Celebrating success
Global Young Scientist Summit (GYSS)
In January, PGR student Chitra Joshi took part in GYSS 2022 where she presented her work to a global audience and interacted with Nobel Prize winners. Chitra is studying for a PhD in 'Structural and functional characterization of the major auxin uptake carrier AUX1 protein'.
'In this annual science summit, I got an opportunity to have an informal chat with Professor Ada Yonath (Nobel Prize Winner 2009, Chemistry) which was a great inspiration and cherish-able lifetime's memory. I also had an opportunity to interact with other Nobel Prize Winners in plenary lecture and panel discussion sessions. Overall, this was a great learning experience, and I am grateful to SLS to nominate me as a potential candidate for the Summit.'
Find out more about GYSS
Presentation winner
Emma Reilly, a third year SLS Biochemistry student, has won the best project presentation award at the British Society of Plant Pathology (BSPP) Summer Student Symposium 2021. Emma's project was entitled 'Harnessing pathogenicity mechanisms to engineer plants tolerant to heat stress' and she was supported by Professor Vardis Ntoukakis.
Outstanding Student Achievement Awards 2021
Warwick's students are amongst the most active in the country, with thousands taking part in and running student societies, volunteering through Warwick volunteers, taking an active role in their learning through the SSLC system and much, much more. The University’s Outstanding Student Contribution Award (OSCA) aims to recognise these achievements.
We congratulate the following SLS students who have been awarded an OSCA:-
- Jasmin Kaur
- Laurent Ackermann
Kew Art Installation: In Bloom
Undergraduate Amanpreet Kalsi has been awarded a creative project grant of £500 from Kew to create an art installation. The artwork entitled 'In Bloom' will be displayed at 70 St Mary Axe, London from 16-30 September 2021.
'In Bloom represents the seasonal growth of UK native wildflowers and plants. Composed of laser-cut Birchwood, the work intertwines and overlaps over ten different wildflower species, along with bees, birds and butterflies.
The journey begins at the core of the structure, with the seed. Seeds can sit dormant for years before the right conditions enable them to burst into life and for growth to begin. Encircling the core, ivy, fern and harebells bloom and bring beauty to dreary Autumn and Winter days.
The blooming of wildflowers, which break away from this circle, represents the beauty of explosive blossoming that occurs in Spring and Summer. In Bloom encapsulates the journey of growth, from Autumn to Summer, when everything truly comes to life.'
Wellbeing: practices to improve the student experience
Students work well when they are well. Final year Biochemistry undergraduate Skyla White and final year Biomedical Science student Chioma Nwafor are leading on and co-creating a new Warwick open access Moodle wellbeing module; ‘Understanding Wellbeing’. Their work is part of the wellbeing strategy to embed wellbeing into the curriculum more widely to support students.
Student Voice & Impact 2021 Winners
Creating change is an important part of the student voice. A great campaign doesn’t just create change but also makes sure this change is sustainable and inspires people into developing a better student experience and or awareness of an issue.
Congratulations to SLS undergraduates Toluwa Lipede and Abigail G-Medhin who recently won the Students' Union Student Voice and Impact Award 2021 for Campaigning for Change, for their actions to address issues of minority representation. In 2020 Toluwa and Abbi founded and became Co-Chairs of the SLS Black Students Sub-Committee of the UG SSLC, bringing together Black students within the community, offering them a safe place for discussions and a forum to formulate ideas for action. Toluwa and Abbi recently arranged a speaker series featuring Black Life Sciences graduates, and their encouragement was instrumental in the School’s push for the University to join the BB STEM University Alliance.
Coccus Pocus: A Microbiology inspired scary story competition
In October, the Department of Biomedical and Forensic Sciences at the University of Hull launched an exciting scary story competition for Halloween: Coccus Pocus 2020! Contestants were encouraged to write a short horror or sci-fi story between 500 and 2,000 words, including themes of antimicrobial resistance and/or microbial biofilms. The evaluation committee ranked stories according to the intrigue of their plot, use of language, character description and scientific soundness. Two of our SLS Undergraduates won prizes:
- Amisha Sathi, received the second prize for her story Abnormal, where the protagonist fights a horde of slimy hostile creatures in a post-apocalyptic horror setting.
- Bethany Pearce, was awarded the third prize for her story Day 0, which tells us a tale about a patient suffering from an antibiotic-resistant superbug infection that spreads rapidly all over the hospital.
Students' Union Awards 2021
As well as studying, SLS students find time to go that extra mile to make a difference to student life. Congratulations to those who have made it to the SU Student Voice and Impact awards 2021 shortlist:
- Faculty/Department Rep of the Year - Rejwana (Aki) Fardosh-Aki (Department Representative – a new SU role – SLS is one of the pilot departments in 2020-21)
- Course Rep of the Year - Emily Sanders (PGT SSLC Rep)
- Outstanding Leadership - Farrah Vogel-Javeri (UG SSLC Chair)
- SSLC of the Year - Life Sciences PGT
- Campaigning for Change - Toluwa Lipede & Abigail G-Medhin (SLS Black Students’ sub-committee leads)
Placement Award
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Student Space Society National Award 2021
Congratulations to third year Biochemistry student Katie Savva who has won the UKSEDS (UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) Outreach Ambassador of the Year award.