Chemistry in Action – Grand day of future thinking

On Wednesday 12 March 2025, 28 intrepid Lower Sixth Chemistry pupils and four Chemistry teachers embarked on a voyage by train to Central London for a day of seminars and career insights.

We met at London Bridge Station before heading to Westminster via the Jubilee Line, ready for the first presentation at 10:45. Our speakers included a wide range of science broadcasters, practitioners and educators. They took us through the history of materials and the rise of plastic, the great “forever material,” concluding that while the challenges of plastic disposal will remain significant, we are unlikely to develop a more disposable but equally versatile material in the near future. We heard about the many applications of AI in the chemical universe, from carbon dioxide sequestration to the design of new medicines. We watched an ice cube floating in water, a dry ice sample (solid carbon dioxide) sinking in the same water, and some dry ice rapidly sublimating into gas when a few droplets of water were added to it in a sealed boiling tube.

Professor Peter Hoare (Newcastle University) led a session about how to succeed in A-Level Chemistry exams, which echoed our perennial advice to Caterham’s A-Level chemists. We also enjoyed an enlightening presentation from a panel of PhD scholars and science professionals, each of whom recounted how their Chemistry studies (at A-Level and beyond) had helped them to develop their career pathways, not all of which were directly related to Chemistry.

Many thanks to the Chemistry Department for supporting this great trip.