New student-led project to highlight PhD achievements Chemistry in Focus is a student-led project, based in the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh and funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The project aims to popularise significant, milestone publications from PhD students within the School, and to give PhD students a platform to promote themselves and share their ground-breaking research with the general public. This should also give undergraduate science students, who may be interested in a career in research, the opportunity to see what kinds of research are going on in the School, as well as some insight into the life of a PhD student. The main idea is to use concise and informative scientific videos to explain a scientific paper in a way that is understandable for anyone. The videos will feature a combination of explanatory scientific animations/movies and interviews with the PhD student(s) primarily responsible for the work. The group includes Sofia Bariami, Iain Prentice, Kyle Acheson, Johanna Rademacher, and Angie Mat’usová, and is overseen by Dr. Antonia Mey. The group previously produced a video featuring a robot built by another PhD student, Thomas Lambert, which was shortlisted for theGIST Science is for Everyone competition. It focuses on how automation can be useful in chemistry and was shown on the big screen outside Glasgow Science Centre, along with the other shortlisted entries. The idea behind Chemistry in Focus was born when I realised that there are very few online media that focus on the research work and the effort of the PhD students themselves. We wanted to give the students the opportunity to be heard, present their work, and at the same time do this in a way that is accessible for everyone. Producing short YouTube videos felt like the right approach, and I am really excited to see what the future will bring for Chemistry in Focus. Sofia Bariami Publication date 14 Oct, 2020
