Undergraduate chemists have all the solutions

St Catharine’s is delighted to celebrate the academic achievements of the undergraduate chemists who have received prizes from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry this year:

• Solomon English (2016), has been awarded the Dudley Williams Prize for the best Biological Project;
• Pin Yu Chew (2017) came top in the year, and was awarded the Winifred Georgina Holgate Pollard Memorial Prize for the most outstanding performance in Part II Chemistry;
• Rokas Elijošius (2017) came a very close second in the same year group, winning an Examiner’s Prize for outstanding performance in Part II Chemistry; and
• Soma Turi (2017) won the prize for outstanding work in practical chemistry.

Dr Peter Wothers (1988), Director of Studies, commented, “On behalf of St Catharine’s, I wanted to express how enormously proud we are of our undergraduate Chemistry students as a cohort, and everything they have achieved in spite of difficult circumstances this year. Special congratulations to Solomon, Pin Yu, Rokas and Soma for their well-deserved prizes – it is a real pleasure to see our students’ excellent work recognised by the Department in this way.”

Solomon explained that he will draw on the experience gained by completing his dissertation during his postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford:

“It has been a real pleasure working on my first independent research project and it has taught me a great deal about the experimental method, planning research projects and science writing. I am really looking forward to building on these skills when I start my PhD.”

Dr Mairi Kilkenny (2016), Fellow and Tutor for Solomon, added, “Solomon has excelled during his time at Catz: he has achieved a first class grade in all four years of his degree, as well as securing competitive and fully-funded summer research placements at Institut Pasteur in Paris and the University of Tokyo. His dissertation is an excellent piece of research work, thoroughly deserving of the Dudley Williams Prize. I wish Solomon all the best as he embarks on his PhD at the University of Oxford.”

Meanwhile, Pin Yu noted her appreciation for all the support she has received:

"I’m honoured to have been awarded the Winifred Georgina Holgate-Pollard Memorial Prize and this will motivate me to continue doing my best. I’m incredibly grateful for all my friends and supervisors who have been very supportive and encouraging during my time at Catz.”

Soma added, “I am grateful for being awarded this prize as a symbolic recognition of my work during the year and I congratulate all my co-awardees as well. It is a great way to end my undergraduate Chemistry studies, which I'm glad to have done in Cambridge and at Catz in particular – a motivating environment with truly amazing people all around.”

“Pin Yu has demonstrated that absolute excellence in her studies can go very well with a light-hearted disposition and a refined sense of humor, so I am delighted to hear that she has done so brilliantly,” commented Dr Harald Wydra (2003), Fellow and Tutor for Pin Yu, Rokas and Soma. “I am very happy for Rokas to have gained this outstanding distinction as he is one of the most talented and ambitious students I have ever come across – a well-deserved honour that will give him extra motivation for his future PhD studies. Meanwhile, Soma has been an exemplary student, combining his studies with a range of wider interests far beyond the natural sciences, and I am very happy for him to be rewarded with the prize for outstanding work in practical chemistry.”

In the third year of their degree, most Natural Science undergraduates at Cambridge specialize in one single subject chosen from a wide range of possibilities, although a more general approach (pursuing two or three subjects) is also possible. Several subjects, including Chemistry, now offer both three- and four-year courses.

Annual prizes awarded by the College to its students will be announced later in the year.

Find out more about studying Chemistry as part of a Natural Sciences degree at Catz.