Early-career research scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians are invited to apply for STEM for Britain 2020 - an annual event that takes place in the Houses of Parliament on Monday 9 March during British Science Week. It is attended by a significant number of MPs and peers and is sponsored by Stephen Metcalfe MP, the chair of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee.
Applications take the form of posters in one of the following five areas:
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences
- Chemistry
- Engineering
- Mathematical Sciences
- Physics
There will be two poster exhibition and judging sessions during the day, each ending with a reception and prize-giving. The competition attracts over 500 entrants, of whom approximately one third are selected to present their work in Parliament.
The closing date for applications is Monday 2 December 2019.
In addition to our researchers having the opportunity to win the £2,000 gold prize, the £1,250 silver prize and the £750 bronze prize, it is another chance for us to show to Parliamentarians the enormous importance and strength of the mathematics sciences in the UK.
The chair of the judging panel has advised that the abstract should:
- Be less than one page of A4
- Provide a summary of the intended poster
- Identify the nature of the work, the novelty of the maths or the application of the maths, the potential importance of the work as might be understood by an MP, and some indication of how the work would be portrayed visually.
Posters designed the STEM for Britain Competition have a different function from those produced for display at a specialist conference. Successful posters in the mathematics competition will:
- Explain the context of the work. This can be relatively straightforward where the aim is to address a clear practical or scientific problem. In pure mathematical science, the aim should be to connect the ideas with the wider mathematical enterprise.
- Convey the novelty of the mathematical ideas. This may be easier when a new insight has led to the solution of a well-defined mathematical problem. In applied mathematical science, the novelty may involve the novel application of a known technique in a new area.
- Be visually attractive and well-designed without compromising the poster’s purpose. Posters that contain dense text that cannot be read swiftly, complex equations with undefined terms, graphs with unlabelled axes, or colourful images that do not have a clear and direct relationship to the scientific content of the poster are unlikely to be successful.
Prizes will be awarded for the posters presented in each discipline which best communicate high level science, engineering or mathematics to a lay audience. The Westminster Medal for the overall winner will be awarded.