Top of the Bench 2024 European Eliminator

On Saturday 16 November, the Royal Society of Chemistry Belgium Section held its annual Top of The Bench (TOTB) Competition to select a team of school students to represent the section in the UK National Finals in 2025. After a tough afternoon of competition the overall winner was Team Solvay from St. Georges International School in Luxembourg.

Our TOTB competition took place in the chemistry labs at The British School of Brussels (BSB) in Tervuren with seven teams from four schools taking part. Teams Franklin and Goodenough represented the International School of Flanders (ISF), Teams Kwolek and Baekeland came from Montgomery International School (MIS), Teams Solvay and Hodgkin travelled up from St Georges, and BSB was represented by Team Curie.

Each team was composed of four students with two students from Year 9 UK (3rd year or Grade 8), one student from Year 10 UK (4th year or Grade 9), and one student from Year 11 UK (5th year or Grade 10). The competition itself was split into three parts: a 30 minute group challenge Chemistry Quiz involving creative thinking exercises; a 90 minute group practical activity; and finally age-appropriate individual multiple-choice quizzes with the students having 30-minutes to complete them.

All the teams enjoyed the competition and when the scores from the various elements were added up Team Solvay from St George’s (pictured above with RSC Belgium TOTB organiser Susan Schamp) were first with Team Curie (pictured below with Susan) from BSB second and Team Goodenough from ISF third. This year individual cups were awarded to all team members of the first and second placed teams.

Team Solvay will now be representing RSC Belgium in the UK National TOTB Final which will take place at Cardiff University on 22 March 2025.

The Cardiff competition will be the last TOTB UK Grand Final as the RSC is discontinuing the event. However, the Belgium section is looking to continue our own TOTB event, or a similar practical-orientated team competition, possibly with a modified team age profile that could help widen participation from schools in our area.

Our immense thanks to everyone who took part in the competition or were involved in the organisation of the competition. In particular to Susan who developed the competition elements with Rita Woodward and to Jonathan Norris for use of the labs at BSB.

BSB at ToTB Final in Edinburgh

The 2024 Top of the Bench final took place at Edinburgh Napier University on Saturday 16th March with RSC Belgium's representative team from the British School of Brussels (BSB) taking part. The weather was rather wet and windy but the BSB team (pictured below outside Edinburgh castle), who won our eliminator round in November, thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

RSC Belgium committee member and BSB's Department Lead for Chemistry, Johnathan Norris, has sent the following report on proceedings in Edinburgh.

"The BSB team competed in the TOTB competition final at Edinburgh Napier University on the theme of "Water". The competition followed the usual format; Junior and Senior Quiz in the morning on Chemistry (our Y10/11 students had a bit of a disadvantage as some of the questions were from Triple Award rather than Double Award science) but the students felt relatively pleased with their performance.

After Lunch it was on to the experimental group task where the students had to produce a solubility curve by using different water temperatures and seeing when a solid crystallised. Whilst we were waiting for the results of the competition we were treated to a talk on "Water treatment" including a demonstration of "flocking!".

The RSC President, Gillian Reid, then gave a short talk on her varied career and how she ended up as President of the Royal Society. Unfortunately BSB were not one of the top six schools with Brighton College taking the first prize this year. 

However, the team from BSB were not too disheartened as they had been able to spend a weekend in the Scottish capital, seeing bagpipers, a double rainbow from the castle and enjoy the discovery of the delights of Marks & Spencers Percy Pigs!"

Jonathan was also able to have a chat with RSC President Gill Reid during some free time and she told him how much she was looking forward to coming to Belgium in May (see forthcoming events). In particular she is looking forward to the tram ride from Brussels to Tervuren - so let's hope it is back up and running by then!

Winners

The RSC Belgium / BSB team were one of 31 schools teams from across the UK competing in Edinburgh final. The victors were Brighton College who won a trophy, individual £25 Amazon gift vouchers and a generous £500 to bolster their school’s chemistry provision. The runners-up, from The Manchester Grammar School, were awarded a trophy and each received a £15 Amazon gift voucher. Sama Albattat from Cardiff High School received the Jacqui Clee Award for the most outstanding individual contribution.

The theme for this year’s competition was water – essential to life on Earth and a critical topic in chemistry. The competition kicked off with a 40-minute chemistry knowledge exam, where pairs of students worked together in school teams to answer a series of challenging questions. After this, groups of four students tackled an engaging 90-minute lab practical exercise.

President of the RSC, Gill Reid says the event was incredibly enjoyable, with a real buzz of anticipation. ‘It was fantastic to see the enthusiasm, determination and team work on display. I hope everyone felt proud of their achievements and inspired to continue their journey with chemistry! Thanks also to all the teachers and technical staff for their commitment to enabling the students to enjoy this experience.’

Mark Jordan, head of education at the RSC, added: ‘Our congratulations to all this year’s participants who represented their schools and a new generation of scientists so well. We’re very grateful to the staff of Edinburgh Napier University, technicians and teachers, and the RSC team for making the first final hosted in Scotland such a success.’

Edinburgh Napier University lecturer, Colin McGill shares how proud the team were to be able to host this year’s final: ‘It was great to welcome enthusiastic young chemists and their teachers from across the UK (and beyond!)’. Colin and his team worked in partnership with the RSC to organise the successful event. He extends special thanks to the events team, the technical team who organised the practical activities and more, as well as the student teachers who helped out on the day.

The Top of the Bench competition continues to inspire and challenge young scientists, offering a platform to showcase their talents and passion for chemistry. Congratulations to all the talented participants and winners.

The Top Six places are listed below with their RSC Region or section.

1st              Brighton College - Downland

2nd             The Manchester Grammar School - Manchester & District

3rd             Bradford Grammar School - Central Yorkshire

4th             Yarm School - Teesside

5th             Wellingborough School - East Midlands

6th             Mercia School - Sheffield & District

Jacqui Clee Award to Sama Albattat from Cardiff High School - South East Wales

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.

BSB at Top of the Bench Final

Our 2022 Belgium Top of the Bench champs – Team Sodium from the British School of Brussels (BSB) – competed in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s 2023 Top of the Bench national final on 25 March at the University of East London (UEL). The BSB team were the only non-UK team in the 31 competitors. The competition tests the chemistry knowledge of 14–16 year-old students through written and practical exercises.

Students had to complete a 40-minute chemistry knowledge exam in pairs, followed by a 90 minute hour practical team exercise in UEL’s labs. The theme of the final was sustainability with a practical challenge on sustainable energy that included a calorimetry task, density determination and finally an analysis of some possible “future fuels”. 

The teams also had a talk from Tony Raynham, the course leader for the University of East London Chemistry department, about the course (a new course only just set-up), his life history and journey about how he got to where he is now and then a talk on apprenticeships from an RSC speaker. 

Tony Raynham said that UEL was delighted to host the talented young chemists in the Bioscience department.

Unfortunately, BSB did not win; Winchester College (winning team pictured above) took top place. The winning team received a trophy and Amazon gift vouchers, and will be sent £500 for their school to spend on science equipment. The first runners-up, four students from Colchester County High School for Girls, received Amazon vouchers. Hannah Addiscott from The Grange School was awarded the Jacqui Clee Award for the most outstanding individual contribution.

BSB chemistry teacher and RSC Belgium committee member Jonathan Norris escorted the BSB party and commented: “The students really enjoyed themselves, despite a long day.” The BSB team made the trip to and from London in a day.

Despite not winning all the students came away with a free t-shirt and a periodic table and the accompanying teachers got a thermochromic mug, a RSC lanyard, and a fetching RSC tote bag.

Next year’s final will be in Edinburgh and RSC Belgium will be planning to send a team as usual.

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.

St Georges retain TOTB trophy again

Despite the continuing 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 late 2021. And this year more teams than ever were involved with 13 teams from seven international and European schools taking part. The results are now in and the winning team, who will now represent Belgium in the TOTB grand final in Spring 2022, is Team Titanium (pictured below) from St. Georges International School in Luxembourg. The school therefore retains the Keith Price Cup and makes it three years in a row as RSC Belgium TOTB champs!

Once again, the competition had to be run remotely during late November and early December with the results evaluated over the Christmas holiday period by our TOTB team: Rita Woodward and Susan Schamp.

Our 2021 TOTB eliminator again retained the usual elements of the competition: a written test component for individual team members and a practical group exercise.

This year the written element was a 30-minute online Chemistry Quiz with questions tailored to the three age groups in each team and the practical element requiring input from all four team members based around a simple 'Everyday Chemistry Around You' scenario that could be carried out at school or at home depending on COVID restrictions in place at the time.

TOTB teams are 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).

Online quiz

The online quiz was worked up by Susan. “The quiz worked very well considering it was our first try with this format allowing us to set a wider range of questions than would have been possible with just a pen and paper,” says Susan. “For example, there was a video round where students watched a short video clip showing a chemical transformation or technique, which they then answered questions on.”

The quizzes consisted of 40 questions and students had 30 minutes to complete as many questions as they could before the quiz automatically submitted. “One school did have some technical problems which we will need to solve before running our next TOTB event,” notes Susan.

Practical element

Rita oversaw the practical element that also included a taster video introduction to get the teams thinking about de-gassing fizzy drinks – the subject of the experiment. “The practical task looked to be simple but deceptively proved to be more challenging than for previous years,” says Rita. “Excellent time management, organisation and thinking outside the box were required. This year’s practical was certainly tricky, but many students thoroughly enjoyed the task!”

Alejandro Perez, the coordinating chemistry teacher at St. Georges International School for their teams commented: “We do not appreciate how much more challenging it is to plan a full investigation than to follow instructions in a practical activity, and the event has given our students the opportunity experience the scientific method put into practice.”

Challenging event

In 2021 only four teams from two schools were able to complete and return results in our first attempt at a COVID-proof event, but this year 13 teams from seven schools were involved – returning participation to pre-COVID levels. Teams were entered by Antwerp International School (AIS), the British School of Brussels (BSB), European Schools I and II in Luxembourg, the International School of Flanders (ISF) in Waterloo, St. John’s International School in Waterloo and St. George's International School in Luxembourg.

As ever the competition was very close with some notable individual performances and excellent teamwork, but the overall winner was the Titanium team from St Georges thanks to ranking first in the written part and a top three placement in the practical. Runners up were Team Chromium from BSB with top marks in the practical test and a top three placement in the written section.

Our congratulations to Team Titanium who will go forward to represent RSC Belgium at the RSC’s TOTB final in 2022. And our thanks to everyone who took part in the TOTB eliminator this year. RSC Belgium goodies are on the way to the winning team and all participating team members will receive certificates.

Many thanks to St. George's for providing photos of the winning Titanium team.

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.

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!

BSB represent Belgium in TOTB Final in Birmingham

On Saturday 9 March, four students from the British School of Brussels (BSB) represented Belgium at the RSC's National Final of the Top of The Bench (TOTB) competition at Birmingham University. BSB were the winners of our hotly contested eliminator that took place in November.

The annual Final event, organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), is designed to enthuse and excite children with Chemistry and encourage them to consider further education and careers within Chemistry. The Top of the Bench competition is one of the longest-standing activities organised by the RSC for school students and has been running for more than 20 years.

Sabina (Year 11), YiIlin (Year 10), Mathieu (Year 9) and Xavier (Year 9) from BSB took part in a series of individual and group tasks alongside 31 other schools from across the United Kingdom.

After an individual written test in the morning, the students were assessed in the afternoon during a group problem-solving exercise. This practical task took place in the brand new, state-of-the-art Chemistry laboratory of the University of Birmingham where the students were able to access fantastic facilities only normally found in industrial chemical laboratories. The day ended with a fun and informative lecture on polymers and biopolymers. The students had a look around the campus and enjoyed working in state of the art facilities in Birmingham and thoroughly enjoyed this day in a world class institution.

TOTB International Eliminator 2018

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 24 November 2018 with teams from Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands taking part. In total 11 teams from 6 schools participated. An exciting afternoon of chemical problem solving ended with the announcement of the 2018 winner of the Keith Price Cup: Team Fluorine from BSB. They will now represent RSC Belgium at the TOTB grand final in the UK in 2019.

This year the competition was even closer than normal with a very, very close finish between team Fluorine and team Oxygen from St George's International School in Luxembourg.

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 session to give an overall score.

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

Our huge thanks our committee judges Bob Crichton and Julie Tuppeny, and to all the teachers and other volunteers involved in preparing and organising the event, in particular Helen and William Darnley, Jane Downing, David Douheret and Greg Koc from BSB, and, of course, Rita.

TOTB 2018 line-up

The full list of participating teams for our 2018 competition was:

Lithium - European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)
Sulfur - European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)
Bromine - European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)
Magnesium - European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)
Vanandium - International School of Flanders (Rhode St Genese)
Copper - British School of Brussels (Tervuren)
Fluorine - British School of Brussels (Tervuren)
Chromium - United World Colleges (Maastricht)
Nitrogen -  United World Colleges (Maastricht)
Calcium - St Georges International School (Luxembourg)
Oxygen - St Georges International School (Luxembourg)

The TOTB Finals will take place in the UK on 9 March 2019 at the University of Birmingham 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 Q4 2019. Get your school involved!

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.

St George's and the TOTB Dragon 2016

In November, St George’s School in Luxembourg City entered two teams into the RSC Belgium annual ‘Top of the Bench’ (TOTB) competition. This prestigious event is open to all schools in Belgium and Luxembourg region. 

The RSC Belgium ‘eliminator’ took place in unusual circumstances as the planned event in Brussels had to be cancelled at the very last minute (St. Georges were already on the bus from Luxembourg) due to a terrorist threat and the subsequent ‘security lock down’ of Brussels.

So instead of the 'face-to-face' event, each team was sent tests to complete and return to the section for marking. Team Hydrogen from St George's did really well and won the RSC Belgium regional heat! And as a result of this victory they received the Keith Price Cup and entry into the final of the TOTB competition representing RSC Belgium. The following is a short description of their experience at the RSC's main competition in the UK.

TOTB
The TOTB final was held at Loughborough University, in the UK on Saturday 16 April. It was jointly hosted by the Royal Society of Chemistry and Loughborough University’s Chemistry department. In total 32 teams participated in the event, all of which had made it through their regional eliminator rounds to earn the right to compete against the best schools in the UK (and St George’s).

It was a great event, starting with an individual round – which was essentially a chemistry exam, followed by the main event which was a team round involving a series of very complicated chemistry investigations regarding batteries and energy (see above). To round off the day, students were invited to view interactive presentations from some of Loughborough University’s post-graduate chemistry students on the various research projects that they were working on. All the competing teams were used as a voting panel and asked to decide where they would like to see further funding utilised.

Despite the St. George's team not making it into the top six ranked places, this competition was an excellent opportunity for the students to challenge themselves and see the various avenues of research that university students are taking after studying chemistry.

This event certainly stretched their ability and provided a great insight into teamwork and working under pressure. Overall it was an enjoyable experience for all members involved, including the staff!

The St. George's team (pictured above) consisted of the following students: Ethan – Year 11 (Team Captain); Yi hua – Year 10; Alistair – Year 9; and Alexios – Year 9. The team were accompanied to Loughborough by their teachers Mr Stenton and Mrs Winter. Well done St. George's!

The Road to Loughborough – The Belgian Top of the Bench Experience 2015

Every year RSC Belgium runs an eliminator competition for schools in Belgium to choose a team to participate in the RSC’s Top of the Bench competition in the UK. The eliminator is usually held in November in Belgium to select a team to compete in the TOTB final held in the UK in the following spring.

In 2014 the winning Belgium team was Team Boron (pictured below) from the European School Brussels IV at Laeken in Brussels. This was the first time that the recently opened school had competed in the RSC Belgium competition. This following essay was written by team member Carlo Stella and recounts his experiences of the competition in Belgium and at the final in the UK in April 2015.

The RSC Belgium team selected to participate in the 2016 final is St Georges School from Luxembourg.

RSC Belgium TOTB
The RSC Belgium section was established in the mid 1980’s and has over 100 members. The section organises lectures and visits every year with the majority of activities, including extremely popular annual demonstration lectures, held in or around the Brussels area. However, group expeditions, both professional and social, are also organised throughout Belgium and beyond!

The section is growing its links with schools, both in the Anglophone educational community and the wider Belgian and European language communities, through poster and essay competitions and other outreach activities. And the section runs a national elimination round to select a team from Belgium to attend the annual RSC Top of the Bench (TOTB) in the UK.

Schools were invited to select up to two teams of four students per school to compete to represent RSC Belgium in the Top of the Bench National Final to be held at Loughborough University in the UK on 25 April 2015.

The Eliminator Competition included individual tests of factual chemical knowledge and data interpretation with a team-based practical problem solving activity.

In the UK Final, prizes are given for the best overall school performance and runner up teams. The Jacqui Clee Award is given for an outstanding individual contribution to the day. Travel and accommodation expenses are covered by RSC UK for the selected team and one accompanying teacher.

Team selection
Before forming a group there was an internal elimination round to make up the two groups which will participate in the RSC Belgium eliminator that was held at the British School of Brussels. We started planning in November when our Chemistry teacher announced the possibility to join a team for a Chemistry competition.

TOTB teams are composed as follows: one year S5, one S4 and two S3 students. Only two teams from the European School Brussels IV at Laeken (EEB4) could enter.

There were about 10 candidates in S4 EN. We had to pass a preliminary test as only two S4 students could participate. I was very surprised when they told me I’d made it through. Two teams were formed: Team Boron (Samuil Iskarov S3, Kristian Iliev S3, Carlo Stella S4, Deyan Pehlivanov S5) and Team Argon (Leo Tyrpac S3, Daniel Spasic S3, Victor Elgersma S4, Timothy Rhein S5).

Belgian competition
To qualify to participate in the TOTB final in the UK, we had to compete against other schools from Belgium and Luxembourg. The competition took place in the British School of Brussels. There were a total of 15 teams from all over Belgium and Luxembourg. We had to complete a written test and then perform a practical experiment.

At the end of the day it was announced that team Boron was the first place winner! At first I couldn’t remember who team Boron was. Then they called our names and we received a cup. The other EEB4 team (Argon) was in third place. It was the first time EEB4 had entered the competition and both of our teams had done really well! We were all very happy.

Loughborough final
It was announced that the winning team had to go to Loughborough University to compete in the final. There would be 32 teams participating!

We departed on Friday 24 April on the Eurostar with our team and our exceptional Chemistry teacher Mrs. Mary Jaeger. Then we took an East Midlands Train Service to Loughborough town. The journey was quite long but we finally made it there.

The University campus was gigantic covering almost half of the town. On Saturday morning we got a briefing about the events. The topic of the tests was ‘Chemistry in Food- Organic Chemistry’. We passed a 30 minute individual test in a big university lecture hall. The test was extremely hard and contained topics which were studied in first or second year university courses. I saw many people leaving blank questions.

The second part of the test consisted of a group laboratory experiment. They made us visit the University labs, which were fabulously equipped. The material was set already for each team. The countdown started. Now, this experiment was really impossible. We had with us a 20 page booklet featuring the ‘Procedures’ and some apparatus on the table. However, in the pages they gave us, they told us what to do but not how to do it so we had to figure out how to perform the tasks.

Team work
There was a lot of team work required as it was a very difficult task and on top of that there were judges (senior chemistry teachers) walking around observing every action we made. We distributed out the roles. We were confronted with tasks and problems and we had no idea how to handle them. After a few tries we got the first part right, but then we still had to do the second part of the booklet. We got mostly through the second part but suddenly we were out of time. I am not supposed to tell you what questions they asked us, but I can tell you it was far too hard!  The experiment involved specialised university machines with light spectrum frequencies analysers… I guess the whole point of the competition was testing our ability to react towards unknown content.

I know we have done our best and I am confident that we will be in the first half of the teams. Unfortunately, we know we are not in the top six but we don’t know yet what rating we obtained. Due to the difficulty of the task I would be very content rating in the middle.

After missing the East Midlands train due to a slow taxi driver we finally managed to return back to Brussels a few hours later. We had a very brief stop in the Science Museum in London. I went straight up to the last floor to see the aviation part of the museum (the best part). Then we took the Eurostar back.

I encourage everyone to take part in the RSC competitions because you will never forget nor regret it! It has definitely been the BEST trip I’ve ever had! Special thanks to Mrs. Jaeger for promoting Chemistry throughout the Secondary students and of course for engaging us in competitions!

Luxembourg to represent Belgium in Top of the Bench!

The results of the RSC Belgium Top of the Bench (ToTB) eliminator for 2015 have been announced. And the holder of the Keith Price Cup (pictured right) for 2016 - and the Belgian representative in the TOTB grand final in the UK - will be team Hydrogen from St. George's International School in Luxembourg!

This year we were unable to hold our usual practical Saturday event - scheduled for 21 November - due to the Brussels security lock down that came into force on the morning of our event. Fortunately we were able to inform all our competing teams before any of them started to travel to the British School.

Unfortunately it was not possible to find a Saturday afternoon slot to re-schedule the TOTB Eliminator Round before the RSC HQ deadline date for submission of team details of 31 January 2016. So a modified form of the Eliminator was held at each competing school.

This consisted of a written question paper and a challenging Practical Problem Solving Exercise. Although the competition this year did not involve any 'hands-on' practical work the format developed by our resident competition guru, Rita Woodward, gave the students more than just a standard paper and pencil test of their chemical know-how. Students from the Oxygen team at the SHAPE International School are pictured above taking part in the competition at their school.

Winners
Members of Hydrogen, the winning team from St George’s Luxembourg, each received a RSC heat sensitive mug and the school will hold the TOTB Keith Price Cup during 2016.

St. George's School Principal, Dr Christian Barkei, was really pleased with the team's success and the win has been reported in some Luxembourg newspapers: 'Young chemists set eyes on prize in UK contest'  (Wort.lu) and 'St George’s Hydrogen Team Wins Royal Society of Chemistry Regional Event in Belgium' (Chronicle.lu).

The Runner–Up team was team Calcium from the European School Brussels 4 in Laeken (EEB4) and Calcium team members each received a RSC phone battery charger as did those students who scored the top mark in the written paper for each of the three year groups that form the TOTB teams. Every student that took part in the competition received a certificate.

The winning Team Hydrogen from St George's are pictured above with the Keith Price Cup and their certificates. Pictured from left to right are team members Alexios Valsamidis, Alistair Reid, Yi-hua Lim and Ethan Utting.  Mark Stenton, Head of Science at St. George's said all the team were very pleased with the trophy, their certificates and their additional gifts!

Full results

Despite our troubles and tribulations the eliminator was, as ever, a close-fought competition with a total of nine from six schools taking part.

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

• Calcium – European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)
• Krypton – European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)
• Cobalt - European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)
• Copper - European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)
• Barium – International School of Flanders
• Chlorine – International School of Flanders (Team members pictured above with ISF's resident skeleton called Eric!)
• Beryllium – British School of Brussels
• Oxygen – SHAPE International School
• Hydrogen – St. George's International School, Luxembourg

The TOTB Finals take place in Loughborough in the UK on 16 April 2016 and RSC sponsors the travel arrangements for our winning team. The RSC Belgium team is the only competing school team not based in the British Isles.

  

Our next TOTB Eliminator Round will, hopefully, take place in November 2016.

First Time Team wins TOTB Thriller

RSC Belgium held its annual eliminator heat for the RSC Top of the Bench (TOTB) competition on Saturday 15 November at the British School of Brussels (BSB). In a close finish the Bromine team from the European School in Laeken claimed the Keith Price Cup in their first ever entry in the competition. The team will also represent RSC Belgium in the 2015 final in the UK!

This was the fourth time that the RSC Belgium's TOTB eliminator has been held as an actual 'head-to-head' competition with a practical element. This format is a clear ‘hit’ with both the students and teachers who take part.

As ever it was a hard-fought struggle between a total of 12 teams from six schools including two teams from the new European School Brussels IV based in Laeken.

The full team line up was as follows:

• Lithium - European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)
• Fluorine - European School Brussels 2 (Woluwe)
• Gallium - European School Brussels 3 (Ixelles)
• Sodium – European School Brussels 3 (Ixelles)
• Magnesium – British School of Brussels
• Hydrogen – British School of Brussels
• Nitrogen – SHAPE International School
• Carbon – SHAPE International School
• Tungsten – International School of Flanders
• Oxygen – International School of Flanders
• Argon – European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)
• Bromine – European School Brussels 4 (Laeken)

Juicy problems
The twelve teams of budding chemists 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 year the teams were set the task of producing electrical power from fruit! A selection of fruit and a variety of metals and other lab equipment were provided for each team and they were asked to produce a 'battery' that gave a reproducible voltage of 5.0 volts using the least number of fruit 'cells' and no more than three different fruit varieties.

The challenge provided a range of responses, but all the teams got there in the end! Teams were judged on their approach to the problem, teamwork, the quality of the recording of their work and the accuracy and precision of their observations.

The format of our TOTB event closely reflects the format of the competition that the winners will face in the actual RSC–run final in the UK. As usual Rita Woodward devised this cunning competition and set the questions.

Close competition
All twelve teams consisted of four students aged 14 - 16 and were accompanied by teachers. When teams had worked out their own solution, their efforts were assessed by judges from RSC Belgium: Dr. Ian Carson, Dr Becki Scott, and Rita Woodward (who also set the tasks for the TOTB). We were also greatly assisted by three postgraduate students from KU Leuven - Kim Eekelers, Niels Hulsbosch and Sofie Hollanders - who volunteered to help out with supervision and judging.

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

The final result was very tight with the winners being the the Bromine team from Laeken, with runners up being the Argon team also from Laeken and the Gallium from the European School Brussels III in Ixelles. The winning team is pictured above having been presented with the Keith Price Cup by branch treasurer and chief problem-setter Rita Woodward. The Bromine team with their teacher Mary Jaeger are are pictured below. The team will now represent Belgium in the (inter)national final in the UK in Spring 2015.

All the students taking part in our Top of the Bench competition receive certificates of participation.

Clearly everyone who took part in the competition had a very enjoyable time with both students and teachers very enthusiastic about this competitive format. The top three teams are pictured below. Our thanks to all the teachers, technical staff and students (see below) who took part in a really fun afternoon of chemistry! #chemistryisfun.

You can find more information on RSC school competitions and activities here.

BSB boosts Belgium at TOTB Final

On Friday 28 March, 2014, four very excited students from the British School of Brussels (BSB) set out on their journey to take part in the Top of the Bench Final that took place at Loughborough University, UK on Saturday 29 March. The BSB 'Bromine' team represented RSC Belgium following their victory at our Belgian eliminator contest in November. BSB teacher and RSC Belgium exec member Jane Downing sent us this report.

"Throughout the journey they chattered non-stop about their chemistry, each trying to help the other revise the hardest topics. To be frank I think all of them could enter their IGCSE exam this year and pass!

The BSB team consisted of Maria, Jasper, Gabriela and Emma (see below) and did themselves, BSB and the RSC Belgium section proud. The team maintained a high level of enthusiasm throughout the competition, encouraging each other and commiserating when they were not placed in the top six teams.They were tested with practical tasks using High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Ion Identification, both normally topics for second year university students apparently!

The day finished with a most entertaining lecture 'What has Analytical Chemistry ever done for us?'  by Prof. Colin Creaser. And if you know this field of chemistry then you know what a feat this was!

The students had such an enjoyable time that they spent the return journey, planning their teams for next year's competition!

Many thanks to the RSC(Belgium section)'s support for the team!"

TOTB 2014 
The RSC Top of the Bench 2014 saw 29 teams taking part from across the UK plus, of course, Belgium. The competition was jointly organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry and Loughborough University and tested students' knowledge of chemistry through written and practical exercises.

The overall winner was Ardingly College, from the Downland RSC Local Section who received the TOTB trophy from Professor Ray Jones, President of the RSC's Organic Division and Professor of Organic and Biological Chemistry at Loughborough University.

The winning team members each received gift vouchers and £500 for their school to spend on equipment for the Chemistry department.

The runners-up were from Bolton School (Boys' Division) from the Manchester & District RSC Local Section.

RSC Belgium will be holding our 2014 eliminator during November - so get you teams ready now!