A SCIENTIST from Westbrook has taken bronze at a prestigious Parliament competition.

Jason Williams, a PhD student at The University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow, presented his chemistry research to politicians and a panel of judges, as part of the poster competition 'STEM for Britain' on Monday.

His work, which focuses on the use of 'quantum cascade laser' microscopy, was judged against 29 other shortlisted researchers', and came out as one of the three winners – walking away with a £750 prize.

The 26-year-old said: "It's been great, having to encapsulate your research in a different way from how you're normally used to.

"Having to talk about the science of things to lay people and try and get it to a level that's understandable by everyone, so it's a very different experience from what I've done before."

On winning the bronze award Jason, who went to Great Sankey High School before studying at Barrow Hall College, said: "It's fantastic. I’ve just submitted my thesis a couple of weeks ago so it’s a great end to my PhD.

"Very unexpected but fantastic."

STEM for Britain is a poster competition in the House of Commons, involving approximately 180 early stage or early career researchers, judged by professional and academic experts.

All presenters are entered into either the engineering, the biological and biomedical sciences, the physical sciences (chemistry), the physical sciences (physics), or the mathematics session, depending on the researcher's specialism.

Each session results in the reward of bronze, silver and gold certificates – with bronze winners receiving a £750 prize, silver, £1,250 and gold, £2,000 and a medal.

There will also be an overall winner from the five sessions who will receive the Westminster Wharton Medal.

Dr Helen Pain, The Royal Society of Chemistry's deputy chief executive, said: "I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our STEM for Britain finalists.

"We clearly have the necessary talent and inspiration to keep the UK at the forefront of global science."