coral reef at a time…
Ozge Ozkaya	Leicester University	Understanding how the daily biological clock works in krill, the most abundant life form in the antarctic ocean.
Gloeta Massie	The University of Queensland	I’m studying the very venomous blue-ringed octopus and the super deadly toxin they have!
Dave Sproson	University of Leeds	Meteorology/oceanography/climate: currently looking at how sea-spray may provide the energy required to power hurricanes and  typhoons.
Clare Woulds	University of Leeds	I study the wierd and wonderful animals at the bottom of the sea, and try to figure out what they eat. To do this I have to sail the oceans, and sometimes even go in a submarine.

Schools

Trinity Academy, Doncaster
Saltash Community School, Saltash
The Gilberd School, Colchester
Uplands Community College, Wadhurst
Shaftesbury School, Shaftesbury
Broadoak Maths and Computing College, Weston-Super-Mare
The Matthew Arnold School, Staines
Great Sankey High School, Warrington
Brockenhurst College, Brockenhurst

Microbiology Zone

Scientists

Pamela Lithgow	Institute for Animal Health	I work with a tiny virus which goes inside the cells of a pig and makes them really ill, I am trying to work out what cells it goes in so we can stop it.
Johnson Soronnadi	Microbiology Department Ulster Hospital, Belfast	I search and identify extremely small living things (microrganisms) in samples of patients sent to the laboratory using range of equipments e.g microscope and identify drugs(antibiotics) that will cures the patient if bugs are present.
Holly Shelton	Imperial College London	I study the ability and consquences of different flu strains to infect humans, like the recent swine flu pandemic strain and the bird flu strains.
Darren Braddick	University of Warwick	Trying to defeat antibiotic resistance of S. pneumoniae through better understanding.
Cat O’Connor	University of Glasgow	I’m a final year PhD student looking at how cattle and badgers create the unusual geographical pattern of the bug that causes bovine tuberculosis, an expensive disease that can infect many mammals, including humans, in Great Britain.

Schools

Smithycroft Secondary School, Riddrie
East Bergholt High School, East Bergholt
Churston Ferrers Grammar School, Brixham
Spen Valley Sports College, Liversedge
Thomas Alleynes High School, Uttoxeter
Kendrick School, Reading
Marshalls Park School, Romford
Wick High School, Caithness
Carlton Bolling College, Bradford

Nickel Zone

Scientists

Sarah Cook	Institute of Environmental Sciences / RPS Energy	Using bacteria to clean up contaminated soil and groundwater.
Rhys Phillips	EADS Innovation Works	Researching methods to protect aircraft against lightning strikes + present a science radio show.
Ian van der Linde	Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge)	I conduct experiments that help us understand how humans see and interact with the visual world.
Helen Fletcher	University of Oxford	Protecting children and adults in Africa from tuberculosis disease by developing better vaccines.
David Corne	Heriot-Watt University	Making computers smarter – especially about analysing, designing, and predicting things.

Schools

Garibaldi College, Mansfield
Walton High, Milton Keynes
Jewish Community Secondary School, New Barnet
Robert Blake Science College, Bridgwater
Amberfield, Ipswich
The Nobel School, Stevenage
Park-High School Colne, Burnley
The Marlborough School, Woodstock

Phosphorus Zone

Scientists

Jo Hulsmans	Warwick university	Nitrogen fixation: why are some plants very good at it but most plants very bad.
James Jennings	University of Nottingham	Using environmentally-friendly fluids – between gas and liquid form – to make tiny bouncy balls with many uses.
Barbara Guinn	University of Bedfordshire	Development of cancer vaccines which would remove residual cancer cells in first remission and prevent or delay relapse.
Andy Norton	University of Oxford	Listening in: I crush teenie-weenie little ceramic samples, listen to the noise that they make, and use a big microscope to work out what happened and what made all those clicks.
Alice Jones	Goldsmiths, University of London	Neuropsychological, brain imaging and behavioural genetic investigations of behavioural difficulties in children.

Schools

Melksham Oak Community School, Melksham
East Bergholt High School, East Bergholt
St Angela’s Ursuline School, London
Yardleys School and Science College, Birmingham
Trinity CE High School, Hulme
The Manor School, Nottingham
Stanwell School, Penarth
Malcolm Arnold Academy, Northampton

Quantum Zone

Scientists

Philip Dolan	University of Oxford	Making better computers, “quantum computers” out of a ultra pure diamonds.
Monica Jung De Andrade	The University of Texas at Dallas	The nanotechnology is changing and will continue to change the manner we see the world.
James Monk	University College London	I’m analysing the proton collision data from the Large Hadron Collider (at CERN); protons are made up of a soup of other particles, so their collisions can be quite messy!
Ceri Brenner	University of Strathclyde/Rutherford Appleton Laboratory	Accelerating particles by firing high power laser pulses onto small targets of  material with a view to build a miniture and flexible particle accelerator that can be used for various applications, from medical to fusion energy research.
Arttu Rajantie	Imperial College London	I use our knowledge of particle physics to try to understand what happened in the very early universe, immediately after the Big Bang.

Schools

Kingsbury High School, Kingsbury
Simon Langton Girls Grammar School, Canterbury
Toynbee School, Chandlers Ford
Lampton School, Hounslow
St Anne’s Catholic School, Southampton
Davenant Foundation School, Essex
Queen Elizabeths Grammar School, Faversham
Allerton Grange School, Leeds

Scandium Zone

Scientists

Simone Bijvoet	University of Stirling	I am studying if playing house or pretending to be batman helps you to become more creative when you’re older.
Katherine Jones	GlaxoSmithKline	Working in the lab, designing and making potential new medicines.
Jeremy Green	King’s College London	How cells make the body starting from fertilisation up to making the brain.
Christopher Phillips	‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai’i	I’m a British Sci-communicator teaching astronomy in Hawai’i – from 14,000ft at the summit of Maunakea all the way down to the sun and surf on the beaches of Kona.
Carys Cook	Imperial College London	I am trying to answer the question: Will Antarctica’s ice sheets melt?

Schools

Fitzharrys School, Abingdon
Lordswood Girls School, Birmingham
Henry Beaufort School, Winchester
Mount Tamar School, Plymouth
Hetton School, Houghton Le Spring
Deptford Green, London
Loughborough Grammar School, Loughborough
The Marlborough School, Woodstock
The Willows SSS, Guildford

Sports Science Zone

Scientists

Stuart Mourton	Bangor University	My work involves investigating the various ways we learn and perform skills; from simple tasks such as reaching for objects, to performing large complex movements like playing a tennis stroke or kicking a football.
Martin Lindley	Loughborough University	Exercise and dietary impact on sports performace, health and disease.
Mark Burnley	Aberystwyth University	I study how the muscles use energy during exercise, and also how the muscles and brain get tired (fatigue).
Jenni Tilley	University of Oxford	Investigating how tendon’s properties are affected by disease and injury so that, when people like David Beckham tear their Achilles tendon, Doctors have a better idea of how to fix it.
Helen O’Connor	Self Employed Sport and Exercise Psychologist	What makes champions? And what mental skills can we learn from them? Psychology is a legal performance-enhancer and can give athletes that extra “edge”.

Schools

Melksham Oak Community School, Melksham
Walton High, Milton Keynes
Holy Rood High School, Edinburgh
Inverness High School, Inverness
St. Joseph’s College, Dumfries
Thistley Hough High School, Stoke-on-Trent
Marshalls Park School, Romford
Budmouth College, Dorset
Queen Elizabeths Grammar School, Kent
The London Nautical School, London
Beechfield Secure Unit, Copthorne

Sulfur Zone

Scientists

Judith McCann	University of Manchester	Developing new materials which have properties which change depending on their environment, this is useful as the materials are used in the body so can respond to different temperatures, enzymes or pH changes.
Gemma Sharp	University of Edinburgh	I’m building a computer model of how different proteins and genes are involved in human pregnancy and labour, in an attempt to find out why some babies are born prematurely and what we can do to prevent this.
Diana Samuel	University of Glasgow	Super sellotape: how the sticky toe pads of tree and torrent frogs could be used to make cool bioadhesives.
Akshat Rathi	University of Oxford	Taking inspiration from nature, I build complex but very useful molecules. Constructing these molecules precisely the way nature does is very hard to do in the lab.
Aime Fournier	National Center for Atmospheric Research	Use maths to help computers focus on important weather and climate phenomena.

Schools

Tile Hill Wood School and Language College, Coventry
East Bergholt High School, East Bergholt
Dixons City Academy, Bradford
Somervale School, Midsomer Norton
The Duston School, Northampton
Claremont High School, London
Mountfitchet Maths and Computing College, Stansted Mountfitchet
Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green
St Martin’s Catholic School, Hinkley

Titanium Zone

Scientists

Phil Denniff	GlaxoSmithKline	Many pharmaceutical drugs have not been studied or approved for use by babies and children, I am working on dried blood spots, this will allow the drug dose to be tailored to a child’s requirement.
Paddy Brock	Institute of Zoology	I study the weird and wonderful Galapagos sea lion, working to understand how the introduction of domestic dogs to the Galapagos islands affects sea lion ecology and health.
Michael Wharmby	University of St Andrews	I design colourful new materials, called metal organic frameworks, which will capture carbon dioxide from power stations, helping to fight climate change.
Eva Bachmair	University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health	Hi, I am working with platelets the special cells in our blood which are able to stop bleeding from wounds and I try to find out if and ho we can alter their ability to do that with our diet.
Chris Jordan	Jodrell Bank Observatory	I’m a support engineer working to on the Radio telescopes at Jodrell bank Observatory, and my mission is to keep the astronomers happy by keeping the data flowing.

Schools

Oulder Hill Community School, Rochdale
Ernest Bevin College, London
William Brookes School, Much Wenlock
Chichester High School For Girls, Chichester
Hambleton and Richmondshire PRS, Northallerton
Hurstpierpoint College, Brighton
Hardenhuish, Chippenham
Carrick Academy, Maybole
Portree High School, Ilse of Skye

Vanadium Zone

Scientists

Chandrika Nair	Imperial College London	I am a microbiologist trying to understand how bacteria make the poison cyanide in the lungs of Cystic Fibrosis patients and how to stop them.
Matthew Dickinson	Uclan	Piston Power !!!!.  Creating better greener engines through the power of nano-technology.
Lyndsey Fox	University of Leeds	I research climate variability 17 to 15 million years ago by studying microfossils. The world was much warmer during this time, so learning more about it will help scientists understand climate change in the future.
Julie Greensmith	University of Nottingham	I develop artificial immune systems to fight computer viruses and also use biosensors to measure people’s thrill levels during extreme experiences like rollercoasters and motorbikes.
Alex Davenport	Barts and the London School of Medicine and dentistry	I work on blood cancers and the testing of a particular drug which we believe will be able to repair the ability of the immune system to fight the cancer.

Schools

Arnold Hill School, Arnold
Kingsbury High School, London
Yardleys, Birmingham
Lucton School, Leominster
Oaklodge Special School, London
All Saints RC High, Rossendale
Chepstow Comprehensive School, Chepstow
The Chantry High School, Worcester