Before moving to Scotland to board at Dollar, Zuzana had entered and competed in several science competitions, all based in Slovakia, where she previously attended school. After settling into Dollar, Zuzana was eager to continue her ‘competition-career’ by entering a UK-based science competition. Through her own research, she found ‘The Big Bang Competition’, which is thought to be one of the largest science competitions in the country, where young people’s achievements in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are recognised and rewarded.
Zuzana applied, using her own project ‘In Vitro Immunofluorescence Analysis of Neural Rosette Formation’. This was an experiment that Zuzana had worked on whilst she was completing a one-month internship at Masaryk University in 2018. This project was later featured within an academic publication produced by the university.
Last month, she received the exciting news that her project had been selected for the Big Bang Finals, after being reviewed by over seventy judges, who are all experts in the STEM fields. Zuzana is now preparing to travel to Birmingham later this year where she will take place in the final heats. This is a two-day event where all the finalists have the opportunity to present their research and take part in a series of STEM challenges and activities.
Zuzana is required to create a poster and prepare a verbal presentation about her project to showcase to both the judges and also the public during the finals.
As well as preparing for the competition, she is also busy studying for her Highers, taking part in some co-curricular activities and enjoying life in the boarding house.
Dollar wishes Zuzana all the best in her upcoming competition.
