Somerville hosted its third annual Girls into Science residential programme for Year 10 girls during the Easter holidays. The residential took place over three days, building upon the successes of previous years, and welcomed thirty girls from ten different schools to participate in an exciting and informative programme of activities and workshops. The residential is part of the College’s Access and Outreach work, and is aimed at girls from non-selective state secondary schools within its link regions of Buckinghamshire, Hounslow and Kingston-upon-Thames.
The first residential was run in 2015 as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Dorothy Hodgkin. This year’s programme involved various academic sessions run by science departments at Oxford, including Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Physics, Computer Science and the Begbroke Science Park, as well as social activities hosted at Somerville such as film and quiz nights.
There was also a visit to the Natural History Museum, and a talk by Dr Abby Evans from the Oxford Careers Service about careers in science. The guest speaker was Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology Sunetra Gupta (named by the Independent as one of the ‘Top 10 Female Trail Blazers’ in modern science), who spoke about her research in the evolution of diversity in pathogens, and her work as a novelist alongside her career in science.
The Senior Tutor, Dr Steve Rayner advised that ‘Somerville has a proud history of being associated with some world-leading female scientists, including Dorothy Hodgkin who remains the only British female to have won a Nobel Prize for Science. The Girls Into Science residential school is therefore in keeping with the finest traditions and heritage of the College.’
To find out more about the College’s Access & Outreach Programme, please do contact access@some.ox.ac.uk for further information.
Photo: credit to Begbroke Science Park