RSC Belgium Top of the Bench 2019

Our annual 'international eliminator' for the Royal Society of Chemistry's Top of the Bench (TOTB) competition was held at the British School of Brussels (BSB) on Saturday 23 November 2019 with teams from Belgium and Luxembourg taking part. In total 12 teams from 6 schools participated. An exciting afternoon of chemical problem solving ended with the announcement of the 2019 winner of the Keith Price Cup: Team Sulfur from St George's School in Luxembourg. They will now represent RSC Belgium at the TOTB grand final in the UK in 2020.

The teams completed individual written question papers and then enjoyed a challenging team Practical Problem Solving Exercise. As usual both the 'hands-on' practical and the paper-based component were developed by our resident competition guru, Rita Woodward. The competition was designed to really test the teams’ chemistry knowledge and problem-solving abilities and encourage young talented chemical scientists to consider further education and careers in Chemistry.

The individual scores from the written paper were added together for each team with the placings from the practical session to give an overall score.

Members of the winning Sulfur team (pictured above) received our TOTB Keith Price Cup as well as some RSC goodies. All the student participants will receive a certificate.

Conkering foams

The practical component of the challenge was based around making and measuring 'foam'. Saponins are natural detergents found in many plants including the seeds of the horse chestnut tree - traditionally called ‘conkers’. Saponins contain both water soluble and fat soluble components and as a consequence form stable foams. 

The teams were asked to prepare a detergent extract from saponin present in conkers and then, in the shortest time produce a declared volume of chemical foam from a mixture of the liquid detergent, sodium hydrogen carbonate and lemon juice.

The judges were particularly impressed by the approach to and quality of the practical work this year and once again the outcome for the practical was very close with hardly anything between the teams. However, when taken with the performance on the written papers the Team Sulfur from St George’s International School was the clear winner.

Commenting on the practical competition, Rita Woodward said: "Overall I was impressed. It was very pleasing to see how well the teams worked together to make good use of the equipment and the time allowed."

Thank you

Our huge thanks to everyone involved in the 2019 TOTB challenge including our judges, staff at BSB and to all the teachers and other volunteers involved in preparing and organising the event.

The full list of participating teams for our 2019 competition was:

Magnesium - European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)

Silicon - European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)

Fluorine - European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)

Chromium - European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)

Lithium - International School of Flanders (Rhode St Genese)

Oxygen -  International School of Flanders (Rhode St Genese)

Nitrogen - British School of Brussels (Tervuren)

Calcium - British School of Brussels (Tervuren)

Bromine - European School Brussels 3 (Ixelles)

Copper - European School Brussels 3 (Ixelles)

Sulfur - St Georges International School (Luxembourg)

Vanadium - St Georges International School (Luxembourg)

The TOTB Finals will take place at the University of East London campus on Saturday 21 March 2020 and RSC Belgium will sponsor the travel arrangements for our winning team. The RSC Belgium team is usually the only competing school team not based in the British Isles.

Our next TOTB Eliminator Round will take place in Autumn 2020. Get your school involved!

Kitchen Chemistry goes Belgium

In September RSC Belgium embarked on its biggest ever school tour with Prof. Stephen Ashworth of the University of East Anglia, aka the Kitchen Chemist. Our Kitchen Chemistry tour saw Stephen give 15 individual demonstration lectures or talks at six venues over five days. In total over 1 800 individuals participated in at least one of the events. The tour was partially funded by the first ever RSC Outreach Grant awarded to a section based outside the UK or Republic of Ireland and saw the section working with some new venues and audiences. All in all the Kitchen Chemistry tour was a tremendous success!

The tour kicked off on the morning of Monday 16 September with a Kitchen Chemistry demonstration lecture for elementary pupils at St Johns International School in Waterloo. Students from the International School of Flanders also came to this show.

After lunch Prof Ashworth gave a talk on the Periodic Table that he has developed specially for the International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT2019) to a group of older students.

A quick trip to the museum complex on the Waterloo battlefield was followed by an evening Kitchen Chemistry show for the Waterloo Scouts at St. Antony's Church Hall in Braine-l'Alleud. This was our first event organised for scouts in Belgium.

Tuesday saw the Kitchen Chemist with his chaperon and chauffeur for the week, RSC Belgium secretary Tim Reynolds, heading for the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Geel. At JRC Geel we were hosted by RSC member Dr Hendrik Emons and set up in the centre's auditorium to give a Kitchen Chemistry demo in the morning and the Periodic Table talk in the afternoon. The audience for these two shows were students from the neighbouring European School at Mol plus JRC staff. The JRC are looking to expand their outreach work to schools and hoped to learn from the Kitchen Chemist's experience.

If its Wednesday, then it must be the British School of Brussels in Tervuren. Here three Kitchen Chemistry demonstrations and one Periodic Table talk were given to students during the day. In addition, in the evening a public performance of the Kitchen Chemistry demonstration lecture was given. This evening event was also the prize giving for our 2019 Chemistry Challenge winners.

Woluwe European School was the venue on Thursday 19 September with one performance each of Kitchen Chemistry and the IYPT talk to appreciative student audiences.

The tour was completed on Friday 20 September with our first ever trip to Antwerp. The venue was Antwerp International School where two Kitchen Chemistry demonstrations were given and a final Periodic Table talk.

Our thanks to all the teachers, technicians and RSC Belgium volunteers involved in making this very successful tour a reality. Feedback from students and teachers was universally fantastic and we may well be inviting the Kitchen Chemist back to Belgium in the near future. Second helpings anyone?

2018 Belgium Top of The Bench results

Our annual 'international eliminator' for the Royal Society of Chemistry's Top of the Bench (ToTB) competition was held at the British School of Brussels (BSB) on Saturday 18 November 2017 with ten teams from six schools taking part. An exciting afternoon of chemical problem solving ended with the announcement of the 2017 winner of the Keith Price Cup: Team Selenium from BSB. They will now represent RSC Belgium at the TOTB grand final in the UK in 2018.

As ever our TOTB eliminator was a close run competition with only a few marks between the top four teams on the individual written quiz components and five out of the ten competing teams correctly classifying the three mystery solutions in our 'Can you tell your acid from your alkali' practical challenge.

Wining formula
The teams completed individual written question papers and then enjoyed a challenging team Practical Problem Solving Exercise. As usual both the 'hands-on' practical and the paper-based component were developed by our resident competition guru, Rita Woodward. The competition was designed to really test the teams’ chemistry knowledge and problem-solving abilities and (hopefully) encourage young talented chemical scientists to consider further education and careers in Chemistry.

The individual scores from the written paper were added together for each team with the placings from the practical to give an overall score with BSB team Selenium coming out on top just a head of Team Vanadium from St. Johns International School (St John’s) in second place and Team Strontium from European School Brussels 2 (EEB 2).

Members of the winning team (pictured below with Rita) each received a RSC heat sensitive mug and the school will hold the TOTB Keith Price Cup during 2018. All the student participants will receive a certificate.

Our huge thanks to all the teachers and other volunteers involved to prepare and organise the event, in particular William Darnley and Luke Stagno Navarra from BSB, and, of course, Rita.

The full line up of participating teams for the 2018 competition was:

Cadmium - British School of Brussels (Tervuren)
Calcium - International School of Flanders (Rhode St Genese)
Krypton - International School of Flanders (Rhode St Genese)
Mercury - European School Brussels 3 (Ixelles)
Nickel - European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)
Rubidium - European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)
Selenium - British School of Brussels (Tervuren)
Strontium - European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)
Tellurium - European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)
Vanadium - St Johns International School (Waterloo)

The TOTB Finals will take place in the UK on Saturday 3 March 2018 at Birmingham University (TBC) and RSC sponsors the travel arrangements for our winning team. The RSC Belgium team is usually the only competing school team not based in the British Isles.

Our next TOTB Eliminator Round will take place in Q4 2018. Get your school involved!

St. George's retain the Keith Price Cup

The results of the RSC Belgium Top of the Bench (ToTB) eliminator for 2016 have been confirmed and the winners announced. And the winner of the Keith Price Cup (pictured right) for 2016 - and the Belgian representative in the TOTB grand final in the UK in 2017 - will be team Vanadium from St. George's International School in Luxembourg! St. George’s made a winning debut in the competition last year and now retain the cup for 2017. 

We were unable to hold our usual practical Saturday event in 2015, due to the Brussels security lock down, so it was a great relief to get back to normal on 3 December and welcome 11 eager teams from six schools to the chemistry labs at the British School of Brussels (BSB) for our ToTB ‘international’ eliminator.

The teams completed individual written question papers and then enjoyed a challenging team Practical Problem Solving Exercise. As usual both the 'hands-on' practical and the paper-based component were developed by our resident competition guru, Rita Woodward. The competition was designed to really test the teams’ chemistry knowledge and problem-solving abilities and (hopefully) encourage young talented chemical scientists to consider further education and careers in Chemistry.

Winners
The individual scores from the written paper were added together for each team with the placings from the practical to give an overall score. And for the second year in a row a team from St. George’s won out- the Vanadium team. Members of the winning team (pictured below) each received a RSC heat sensitive mug and the school will hold the TOTB Keith Price Cup during 2017.

Two teams were joint runners up: the Scandium team from BSB and a second team (Gallium) from St. George’s with members receiving a RSC phone battery charger. Every student that took part in the competition received a certificate.

 The two teams from St George's are pictured above with the Keith Price Cup, their prizes and certificates. 

Full results

As ever, the RSC Belgium ToTB eliminator was a close-fought competition with a total of 11 teams from six schools taking part.

The full line up of participating teams for the 2015 competition is listed below:

• Actinium – European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)
• Copper – International School of Flanders (Rhode St Genese)
• Francium – British School of Brussels (Tervuren)
• Gallium – St. George’s International School (Luxembourg)
• Radium – European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)
• Scandium – British School of Brussels (Tervuren)
• Titanium – European School Brussels 3 (Ixelles)
• Uranium – International School of Flanders (Rhode St Genese)
• Vanadium - St. George’s International School (Luxembourg)
• Xenon - European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)
• Zinc – European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)

The TOTB Finals will take place in Loughborough in the UK during Spring 2017 and RSC sponsors the travel arrangements for our winning team. The RSC Belgium team is usually the only competing school team not based in the British Isles. 

St. George's Hydrogen team had a great time at the 2016 finals so we wish good luck to the Vanadium team from St. George’s in 2017! Our next TOTB Eliminator Round will take place in Q4 2017.

“Colour is Fun” brightens up Brussels

In the first week of March, RSC Belgium organised for Andrew Hanson from the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, U.K. to tour a number of schools and give a public presentation of his well-known lecture “Colour is Fun”. Andrew visited the European School Brussels II at Woluwe, St. John’s International School in Waterloo, the European School Brussels III at Ixelles, the British School of Brussels at Tervuren and the International School of Flanders (ISF) in Sint-Genesius-Rode, and gave an evening public presentation at the Université Catholique de Louvain’s Woluwe campus in Brussels on 2 March. At each location the lecture met with an enthusiastic reception from the audience, staff and pupils.

Andrew is Outreach Manager and Senior Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK's National Measurement Institute, and a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate measurement standards available. For over 25 years he has been professionally measuring colour there, from evaluating the appearance of ornamental plants, to building the world’s first national standards telespectroradiometer to calibrate the colour of visual display units and a machine to measure the shininess of cats!

Colour measurement
His lecture tour brightened up a grey week at the end of winter for his audiences with its many colourful and animated slides. The lecture showed how colours are formed by splitting white light into the different wavelengths which we see as colour, how these are absorbed or reflected by the materials we see and the mechanism by which the eye transmits colour messages to the brain.

Equipment for colour measurement was described and how this enabled the definition of any particular colour, important for quality control in many different areas. Several demonstrations revealed how the eye can retain a reverse colour image when the image is removed – Andrew ‘magiced’ the Belgian flag from white, indigo and duck egg blue stripes. Drawing attention to how our perception of colour is determined by the surroundings of that colour, by the end of the lecture the audience was convinced that what had appeared to be four distinctly different colours at the start were in fact the same.

Whilst Andrew is a physicist, his lecture also highlighted the role of chemistry in determining the colour of materials, and in the development of new dyestuffs and colours.

Shiny cats! 
And, yes, there was an image of a shiny cat! And do not be surprised if the next lecture makes reference to the colour of the Belgian chocolate which Andrew took home with him…
In total, the Andrew’s lectures were enjoyed by over 600 students, staff and members of the public. ISF have reported the event on their Facebook page.

We have to thank the NPL for making Andrew’s time available to conduct this lecture tour, and the staff members at the schools who organised the event on the ground.

Fantastic Plastic! Fantastic Success!

In the last week of February RSC Belgium organised a demo lecture tour of schools and a public lecture with Prof Dr Averil Macdonald emerita professor at Reading University and her famous 'Fantastic Plastic' lecture. The tour visited five schools: the European Schools at Mol, Brussels Laeken, Brussels Woluwe and Brussels Ixelles, and the British School of Brussels -  where we also held a public lecture on the evening of 26 February.

The lectures were a fantastic success with a total audience approaching 1000 students, RSC Belgium members and friends. Feedback from teachers at all the schools venues indicated that the lecture had certainly made an impact on the audiences and moved many to think more seriously about their future options for a science career.

Prof Macdonald (below) is Professor of Science Engagement at the University of Reading and is also a leading advocate for encouraging young women to get interested in science and engineering and seek science-based careers. Amongst many other roles she is a Trustee of the London Science Museum and chairs the UK Expert Group for Women in Science.

She has recently published a report on the issues around encouraging women into science, technology and engineering (STEM) - and why the current messaging is not right. Most girls decide that jobs and careers in science are “not for people like me”. The report shows why STEM outreach and engagement activities have a limited impact on girls and other young people who are under-represented in the STEM workforce and recommends a fresh approach.

You can download the report here.

Top lecture
Prof Macdonald's lecture explores the links between Lego™ blocks, zero pollution cars, disposable nappies, liquids that flow up hill, and false legs! She also shows how this links with the perfect recipe for slime - and shows how science and innovation can be used to make you a Millionaire!

Prof Macdonald's lecture gives a brief overview of the great variety of physical properties of plastics that make them suitable for various intriguing and surprising applications. She then introduces the concept of polymers consisting of long chain molecules, their ability to exist as solid and liquids and their ability to exhibit the properties of both (as in slime).

Lively demonstrations show the effects of increasing temperature, cross linking molecules, "tangling up" the polymer chains, and dissolving them in liquids. Some examples are given to show how by controlling what happens at the molecular level, the characteristics of the final material are determined. Averil focuses as much on enterprise and business opportunities as she does on the chemistry and properties of polymer molecules with plenty of interest for both budding engineers and entrepreneurs! And our audiences clearly loved it!

Big thanks
As well as huge thanks to all the schools, RSC Belgium acknowledges the invaluable help and expertise of Fabio Lucaccioni and Istvan Marko from Univerisite Catholique de Louvain in procuring and preparing the chemicals used in the lecture tour, the staff of the chemistry department at BSB for providing glassware and other vital equipment, and a special thank-you to our own Dr Ian Carson who took on the lion's share of organising and facilitating this very successful venture.

Prizes, Metals and Metabolism

RSC Belgium opened its Autumn 2013 programme on 19 September at the British School of Brussels with a prize giving ceremony for the winners of the section's Chemistry Challenge 2013 competition . The ceremony was followed by a lecture from section chairman Prof. Bob Crichton on biological inorganic chemistry.

Well over 70 members and friends of the section attended and applauded the winners of the Chemistry Challenge in BSB's Brel theatre. To achieve top marks in the challenge, set by RSC Belgium Treasurer and former BSB teacher Rita Woodward,  needed exceptional knowledge of chemistry and a sharp mind.

The Chemical Challenge has three sections:  a chemistry multiple choice paper, a structured questions on chemistry, and a 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based. 

Multiple choice
In the multiple choice section joint first were Jeannine Heetmeyer and Nathan Boydell of the European School Brussels 3 at Ixelles (EEB3). Joint second were Tim Overeem, Owen Tyers and Hangkuon Yi of the International School of Brussels (ISB) with Camila Nagoda of the European School Brussels 1 at Uccle (EEB1) and third was Kazuma Matsumoto of the British School of Brussels (BSB).

The prize winners able to be at BSB on 19 September are pictured below with Section Chairman Prof. Bob Crichton:

Structured Questions
In this very tough part of the Challenge first was Tim Overeem of ISB, with Ryan Moore of St John's International School Waterloo (St Johns) in second and third was was Patricia Martin (St Johns).

The three prize winners are pictured below with Prof. Crichton.

Thinking Matters
Our third section gives the non-chemists a chance but the questions are not easy and require some lateral thinking! In this section first prize went to Sofie Thiel (EEB3) with joint second prizes to Patricia Martin (St Johns) and Wendelin Lutz (EEB3) with Caitriona Murphy of the European School Brussels 2 at Woluwe (EEB2) in second place.

The prize winners able to be at BSB on 19 September are pictured below with Section Chairman Prof. Bob Crichton:

Keith Prize Prize
Tim Overeem of ISB (pictured below right) also received the Keith Price Prize from Bob Crichton for best overall score in sections A and B. First prize winners receive €50, second €25 and third places €10 with the winner of the Keith Price Prize receiving an additional €100. Who says chemistry can't make you rich!

Well done to all the students who participated in 2013 and to their teachers who supervised the Challenge at each of the schools. We will be running the Challenge again in 2014.

Whistle-stop tour
Biological inorganic chemistry is key to understanding almost all of the complex chemical processes underpinning biology and therefore our health. Following the prizes Prof Bob Crichton took his audience on a whistle-stop tour of the two dozen or so main metal ions that have a major role in metabolism.

The metals often have a complex role in the chemical processes that underpin life and recent discoveries that metal ions, such as zinc and copper, play a direct role in the development of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and BSE has created renewed interest in their role in biology.

Bob’s talk was largely based on the recently published second edition of his textbook: Biological Inorganic Chemistry. This revised and expanded second edition was the winner of a 2013 Texty Award from the Text and Academic Authors Association.

Further pictures
The event was followed by the usual question and answer session and an informal networking drinks reception.

The BSB photographer was present throughout the ceremony and lecture and there is an excellent gallery of photos from the 19 September event available on the BSB Flickr website.

2013 Chemistry Challenge Winners Announced

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2013 have just been announced and the talented prize winners will be picking up their winnings at a special RSC Belgium event on 19 September at BSB starting at 19:30. This year we received 85 eligible entries from seven international schools in this testing challenge of young people's chemical knowledge and initiative.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:

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

And the top results were as follows:

Section A: Multiple choice

• Joint first were Jeannine Heetmeyer and Nathan Boydell of the European School Brussels 3 at Ixelles (EEB3) 
• Joint second were Tim Overeem, Owen Tyers and Hangkuon Yi of the International School of Brussels (ISB) with Camila Nagoda of the European School Brussels 1 at Uccle (EEB1)
• Third was Kazuma Matsumoto of the British School of Brussels (BSB)

Section B: Structured Questions

• First was Tim Overeem of ISB
• Second was Ryan Moore of St John's International School Waterloo (St Johns)
• Third was Patricia Martin (St Johns)

Section C: Thinking Matters

• First was Sofie Thiel (EEB3)
• Joint second were Patricia Martin (St Johns) and Wendelin Lutz (EEB3)
• Third was Caitriona Murphy of the European School Brussels 2 at Woluwe (EEB2)

Tim Overeem of ISB 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! We will be running the Challenge again in 2014.

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.

Try it yourself!
Now you can test your chemical knowledge and problem solving ability. The 2013 Chemistry Challenge paper can be viewed here. Tell us how you get on!

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!

Chemistry Challenge Competition 2012

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2012 have been announced and the talented prize winners will be picking up their winnings at the next RSC Belgium event on 23 October. This year we recieved 112 eligible entries to this testing challenge of young people's chemical knowledge and initiative.

The paper is into 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

• First - Ally McDermott (BSB) and Riccardo Terzi (Woluwe EEII)
• Second - Stefano Vianella (Woluwe EEII)
• Third - Jaewar Bahr (ISB), Alexander Ashley (BSB), Callum Scott (BSB)

Section B

• First - Madhavi Jha (ISB)
• Second - Ciaren Daly (ISB), Yoon-Mok Yang (ISB), Ally McDermot (BSB), Bartosz Animucki (Uccle EEI)
• Third - Ayako Fujihara (BSB)

Section C

• First - Alexander Ashley (BSB)
• Second - Gavin Kiely (Woluwe EEII)
• Third - Stefano Vianello (Woluwe EEII)

Ally McDermot also recieves 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 recieving an additional €100. Well done to everyone that took part! We will be running the Challenge again in 2013.

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.

Try it yoursef!
Now you can test your chemical knowledge and problem solving ability. The 2012 Chemistry Challenge paper can be downloaded here. Tell us how you got on!

TOTB 2012 - The Inside Story

Thanks to Giulia Greed from the European School Brussels II in Woluwe for writing up her Top of the Bench (TOTB) experience for us.

The Scientists (Giulia, Caitriona, Nora, and Thomas - see above) met up with Mrs Deegan at around midday, at Gare du Midi, where we would take the Eurostar to London. Once we had arrived in London, Mrs D bought us underground tickets, and we left for our hotel, which was directly opposite Hyde Park.

We settled in, had a short rest, then we set off again - to Leicester square, to buy tickets for the theatre. We looked at the available shows, and we decided on one of them. Mrs D returned from the ticket booth, clutching the Wicked tickets. The Scientists were all getting hungry, so we went for a meal near Covent Garden, then for an ice cream. Next, we went to the theatre to see Wicked, which was really good. Afterwards, we took the Underground back to the hotel, and then went to sleep.

The next morning, we had breakfast, got ready, then we then left the hotel and set off walking through Hyde Park, to Imperial College (where the competition was being held). While we were walking, Mrs D tested the Scientists and talked to us on chemistry.

Brussels crew
Once we were at Imperial, we were talked through the safety announcements, and soon afterwards we were ushered into a lecture hall, where we would be having the written exam. It only lasted half an hour, then we all had a snack.

Next, was the practical team exam, so we went into the labs. The judges explained: the envelope on the table contained the first challenge. The papers on the side made up the second challenge. Everything we needed was in our workspace. We were given lab coats and gloves. We were known to the judges as “the Brussels crew”.

After the first challenge, we had a one minute break. Then the judges described the second challenge. Both challenges went well. After that we ate lunch, followed by a short break, and then the scientists attended a short lecture on the chemistry in mobile phones.

Next: the award ceremony. Our team came 14th out of 30 - a result we were very pleased with!

Belgium TOTB Result

RSC Belgium held its Belgian heat for the annual RSC Top of the Bench (TOTB) competition on Saturday 10 December at the British School of Brussels (BSB). It was a close competition between teams from BSB, St Johns International School and the European School II at Woluwe with a team from Woluwe edging the final result.

This was the first time RSC Belgium's TOTB eliminator was an actual 'head-to-head' competition. The five teams of budding chemists (two from Woluwe, two from BSB and one from St. Johns) had to complete a short written test on their individual chemical knowledge and data interpretation skils and then show teamwork and problem-solving abilities in a practical chemical exercise.


This format more closely reflects the format of the competition that the winners will face at the final to be held at Imperial College London on 31 March 2012. Rita Woodward devised the competition and set the questions.

Close competition
All five teams consisted of four students aged 14 - 16 and were accompanied by teachers. The practical aspect of the competition involved the reaction of sodium thiosulfate and hydrochloric acid. The teams had to determine the correct amount and molarity of solutions so that the reaction completed in exactly 2 minutes and 28 seconds. The reaction was said to be completed when a black cross placed under the reaction flask was no longer visible.

When teams had worked out their own solution, their eforts were timed by judges Prof. Bob Crichton and Dr. Ian Carson. Each team had up to two official 'timed' attempts.

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


Although the result was tight the winning team and runners-up both came from Woluwe European School. The winning teams are pictured above, together with proud Woluwe chemistry teacher Julie Deegan. The school will now represent Belgium in the (inter)national final in London and receive the section's Keith Price Cup for 2012. All the students who took part in the competition will also receive certificates.

Everyone who took part in the competition had an enjoyable time with both students and teachers very enthusiastic about the new 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 fun afternoon of chemistry!