Previous Winners
Do you need some inspiration? We have uploaded all of the winning and shortlisted entries from the previous Science Challenge years to give you a little head start. We change the questions each year so don't go looking here for quotes, but you are more than welcome to take some ideas on how to structure your essay.
Science Challenge 2020
To be announced
Science Challenge 2019
Prof. Armand Leroi's Question
"How will A.I.s turn art into science?"
Lord Christopher Fox's Question
"Imagine/project how A.I. will improve people's lives by 2035. Propose the role of natural Scientists in making this happen."
Dr. Dalal Alrajeh's Question
"A.I. nowadys plays an instrumental role in developments in the natural sciences - these have included predicting chemical reactions, discovering protocols for stem cell differentiation and most recently, predicting 3D shapes of proteins (DeepMind, Google). In the future, could A.I. replace human scientists and why?"
Lord Robert Winston's Task
"Human consciousness is the great unsolved puzzle in biology. How can we make artificial intelligence?"
Science Challenge 2018
Dr Shini Somara's Question
"To what extent have giant leaps in scientific progress been influenced by shifts within the scientists themselves?"
Dr Felicia Yap's Question
"Select a scientific discovery or technological development from the past 5 years. Now, imagine a single day in the year 2048. How will this breakthrough affect daily life?"
Prof. Lord Oxburgh’s Question
"In June 2017, a giant iceberg the size of Delaware broke off the Larsen C Ice Shelf in West Antarctica, creating an 80 mile long crack in the ice. How do relatively small shifts, rifts and changes lead to a long lasting effect on our planet's climate?"
Dr Martin Archer's Question
"What small area of current research do you think has the potential to revolutionise our lives and why?"
Science Challenge 2015
Mun Keat Looi's Question
Tell me a story of (about or from) science. Who are the characters? What is its beginning, middle - and how does it "end"?
Schools runners-up
Alexandra Constantinou
Qingwei Zhang
Imperial runners-up
Catherine Saunders
Harald Grantham-Hill
Prof. Sue Gibson's Question
What would you like to discover and why?
Schools runners-up
Chian Ying Xuan
Tahirah Uddin
Imperial runners-up
Daniel Marx
Stefan Grossfurthner
Ruth Whincup's Question
How do we get the next generation interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths)?
Schools runners-up
Abbie Currington
Akhil Sonthi
Imperial runners-up
Ray Otsuki
Mayurdhvajsinh Gohil
Prof. Philip Moriarty's Task
Why should I believe a scientist? (Video challenge)
Overall Winner
Lawrence Berry Westminster School
Science Challenge 2014
Prof. Fay Dowker's question
What does science tell us about the nature of time?
Schools runners-up
Hannah Coop
Abbie Currington
Imperial runners-up
Lucy Binfield
Sarah Byrne
Pallab Ghosh's question
Write a letter to my five year old daughter, Charlotte, about how one or more areas of science, technology, engineering or medicine that fascinate you will have developed by the time she is at University and which subject you would encourage her to study and why?
Schools runners-up
Jesse Cheung
Assankhan Amirov
Imperial runners-up
Anne-Hermine Allain
Vanessa Place
Jon Kudlick's question
How should we decide which species to prioritise for conservation?
Schools runners-up
Arthur Li
Matthias Butler
Imperial runners-up
Batool Raza
Nicole Levikov
Dr Jad Marrouche's question
Explain a scientific concept of your choice in a 3-minute video.
Overall Winner
Matthew I Murchie Imperial College
Science Challenge 2013
Sir Roy Anderson's question
What are the scientific challenges facing the development of pathogens against vaccines with hyper-variable genome sequences?
Second Place
Schools
Abbie Currington
Third Place
Imperial
Shing-him Cho
Schools
Devang Metha
Sir Brian Hoskin's question
Is public debate a good forum for discussing science issues such as climate change?
Second Place
Imperial
Daniel Marx
Schools
Jennifer Thorpe
Third Place
Imperial
James Bezer
Schools
Elizabeth Bowes
Lord Robert Winston's question
Why are so many students being put off studying science at school?
Second Place
Imperial
Amelia Chong
Schools
Cavin Corriette
Third Place
Imperial
Sebastien Wood
Schools
Alice Pritchard
Dr Jad Marrouche's question
Explain a scientific concept of your choice in a 3-minute video.
Overall Winners
Sang Eun Lee
Mei Ran Abellona U
Bernadeta Dadonaite
Runners Up
Imperial
Richard Flint
Schools
Joshua Banner