外网天堂

Throughout 2019 we鈥檝e been partnering with our colleagues at the Royal Institution to celebrate International Year of the Periodic Table, marking the 150^th anniversary of Dmitri Mendeleev鈥檚 lasting legacy.

On Friday 15 November, we joined more than 200 guests from families and school groups, in the Ri鈥檚 famous Faraday Theatre, to hear Professor Saiful Islam give a thoroughly entertaining lecture on energy materials, including batteries and perovskites, as well chemistry鈥檚 crucial contribution to the fight against the climate emergency.

The lecture was coupled with exhibition stands, experiments and explanations from a dozen university and industry groups and companies, demonstrating the diversity and wealth of chemistry careers to a younger audience.

Supercharged: making a material difference (with batteries included)

As a former Ri Christmas Lecturer, Saiful told us: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to be back at the Royal Institution, in this lovely Faraday Theatre. Tonight I鈥檓 mainly covering my research area but aimed at a teenage audience, so I鈥檒l be covering Lithium batteries, a bit about solar cells and trying to link it up with some of the elements that we did during my Christmas lectures back in 2016. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 that lovely poster from the 外网天堂 that says 鈥楴ot all chemists wear white coats鈥�, and I actually show that in the lecture. So that says that it can really open up lots of doors into a range of careers 鈥� not necessarily careers that people even think about.

鈥淭onight I鈥檓 interested in finding out the ways in which chemistry impacts us that we don鈥檛 really think about. For example, on the schedule for tonight I can see Thames Water 鈥� they have to clean our water, which takes a whole industrial and chemical process 鈥� which is really interesting.

鈥淲hen I researched chemical engineering, I found it can impact people on a wider scale, from solar power to energy sources, so I want to see how interested I am in that before choosing whether to study straight chemistry and go into a career in teaching 鈥� I just want to pursue all my options.鈥�

Communicating complex chemistry

Alice Taylor, from Oxford Photovoltaics enjoyed the experience of talking to a different type of audience, specifically adapting her explanations for teenagers. She said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 really great. There are some kids who are getting really excited about chemistry and I think it鈥檚 quite shocking to some of them to understand the ways in which that can relate to the real world, to innovation, to products that will be changing their future. It鈥檚 really great for them to have this opportunity to see that in action.鈥�

Jenny Tompkins and Robert Cordina, from Mondel膿z, explain that it鈥檚 the first time they鈥檝e worked on an exhibition stand with a teenage audience. Jenny said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 really refreshing. We鈥檝e seen a lot of people who are passionate about chemistry from a really young age. It is really nice to see that they鈥檙e actively engaging in things and asking questions, being inquisitive about how you can use it.

Robert added: 鈥淲hat I鈥檝e enjoyed is that children are actively interested in chemistry, that they鈥檝e discovered that there鈥檚 a lot of chemistry in food and that they can have a career in food chemistry 鈥� which is what we鈥檙e trying to do here. As a teenager I definitely didn鈥檛 know you could work in food chemistry 鈥� I was set on working in pharmaceuticals as the link to chemistry was a bit more obvious. It was something I discovered much later, when I had already graduated.

鈥淚鈥檓 on the Food Group Committee at the RSC 鈥� I love food and I love chemistry so, to me, working in food chemistry is the best thing ever. Because I love food so much, I believe I enjoy my job so much more than when I used to work in pharmaceuticals.

鈥淢y advice on careers choices is that, if they enjoy studying chemistry, they should continue, as there鈥檚 a lot of options of different industries, apart from academia, even in industries that they wouldn鈥檛 probably think need chemists, such as food.鈥�

So what did people get out of attending?

After the main lecture, the younger members of the audience took the chance to learn about the huge range of chemistry careers that could await them. There were stands from across industry and academia, including AstraZeneca, paint experts Sherwin Williams, Thames Water and (the extremely popular) chocolatiers from Mondel膿z. On the university front, there were demonstrations of soalr cells and perovskites from OxfordPV, Warwick University鈥檚 Elements for Life team and a collaborative team of chemists and engineers from the Universities of Nottingham, Bristol and Southampton, under their joint project Green Light For Chemistry.

Hani from Harris Academy in Peckham attended the lecture with four of her classmates. She said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 said that women aren鈥檛 really interested in some subjects, so I wanted to check out what it was really about. Today鈥檚 talk was actually really good 鈥� I thought that chemistry people were just in labs, so Saiful said he does computer modelling, I didn鈥檛 know chemistry could do that, which is actually really interesting and I found it really helpful. I can see chemistry in a different way 鈥� instead of just lessons and doing practicals.鈥�

Former England Rugby Union international Jason Leonard is a regular attendee at Royal Institution events, with his son, who鈥檚 hugely interested in science. Jason said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been very cool 鈥� today鈥檚 event is probably the most-attended one I鈥檝e come to. I think changing the age of it has been a success in that aspect, and I always come away learning something, so I鈥檝e thoroughly enjoyed it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the science side of it 鈥� it鈥檚 the history of it and I think the boys and girls in the room today hearing about Michael Faraday and pioneers in that aspect, which I sometimes think is just as important, to see what we鈥檙e doing now but where it came from and how it originated. I think it鈥檚 very important.鈥�

Family matters鈥�

Two members of our Board of Trustees brought members of their families along for the evening. Professor Geoff Maitland, of Imperial College London, brought his two grandsons, Tom and Stanley to watch Saiful鈥檚 talk. He said: 鈥淓vents like this are absolutely essential and inspirational, because it gets the variety of chemistry in front of young people, and how particular elements have made an impact, not only on the way we live life today but the way it鈥檚 going to change the future 鈥� and that is inspirational for young people鈥�.

A passion for science clearly runs in the Maitland family genes, with Tom saying: 鈥淚鈥檓 really interested in chemistry 鈥� I like looking at the periodic table and seeing how the different things work together. I enjoyed [the lecture], I liked the experiments and the talk about the lithium batteries.鈥�

Stanley added: 鈥淚 like to learn about when people start things, inventing new things that people haven鈥檛 done before, so if someone came up with a new element in the periodic table, I would find that really interesting.鈥�

Louise Armstrong-Denby, another of our Trustees, is Chief Commercial Officer of cancer diagnostics specialists Visiopharm. She said: 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 been a fantastic opportunity to bring the children along and actually get them engaged in chemistry. They love science at school, and one of them is a member here at the Royal Institution and has been to the Christmas Lectures.  

鈥淔or them, today, it鈥檚 allowed them to see what chemistry is all about. They don鈥檛 really equate their Mum with chemistry, so coming here 鈥� and talking to lots of interesting people and seeing how chemistry appears in lots of different parts of life 鈥� has been so rewarding for us, and for me as a parent, to share it with the children, as I don鈥檛 get to see how they interact with science at school. 

鈥淪ustainability is a topic that鈥檚 very hot on their radars, it鈥檚 a topic the bring up from what鈥檚 happening at school 鈥� the conversations about plastics and the whole environmental impact 鈥� it鈥檚 a very important message.鈥�