A MATHEMATICIAN from Stockton Heath is attending Parliament to present his mathematics research to a range of politicians and a panel of expert judges, as part of STEM for Britain.

Dr Tom Crawford, 29, a mathematician at Oxford University, created a poster on research about the spread of pollution in the ocean.

This will be judged against dozens of other scientists’ research in the only national competition of its kind on Wednesday, March 13.

Tom’s poster was shortlisted from hundreds of applicants to appear in Parliament.

He said: "I want to bring maths to as wide an audience as possible and having the opportunity to talk about my work with MP’s and hopefully show them that maths isn’t as scary as they might think is fantastic."

Stephen Metcalfe MP, chairman of the parliamentary and scientific committee, said: "This annual competition is an important date in the parliamentary calendar because it gives MPs an opportunity to speak to a wide range of the country’s best young researchers.

"These early career engineers, mathematicians and scientists are the architects of our future and STEM for Britain is politicians’ best opportunity to meet them and understand their work."

Tom’s research has been entered into the mathematical sciences session of the competition, which will end in a gold, silver and bronze prize-giving ceremony.

Judged by leading academics, the gold medalist receives £2,000, while silver and bronze receive £1,250 and £750 respectively.