Science Alliance

Building on our collaborative venture with UCL Academy, our A Level Chemistry students joined forces for the first in a series of inspiring lectures.

Two years ago, South Hampstead partnered with our neighbouring state secondary school, UCL Academy, to recruit a shared Chemistry Teacher in response to the challenge of finding specialist teaching staff. An experienced teacher now divides her time between the two schools in what is thought to be the first arrangement of its kind. Together, the schools continue to develop innovative best practice and ideas sharing models, including a new series of scientific lectures.

UCLA Sixth Formers recently joined our own A Level Scientists for the inaugural talk at South Hampstead, as we welcomed back one of our former pupils who is now an interdisciplinary bioscience PhD student. Ada Liebenau left South Hampstead in 2016, completed her Master’s in Chemistry at UCL, and is now pursuing a PhD in Biochemical Immunology at the University of Oxford, focusing on tackling chronic inflammation. She shared her academic journey from A levels to becoming a PhD researcher, along with insights into her daily life as a PhD student, providing a fascinating overview of her research and the wide variety of careers and opportunities that academic research can lead to.  Students from both schools found the session inspiring, learning about her research and how much Ada’s academic path changed over time.

“Thank you so much for this opportunity! Ada’s talk gave me a more comprehensive understanding of how chemistry and biology link together. I also learnt more about research-related careers, which made me reconsider my future plans after an undergraduate degree.” 

“The talk was very insightful and the insoluble drugs forming crystals on the cells was very cool to see! I feel more confident in my motivations and have a clearer idea of what I should be doing to gain more information.” 

“Hearing about her research was very encouraging as it’s very specific yet helps multiple autoimmune conditions. I really appreciate your support in providing such experiences.”

We look forward to hosting more collaborative talks and pursuing more joint initiatives across our Chemistry Departments, including a forthcoming university research lab visit.