Sixteen bright young minds recently took part in an event at the John Innes Centre to inspire the next generation of scientists.

The Year 10 Science Camp, a unique week of science training activities, took place between Monday 30 June and Friday 4 July 2014.

Year 10 students from Norfolk and beyond took part in getting hands on experience in labs at the John Innes Centre, and partner institutes, and learning the skills needed to become a scientist.

What’s truly unique about Year 10 Science Camp is that the students get to discover life as a scientist in a research institute, spending two full days in labs with researchers across countless fields of scientific discovery, as well as taking part in a series of workshops and interactive training events.

Lead organiser and John Innes Centre researcher Samantha Fox said “We build the students’ knowledge, skills and aspirations. Most of all we provide an incredibly motivating and inspirational week”

Highlights included a workshop and practical training session on ash dieback, including genome analysis and bioinformatics, as well as sessions on computational modelling of plant growth, plant breeding and genetic modification, and science communication.

What this year’s students said about their experience:

• “I had such an amazing time and I still cannot quite believe the incredible opportunities I was given whilst I was there.” – Sophie Royal, The Ecclesbourne School, Derbyshire
• “I had an amazing time and learnt so much from it all. It really opened my eyes to all the possible careers and paths within science and I met some great people at the same time.” –  Phoebe Ellwood, Framingham Earl High School, Norfolk
• “I thoroughly enjoyed myself and am gutted the experience is over. It was truly fascinating and has inspired me to work hard and reach my goals” – Asha Notarianni, Flegg High School, Norfolk
• “I really enjoyed my time at the camp, …it was inspiring, informative, intellectually challenging, and on top of all that it was great fun. What a fantastic way to get hands-on experience of these sort of state-of-the-art techniques being used to solve life issues such as crop yield, pathogen defence, and genetic manipulation” – Kier Whiting, Aylsham High School

As part of the science communication workshop, the students were asked to either take a camera into the labs and document their experience, or write a blog-post, explaining what they did during their laboratory placements.