Dear students (and scientist participants!)

Wow! That was unexpected! I can only say “thank you!” from the bottom of my heart.

The past two weeks have been an absolute blast – I have loved every minute of speaking (typing?) with you all – the questions had such variety I don’t even know where to begin when describing it to an outside person. It was a bit like having your birthday each day – I was never sure what questions were going to be asked, so opening up the pages to find new questions was always terrific fun! It can be quite easy to forget that the best questions can come from young minds..

So what next? To start I think I need to publicise that Plymouth has an I’m a Scientist winner and then capitalise on that! I will shortly be contacting local schools and businesses to arrange for visits and prizes for my roadshow, no easy task given my NHS and university commitments. However, I think Nawapat, Selen, Katy, Simon, Natalie and myself would have to agree – the next generation of scientists deserve to be inspired. They deserve to be shown that science can be mind-blowing, horizon searching, soul fulfilling, indeed whatever they want it to be. The trick is just to get started…

Lastly, to the sponsors and admin team of I’m a Scientist: you are the unsung heroes of these events – without you, these things couldn’t happen. You are the winners in every sense, just as much as my fellow scientists and I am.

Best wishes for the future – stay curious!