Image of Group shot of four people, Kim Liu being presented with his certificate and medal
Credit RSC. Left to right: Stephen Benn, Director of Parliamentary Affairs for the Royal Society of Biology and a Vice-President of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee; Kim Liu, Dr Helen Pain, deputy chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Stephen Metcalfe MP

Graduate takes gold prize

Congratulation to Kim Liu (2011), on being awarded a £2,000 prize and gold medal for the excellence of his PhD chemistry research at a competition held at the House of Commons.

Kim presented his research to dozens of politicians and a panel of expert judges as part of theSTEM for BRITAIN poster competition last week. His research, which investigates an alternative quadruple-stranded form of DNA, was judged against 29 other shortlisted researchers’ work and came out as one of three winners.

Kim said, “It’s great to meet other people, and the best thing is the chance to share in other people’s research across different fields. I think it’s also important that scientists communicate effectively with policy makers, and so this was a great opportunity to practice presenting to people from backgrounds outside science, which is often challenging.

On winning gold he said: “I’m ecstatic of course, and pleasantly surprised, given the quality of the other presenters. I also feel like there’s a lot of people I need to thank!”

STEM for BRITAIN aims to help politicians understand more about the UK’s thriving science and engineering base and rewards some of the strongest scientific and engineering research being undertaken in the UK. 

Stephen Metcalfe MP, Chair of the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee, sponsors of the chemistry awards said: “The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee is delighted to sponsor the chemistry awards.  This annual competition is an important date in the parliamentary calendar because it gives MPs an opportunity to speak to a wide range of the country’s best young researchers. These early career engineers, mathematicians and scientists are the architects of our future and STEM for BRITAIN is politicians’ best opportunity to meet them and understand their work.”

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s deputy chief executive, Dr Helen Pain, presented the prizes. She said: “Each year we look forward to the competition as a fantastic chance to recognise and celebrate some of our most talented young scientists. It’s also a great way for our elected representatives to hear first-hand about some of the exciting research that is happening here in the UK. I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our STEM for Britain finalists. We clearly have the necessary talent and inspiration to keep the UK at the forefront of global science.”