Double Physics Win at IRP Finals

The awards spotlight fell on academics this week with the Independent Research Project finals completed with aplomb on Thursday evening, despite lockdown restrictions. This year saw a particularly high standard of entry, indicating that the summer of lockdown prompted even more thorough research and immersion in their projects from our pupils.

Many congratulations to our 2020 winner of the Young Prize, Ben Elliot. Ben’s presentation and project on inflationary cosmology ensured that Physics took the top spot for the second year running (following Ben Brown’s win in 2019).  Ben impressed the judges with his in-depth research and engaging presentation of a highly technical subject which kept the audience rapt throughout.

Congratulations also must go to out runners up Julia M and Max F and to Maisie G who scooped the audience prize –a super follow up to her win of the intermediate IRP two years ago. 

The six finalists coped impressively with presenting live to camera in place of the traditional audience address. They managed questions from the judging panel and the audience with great finesse – such polish and confidence boding well for the embrace of Caterham’s TED-EX lectures coming soon.

Thanks must go to the judging panel (Monisha Shah, Trustee, Ceri Jones, Headmaster and Dr Susannah Zizek) who ensured rigour and brought great enthusiasm to the proceedings.

This year’s finalists, and their IRP titles, are:

Winner:               Ben E – Inflationary cosmology: A theory of the big bang and how the very early universe evolved

Runner up:         Julia M – Is halakhah apt for modernity

Runner up:         Max F – How useful is Darwinian medicine for explaining the causes of disease?

Audience Prize Maisie G – If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country’ – How does F.M Forster present the 20th century British class system’s effects on human interaction?

Finalist:                David P  – The rise of superbugs; can humans win the race?

Finalist:                Charlotte Y –  The journey to equality of political opportunity – Are we there yet?