RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2024 Results and Prizes

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2024 were announced at our Celebration of Chemistry event on 10 September 2024 at the British School of Brussels (BSB) in Tervuren. For the 2024 Challenge, ten schools took part (four European Schools and six International Schools) with just over 100 students participating - a very encouraging number. This year saw a very good showing from students from the International School of Brussels (ISB). 

As usual, the Challenge was designed to test students’ chemical knowledge and initiative and consisted of has three sections:

• A chemistry multiple choice paper (Section A)
• A structured questions on chemistry (Section B), and
• A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based (Section C)

The top results were as follows:

Section A - Multiple choice

First prize for this section was won jointly by Juliette Martin and Nomura Rydoi both from ISB who each received a €50 award.

It was a triple tie for second place with Joaquim Dornelas Rangel from BSB, Riddhi Narlawar from the European School at Mol (ESM) and Antoni Zielinski of ISB all winning €25 prizes, while a third prize of €10 went to Jonas Baltramaitis from the European School of Luxembourg 1 (ESL1).

Section B - Structured questions

In this section the first prize of €50 was awarded to Naomi Trevelyan-Shipp of ISB with Juliette Martin of ISB picking up the second prize of €25. The third prize of €10 was awarded to Alexandre Escardino from BSB.

Section C - Thinking Matters

The top prize in this section of €50 went to Julius Jager from the European School of Brussels 1 (EEB1). The Second prize of €25 went to Alex Gal from Montgomery International School and the third prize worth €10 was awarded to Juyoung Chang of ISB.

The Keith Price Prize

With her first prize in Section A and second place in Section B, this year's Keith Price Prize was claimed by Juliette Martin (pictured below with RSC Belgium Chair Professor Bob Crichton and Dr Susan Schamp, RSC Belgium Schools Coordinator and the question setter for this year's Chemistry Challenge), who received an additional €100 reward.

Well done to everyone who took part in this year's Chemistry Challenge! Every student that entered the competition receives a certificate of participation. And, of course, we will be running the Challenge again in 2025 and look forward to further widening participation.

BSB win RSC Belgium's TOTB 2023

On Saturday 18 November, the 2023 RSC Belgium Top of the Bench (TOTB) regional heat was held at the British School of Brussels (BSB). Teams from BSB, the International School of Flanders (ISF) and St. Johns International School (St Johns) participated in the competition to represent Belgium at the UK final.

The TOTB heat 'kicked off' at 13h30. This year the contest was in three parts and was devised by RSC committee members Susan Schamp and Rita Woodward. The initial task was a group challenge involving a 30-minute written Chemistry Quiz involving creative thinking exercises. All group members worked together on this activity.

After a short break the main group practical activity took place. This was a 90-minute hands-on Chemistry Investigation.

Finally, after a longer break with some refreshments, the individual team members undertook a further 30-minute, multiple choice, age-appropriate written Chemistry Quiz. Each four-person TOTB team consists of two students from Year 9 (Grade 8), one student from Year 10 (Grade 9) and one student from Year 11 (Grade 10). The Year 9 students completed one quiz and the Year 10 and 11 students completed a second quiz.

Joining Rita and Susan in observing and judging the event were Olivier Schamp and RSC Belgium Chair Bob Crichton with section secretary, Tim Reynolds, also there to take the photos. Also present throughout the day were RSC committee member and Head of Chemistry at BSB, Jonathan Norris, RSC committee member and Head of Chemistry at St. Johns, Julie Tuppeny, and chemistry teacher Beatriz Rocha from ISF.

A close result

The competition was extremely keen and it was a very tight contest. In terms of determining the final winner of the event, the weightings for the three components were: Group Challenge – 20%, Practical Activity – 50%, and Multiple Choice – 30%.

After an extensive consultation by the judging panel, Team Baekeland from BSB were declared the winners and received the coveted Keith Price Cup (see below - the team are pictured with, from left to right, Rita Woodward, Susan Schamp, Bob Crichton and Olivier Schamp).

The Baekeland team will now represent the Belgium section at the UK National finals of TOTB that will be held on Saturday 16 March 2024 at Edinburgh Napier University. We wish them the best!

Our thanks as ever to Susan and Rita for developing the written and practical tasks for our Top of the Bench event and all the teams for their enthusiasm and hard work. Congratulations to the winners and everyone who took part.

Chemistry Challenge 2023 results announced

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2023 were announced at our event on 28 September with Dr John O’Donoghue at the British School of Brussels (BSB) in Tervuren. This year the Challenge resumed its usual ‘in-schools’ format after two years as a virtual event due to the COVID pandemic and BSB students claimed the majority of the prizes!

For the 2023 Challenge, seven schools took part (four European Schools and three International Schools) with a total of 74 students participating. This was a most encouraging number, but still under pre-COVID levels. We look forward to increased numbers for the 2024 edition of the Challenge.

As ever, the Challenge was designed to test students’ chemical knowledge and initiative. This year most students found Section A questions particularly taxing apart from some True/False questions.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:

- A chemistry multiple choice paper (Section A)

- A structured questions on chemistry (Section B), and

- A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based (Section C)

The top results were as follows:

Section A - Multiple choice

First prize for this section was won by Andrei Vascan from BSB who received a €50 award.

In joint second place were Hanseo Lee (far left below) and Annette Liflander (right below) also from BSB who each won €25 and, making a clean sweep for BSB, the third prize of €10 went to Kerem Teker (left below) from BSB.

Section B - Structured questions

In this section the first prize of €50 was awarded also won by Andrei Vascan of BSB with Laura Bartelloni (pictured right below) and Marianne Moody from BSB both picking up second prizes of €25. A third prize of €10 were awarded to Fanziska Vogel (left below) also of BSB.

Section C - Thinking Matters

Breaking the trend in this section, the top prize of €50 went to Melinda Koch of European School 1 in Luxembourg (ESL1) with Marianne Moody also claiming a €50 prize for BSB.

In second place was Alec Muller (pictured left above) of BSB winning him €25 and two third prizes worth €10 each were awarded to Annette Liflander and Aimee Willey (right above) both from BSB.

The Keith Price Prize

With a first prize in both Section A and Section B, this year's Keith Price Prize was claimed by Andrei Vascan (pictured below with RSC Belgium chair Prof Bob Crichton), who received an additional €100.

Well done to everyone who took part in this year's Chemistry Challenge! Every student that entered the competition receives a certificate of participation. And, of course, we will be running the Challenge again in 2024 and look forward to further widening participation!

Top of the Bench back in-person for 2022

On Saturday 17 December, RSC Belgium was able to hold our first in-person Top of the Bench (TOTB) regional heat for a few years. The heat was held later in the year than normal, which meant that just two schools were able to take part. But both the British School of Brussels (BSB) and St. Georges International School from Luxembourg were able to field two teams each to compete on the day for a very tight competition.

BSB were on home 'turf' as the event was held in the chemistry laboratories at the school in Tervuren. St. Georges travelled up from Luxembourg on the day arriving in good time for 'kick off' at 13h30.

This year the first part of the competition was an 'Escape Room Challenge' quiz devised by RSC Belgium Committee member Susan Schamp. This was a bit of an icebreaker and definitely a teambuilding effort. Each team had to solve a chain of clues with the first team to ‘escape’ deemed the winner.

After refreshments the second element of the day was the Practical Activity Challenge in which team members needed to make some strategic choices, carry out experiments, process observations and relate their findings to a potential application of recycling a metal. The practical element was, as ever, devised by RSC Committee member Rita Woodward.

Joining Rita and Susan in observing and judging the event were Tim Reynolds and Olivier Schamp (pictured above). RSC teaching staff was represented by Jonathan Norris and St. Georges teachers present throughout the day were Kayleigh van Dongen and Marco Macedo Foz.

A close result

The competition was extremely keen and a very tight contest was eventually won by Team Sodium from the British School of Brussels. In second place was Team Fluorine from St Georges with their Copper team taking 'bronze' position. Team Iodine from BSB was not far behind in fourth.

BSB's Team Sodium won the coveted Keith Price Cup (see above) and will now represent Belgium section at the National finals of TOTB that will be held on Saturday 25 March 2023 at the University of East London. The theme of this event will be Sustainable Energy.

Our thanks as ever to Rita and Susan for developing the written and practical tasks for our Top of the Bench event and all the teams for their enthusiasm and hard work. Congratulation to the winners and everyone who took part.

Chemistry Challenge 2021 results announced

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2021 were announced at our webinar event with John O'Donoghue on 'Chemistry in the Movies' on the evening of 23 September 2021. As for last year, due to COVID19 rules, this year's Chemistry Challenge was also a virtual event that was undertaken remotely by students at their schools.

For the 2021 Challenge, we received entries from the majority of our group of international and European schools in the Brussels area and beyond and, as ever, the Challenge was designed to test the student's chemical knowledge and initiative.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:

• A chemistry multiple choice paper (Section A)
• A structured questions on chemistry (Section B), and
• A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based (Section C)

The top results were as follows:

Section A - Multiple choice

First prize for this section was shared by Marcus Waterson from the European School in Mol (ESMol) and Ito Yurie from the British School of Brussels in Tervuren (BSB) who each receive a €50 award. 

There were three winners of €25 second prizes: Matilde Malagodi of St John’s International School in Waterloo (St John's), and Julie Petermans and Hannah Haris of BSB.

Third prizes of €10 went to Vladislav Morozov and Mels Leurs of BSB and Maria Shopova from European School Brussels IV in Laeken (EEB4).

Section B - Structured questions

In this section the first prize of €50 was awarded to Vladislav Morozov of BSB with Marcus Waterson of ESMol and Ito Yurie of BSB picking up second prizes worth €25. A third prize of €10 was awarded to Sungbin Yun from BSB.

Section C - Thinking Matters

For this section the top prize of €50 went to Lilia Kautz of EEB4, with BSB's Rosanne Roberts picking up a second prize of €25, and three third places worth €10 awarded to Antoni Tokaj of St. George’s International School in Luxembourg (St George's), Maria Shopova from EEB4 and Ito Yurie of BSB.

The Keith Price Prize

With excellent performances in both chemistry sections, this year's Keith Price Prize was jointly claimed by Marcus Waterson of ESMol (pictured below) and Ito Yurie of BSB (pictured above), who both received an additional €100. 

Well done to everyone who took part in this year's Chemistry Challenge! Every student that entered the competition receives a certificate of participation. And, of course, we will be running the Challenge again in 2022 and look forward to further widening participation!

St George's retain RSC Belgium TOTB trophy

Despite the challenges and restrictions due to COVID, RSC Belgium successfully organised and ran its annual 'international eliminator' for the Royal Society of Chemistry's Top of the Bench (TOTB) competition in 2020 - and the results are now in. This year, the competition was run remotely during late November and early December with the results evaluated over the Christmas holiday period. The winning team, who will now represent Belgium in the TOTB grand final in March, is Team Phosphorus from St. Georges International School in Luxembourg. The school therefore retains the Keith Price Cup as their Team Sulfur was Belgium's TOTB winners in 2019.

Our 2020 TOTB eliminator retained the usual elements of the competition: a written test component for individual team members and a practical group exercise. Also as usual the questions were set by RSC committee member Rita Woodward.

TOTB teams need to be composed of four students with two students from Year 9 (UK equivalent to 3rd year or Grade 8), one student from Year 10 UK (4th year or Grade 9) and one student from Year 11 (5th year or Grade 10). With COVID restrictions/ bubbles this added an extra complication to the event.

The competition itself was managed remotely by the participating schools and consisted of a Multiple-Choice ‘Written’ Section, with questions and marking schemes tailored to the three age groups that was delivered in an appropriate 'timed' manner at the schools and a practical element with input from all four team members. The practical task for 2020 was to construct a calibration graph and use it to determine the percentage of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) present in a commercially produced baking powder. Practical kits were sent to participating schools.

Challenging event

In the end four teams from two schools were able to complete and return a full set of results for evaluation. The participating teams were teams Barium and Nitrogen from the International School of Flanders (ISF) in Waterloo and teams Magnesium and Phosphorus from St. George's International School in Luxembourg.

The competition was close but the overall winner - ranked first in the practical test and second in the written test - was the Phosphorus team from Luxembourg.

Our congratulations to Team Phosphorus and our thanks to everyone who took part in the TOTB eliminator this year. RSC goodies are on the way to participants at ISF and St. George's. Thanks to St. George's for providing photos from their eliminator.

Chemistry Challenge 2020 results announced

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2020 were announced at our first webinar event on the evening of 24 September 2020. Due to the COVID19 restriction, this year's Chemistry Challenge was also a virtual event that was undertaken remotely by students.

For the 2020 Challenge, we received some 50 entries from six international and European schools in the Brussels area and beyond for this testing challenge of young people's chemical knowledge and initiative. This year the more chemistry orientated questions in Section A and B were a little more accessible, which resulted in more prize winners than for previous years. A selection of our participants are pictured below!

And the 2020 winner of the Keith Price Prize for best overall performance in terms of chemical knowledge came from a school that has not won previously.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:

• A chemistry multiple choice paper (Section A)
• A structured questions on chemistry (Section B), and
• A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based (Section C)

The top results were as follows:

Section A - Multiple choice

First prize for this section was shared by Maria Stanescu and Mia Williams from European School Brussels IV in Laeken (EEB4) and Riana Sadretdinova of St John’s International School in Waterloo (St John's) who each received a €50 award. There were seven winners of €25 second prizes: Ashling Neill from EEB4, Yosra Al Hayani of the ISF International School in Waterloo (ISF), Louis Baranger and Matteo Pourbaix, who both study at St John’s, Nefeli Giannaloo from the European School at Mol (ES Mol), and Sofia Mori and Martin Prucha both from the British School of Brussels in Tervuren (BSB). Third prizes of €10 went to Alia Meek of St. George’s International School in Luxembourg (St George's), Nicholas Smits and Issie Bentley from BSB, and Tyler McGee and William Dobney both at ES Mol.

Section B - Structured questions

In this section the first prize of €50 was awarded to Yosra Al Hayani from ISF with Martin Prucha of BSB picking up the second prize worth €25. Three third prizes of €10 were awarded to Nicholas Smits of BSB, Alia Meek from St George’s and Louis Baranger of St.John’s.

Section C - Thinking Matters

For this section the top prize of €50 went to Matteo Pourbaix of St John’s, with ESMol's Tyler McGee picking up a second prize of €25, and two third places worth €10 awarded to Alia Meek of St George’s and Nefeli Giannaloo ES Mol.

The Keith Price Award

With an excellent performance in both chemistry sections, Yosra Al Hayani from ISF, pictured below, also received the prestigious Keith Price Prize for the best best overall score worth an additional €100. This is the first time that a student from ISF has won our Chemistry Challenge.

Well done to everyone who took part in this year's Chemistry Challenge! Every student that entered the competition receives a certificate of participation. We will be running the Challenge again in 2021 and look forward to widening participation!

2018 Chemistry Challenge Winners announced, top prize shared!

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2018 were announced and the talented prize winners picked up their winnings at a special RSC Belgium event with Prof David Cole-Hamilton, past president of EuChemS, the European Chemical Society, on the evening of 20 September at the British School of Brussels (BSB). Once again we received some 100 entries from international and European schools in Brussels and beyond for this testing challenge of young people's chemical knowledge and initiative. And for the first time ever we had a dead-heat for the Keith Price Prize for best overall performance in terms of chemical knowledge.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:
A/ A chemistry multiple choice paper
B/ A structured questions on chemistry, and
C/ A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based

And the top results were as follows:

Section A: Multiple choice
First place was taken by Faiz Haris Osman from BSB with second place shared by Thomas Groom of BSB and Vincent Sietses from St. Johns International School. Third place was a three-way tie between Linxiao Chen from BSB, Ignacia Bricchi from St. Johns and Maria Tencheva from the European School Brussels IV at Laeken. Some of the prize winners are pictured below with our special guest Prof. David Cole-Hamilton.

Section B: Structured Questions
In this section first prize was awarded to Vincent Sietses from St. Johns with second prize shared by Lara Melloul from the International School of Brussels (ISB) and Faiz Haris Osman of BSB. Two students also shared the third prize: Thomas Groom of BSB and Luan Cruz Pitanattero of the European School at Mol.

Section C: Thinking Matters
Here first place was awarded to Faiz Haris Osman from BSB with Bernard Benz from BSB taking second prize and third place shared between Shahriar Hossain from St. Johns and Natalie Kopp from the European School Brussels III at Ixelles.

Keith Price Prize
For the first time ever, we had a dead-heat for the top spot, the prestigious Keith Price Prize for the best best overall score in the chemistry focused sections (A and B). The joint winners were Faiz Haris Osman from BSB and Vincent Sietses of St. Johns.

First prize winners in each section received €50, second €25 and third places €10 with the winners of the Keith Price Prize receiving an additional €100 each.

Well done to everyone who took part in this year's Chemistry Challenge! Every student that entered the competition receives a certificate of participation. We will be running the Challenge again in 2019.

2017 Chemistry Challenge Winners announced

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2017 were announced and the talented prize winners picked up their winnings at a special RSC Belgium event with Dr Matthew Andrews of NATO on the evening of 27 September at the British School of Brussels (BSB). We once again received over 100 entries from international and European schools in Brussels and beyond for this testing challenge of young people's chemical knowledge and initiative.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:

• A/ A chemistry multiple choice paper
• B/ A structured questions on chemistry, and
• C/ A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based

And the top results were as follows:

Section A: Multiple choice

First place was shared by Jakob Bull and Tom Valenduc from BSB. Second place was a three-way tie with the prizewinners being Caroline Di Vittorio from the International School of Brussels (ISB) and Caio Hansen and Vrushal Mody, both from BSB. Third place was awarded to James Tissot of ISB.

Section B: Structured Questions

In this section first prize was awarded to Aleksander Ziolkowski from St Johns International School (St. Johns) and second prize was claimed by Nekane Medrano Cuetos of ISB. Third prize was shared by Jakob Bull and Emma Brown, both of BSB. Some of the prizewinners are pictured above with RSC Belgium Chairman Tim Reynolds.

Section C: Thinking Matters

Here first place was awarded to Gabriela van Bergen from BSB (now in Madrid), with a tie for second place between Medhir Dillum and Vrushal Mody, both also from BSB.  Leo Sheils from Antwerp International School (AIS) took third prize.

Keith Price Prize

Jakob Bull of BSB, pictured above with RSC Belgium chairman Tim Reynolds, also received the Keith Price Prize for best overall score in the chemistry focused sections (A and B). First prize winners received €50, second €25 and third places €10 with the winner of the Keith Price Prize receiving an additional €100.

Well done to everyone who took part in this year's Chemistry Challenge! Every student that entered the competition receives a certificate of participation. We will be running the Challenge again in 2018. 

2016 Chemistry Challenge Winners announced

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2016 have been announced and the talented prize winners picked up their winnings at a special RSC Belgium event with Dr Jack Heal of Bristol University on the evening of 27 October at the British School of Brussels (BSB). This year we received 103 eligible entries from international and European schools in Brussels and beyond for this testing challenge of young people's chemical knowledge and initiative.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:

• A/ A chemistry multiple choice paper
• B/ A structured questions on chemistry, and
• C/ A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based

And the top results were as follows:

Section A: Multiple choice

First was Evan Dastin-Vanrijn from St. John’s International school (St. Johns). Joint second were Pratyusha Sahah of the British School of Brussels (BSB), Dominic Gray of St.John’s, Imogen Rivers from the European School Brussels I (EEBI) and Soham Sinha for the International School of Brussels (ISB). Joint third place was awarded to Akari Izumi and Alice Martin both from St.John’s.

Section B: Structured Questions

In this section first prize was awarded to Mattijs De Paepe of BSB with Pratyusha Saha from BSB, Caifang Du from UWC Maastricht (UWC) and Soham Sinha of ISB in joint second place. Third place was claimed by Evan Dastin-Vanrijn of St.John’s. 

Section C: Thinking Matters

Here joint first place was awarded to Gregor McAlpine and Jasper Parsons both from BSB with Griffin Sharry also of BSB in second place and Caspar Kenny of St John’s in third.

Keith Price Prize

Mattijs De Paepe of BSB, pictured below with RSC Belgium chairman Tim Reynolds, also received the Keith Price Prize for best overall score in the chemistry focused sections (A and B). First prize winners received €50, second €25 and third places €10 with the winner of the Keith Price Prize receiving an additional €100.

Well done to everyone that took part! Every student that entered the competition receives a certificate of participation. We will be running the Challenge again in 2017. And look out for our Top of the Bench International eliminator that will be held on 3 December this year at BSB!

Constraining the Origin and Evolution of Life

On 2 October RSC Belgium was proud to present a fascinating talk on the Bioenergetic Constraints on the Origin and Evolution of Life from Dr Nick Lane of University College London. The event was also the prize giving ceremony for our 2014 Chemistry Challenge.

Nick Lane is an evolutionary biochemist and writer in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London (UCL). He was awarded the inaugural UCL Provost's Venture Research Prize for his research on evolutionary biochemistry and bioenergetics and his current work focuses on the origin of life, and the origin and evolution of eukaryotes. He was a founding member of the UCL Consortium for Mitochondrial Research, and leads the UCL Research Frontiers Origins of Life programme.

Common ancestor
All complex life on Earth is eukaryotic, and all eukaryotes (the cells found in plants and animals) share a common ancestor that was already a complex cell explained Nick. Despite their biochemical virtuosity, prokaryotes (cells found in bacteria) shown no tendency to evolve eukaryotic traits or large genomes over the huge timescale that they have existed.

Nick (above) argued that prokaryotes are constrained by their membrane bioenergetics, for fundamental reasons that stem from the very origin of life. Eukaryotes arose in a rare symbiosis between two prokaryotes, which broke the energetic constraints on prokaryotes and gave rise to mitochondria - often described as power plants for our cells. Loss of almost all mitochondrial genes produced an extreme genomic asymmetry in eukaryotes, in which tiny mitochondrial genomes support, energetically, a massive nuclear genome, giving eukaryotes 3 to 4 orders of magnitude more energy per gene than prokaryotes. The requirement for endosymbiosis radically altered selection on eukaryotes, potentially explaining the evolution of unique traits, including two sexes, germline, speciation and ageing.

As our audience appreciated Nick is an excellent communicator and the author of three critically acclaimed books on evolutionary biochemistry, the most recent of which, Life Ascending, won the 2010 Royal Society Prize for Science Books. His other two popular publications are ‘Power, Sex, Suicide’ and ‘Oxygen’. Our friends at Waterstones bookshop were present for the post talk drinks and networking with copies of Nick's books for sale. They also took some excellent photos!

Keith Price Prize
Before the lecture the highest scoring entries in our 2014 Chemistry Challenge were presented with their prizes. This year John Eade of BSB (pictured below right with section chairman Prof Bob Crichton) received the Keith Price Prize for best overall score in sections A and B (the two more chemically-orientated elements of our three-part challenge). For the three individual sections first prize winners received a €50 cash prize, second places got €25 and third places €10 with the winner of the Keith Price Prize receiving an additional €100.

Well done to everyone who took part! Every student that entered the competition received a certificate of participation. We will be running the Challenge again in 2015. And look out for our Top of the Bench International eliminator coming soon!

Chemistry Challenge 2014 Winners Announced

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2014 have been announced and the talented prize winners will be picking up their winnings at a special RSC Belgium event on 02 October at the British School of Brussels from 19:30. This year we received 110 eligible entries from eight international schools in this testing challenge of young people's chemical knowledge and initiative.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:

• A/ A chemistry multiple choice paper
• B/ A structured questions on chemistry, and
• C/ A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based

And the top results were as follows:

Section A: Multiple choice
First was Charles Wackwitz of the International School of Brussels (ISB).
Joint second were John Eade of the British School of Brussels (BSB) and Alexander Van Tuyll of the European School at Mol (Mol).
And three students tied for third prize: Bram Den Dekker and Pierre-Emmanuel Grimm of ISB and Juan Attard of the European School Brussels 1 at Uccle (EEB1).

Section B: Structured Questions
First was Joe Hawkins of St Johns International School Waterloo (St. Johns).
Second was John Eade of BSB.
Third prize was claimed by four students: Lion Seiffert of the European School Brussels 3 at Ixelles (EEB3), and Bram Den Dekker, Sinan Akosman and Charlie De Backer of ISB.

Section C: Thinking Matters
First was Emily Croasdale (BSB).
Joint second were Julia Clarke and Jamie Burnett (both EEB3).
Joint third were Catalina Poraicu and Juan Attard both at EEB1.

Keith Price Prize
John Eade of BSB also receives the Keith Price Prize for best overall score in sections A and B. First prize winners recieve €50, second €25 and third places €10 with the winner of the Keith Price Prize receiving an additional €100.

Well done to everyone that took part! Every student that entered the competition receives a certificate of participation. We will be running the Challenge again in 2015. And look out for our Top of the Bench International eliminator coming soon!

The Challenge
The Chemistry Challenge competition was devised and compiled by RSC Belgium treasurer Rita Woodward and is open to students from any school in Belgium. The questions are set in English, but may be answered in English, French, Dutch or German.

The competition is open to school students in their penultimate year of High School (usually aged 16 – 17), and consists of a 2 hour written test held in school and designed to demonstrate the participants’ knowledge of chemistry and their ability to think logically.

Award event: Origins and evolution
The Chemistry Challenge prizes will be handed out to the winners prior to our next evening lecture event with Dr. Nick Lane on the Origin and Evolution of Life.

Nick Lane is an evolutionary biochemist and writer in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London (UCL). He was awarded the inaugural UCL Provost's Venture Research Prize for his research on evolutionary biochemistry and bioenergetics and his current work focuses on the origin of life, and the origin and evolution of eukaryotes. He was a founding member of the UCL Consortium for Mitochondrial Research, and leads the UCL Research Frontiers Origins of Life programme.

Woluwe at TOTB 2013!

This year's representatives from RSC Belgium to the annual Top of the Bench (TOTB) Chemistry Competition in the UK were from Woluwe European School in Brussels. The final took place at Loughborough University on 20 April. We have just received this report from the Woluwe team.

"Four students from the Anglophone section of European School Brussels (II) based in Woluwe recently took part in the grand Final of the Royal Society of Chemistry's Schools competition known as “Top of the Bench”. The event was held at the University of Loughborough in the UK and attracted teams from thirty schools from all parts of the British Isles.

The Woluwe student team (above), made up of Justinas Sakas, Hannah Falconer-Teer, Giacomo Goldsmith Ganzerli and Austeja Linartaite, had been selected to represent the Belgium section of the RSC at a qualifying competition held in December last year at the British School of Brussels.

The competition in Loughborough involved a full day of tasks, including individual pen-and-paper tests, and two problem-solving practical exercises that required teamwork as well as experimental skills.

In the final result, our team was placed 16 out of 30, which is extremely pleasing given that the European School Science programme is different to the British curriculum followed by all other competitors. The team was also proud to have finished ahead of several well-known selective private schools, including King Edward’s School Birmingham, The Manchester Grammar School and Cheltenham Ladies College!

Many congratulations to the students, not only on the great result, but for being excellent ambassadors for the school and RSC Belgium. And for keeping us all laughing on the long train journey there and back!

Julie Deegan
Chemistry teacher, European School Brussels II (Woluwe)"

Belgium eliminator 2013

The Woluwe school gained their place at the UK final in a competitive eliminator held by the section in November 2012. The formula we use to select schools is attracting attention at RSC HQ and this year's eliminator may see RSC TOTB coordinator Sue Thompson attending to see what we do!

We are also hoping to attract one or two more schools for an even more exciting afternoon of chemistry fun! Look out for details in the beginning of the next academic year!

Woluwe win Keith Price Cup

RSC Belgium held its Belgian eliminator heat for the annual RSC Top of the Bench (TOTB) competition on Saturday 17 November at the British School of Brussels (BSB). It was a hard-fought struggle between teams from BSB, the European School II at Woluwe and European School I at Uccle. In a very close finish a team from Woluwe school eventually claimed the Keith Price Cup.

This was the second time that the RSC Belgium's TOTB eliminator has been held as an actual 'head-to-head' competition with a practical element. The seven teams of budding chemists (three from Woluwe, two from BSB and two from Uccle) had to complete a short written test on their individual chemical knowledge and data interpretation skills and then show teamwork and problem-solving abilities in a practical chemical exercise.

This format closely reflects the format of the competition that the winners will face in the final to be held in the UK (probably in London) in spring 2013. As usual Rita Woodward had devised the competition and set the questions.

Close competition
All seven teams consisted of four students aged between 14 and 16 and were accompanied by teachers. The practical aspect of the competition involved a timed reaction involving alka-seltzer tablets and sodium hydroxide. The teams had to determine the correct experimental configuration to neutralise the alkaline solution in 45 seconds - the endpoint of the reaction being monitored by a universal pH indicator.

When teams had worked out their own solution, their efforts were timed by judges Prof. Bob Crichton, Dr. Ian Carson, Dr Becki Scott and Tim Reynolds. Each team had two official 'timed' attempts.

The overall winners were determined by their team placing in both written and practical parts of the 'eliminator'.

The result was very tight with three teams (two from BSB and one from Uccle) tying for runner up position, but the winners were the ‘covalent’ team from the Woluwe European School. The winning teams are pictured above having been presented with the Keith Price Cup by branch chairman Prof Bob Crichton. The team will now represent Belgium in the (inter)national final in the UK in 2013. All the students who took part in the competition will also receive a certificate.

Clearly everyone who took part in the competition had an enjoyable time with both students and teachers very enthusiastic about this more competitive format. RSC Belgium looks forward to an even bigger and better Belgian TOTB eliminator next year.

Our thanks to all the teachers and students who took part in a really fun afternoon of chemistry!