Essay competition success for Cambridge students
09 October 2008
First prize in the 2008 Wellcome Trust and New Scientist essay competition has been awarded to Katherine Robertson, a medical student currently doing a PhD at the University of Cambridge. Her essay, ‘Fusion cuisine: the many talents of the placenta’, shows how the laboratory work of scientists ties in with the everyday work of an obstetrician.
Katherine says: “I was very excited to win this competition because I think the placenta is often overlooked in favour of more exotic research topics like the brain, but it is every bit as crucial.”
“I hope to practise as an obstetrician in the future but winning this competition has also made me think about how I could combine that with writing, maybe for a more general audience. Friends and family are always asking me about what I research - now I can simply hand them a copy of the New Scientist!”
She wins £1000 spending money, a two-week, expenses-paid media placement with 'New Scientist', and publication of her essay in the magazine.
For 2008, second prize goes to another University of Cambridge student, Clare Watkinson. Justin Gregg from the University of Dublin takes third prize. Read the winning essays for 2008 and archived essays from 2003 onwards.
The annual competition, which is run jointly by the Trust and ‘New Scientist’, is open to PhD students registered at an internationally recognised university. Entrants are encouraged to communicate their research in an engaging way that explores the possible implications of their work for society.
