Students take up partnerships at Cefas
Four local students have begun a new science ‘partnership’ scheme this autumn. The Science Student Partnership is aimed at the brightest science students from Suffolk and Norfolk and was launched at a Cefas science master class in February 2004.
The Partnership scheme offers pupils the opportunity to gain valuable scientific work experience, guided throughout their final school year by world-class scientists. Local young people were invited to apply for just two partnerships, and faced an interview panel comprised of Cefas scientists. In the end, the standard was so high that Cefas invited four students to take part in the scheme.
Three Kirkley High School students and one from Bungay High School impressed the interview panel. The students and the subjects they are studying at Cefas are:
- Carl Clarke: sediment processes and eutrophication (over-fertilisation of water that can lead to a lack of oxygen)
- William Lawrance: cod behaviour research and data storage tag analysis
- Adam Clarke: long-term variations in coastal temperatures
- Helen Mackenzie: fish pheromones and the ecology of salmon and freshwater species.
The students will work at Cefas for one half-day per week during their final academic year. Cefas scientists will mentor them and report progress to their school tutors. At the end of the academic year the students will be awarded book tokens and/or cash to put towards university course materials. It is hoped the experience will stimulate the students’ interest in applied science and lead to further scientific studies at university level.
Dr David Righton, one of the Cefas scientists involved with the project, commented: “The students are very enthusiastic - some are coming in during half-term. It's a positive step having the students' involvement over a full academic year, and they really are able to make their own contributions. We're delighted with how quickly they seem to pick things up. They're also helping us to view our data with fresh eyes. We think this is going to be a very fruitful partnership.”
