Early-career Oxford chemists celebrated at STEM for BRITAIN 2025
Congratulations to DPhil students Kieran Agg and Annina Lieberherr, who were selected as finalists in the annual STEM for BRITAIN competition. The competition celebrates early-career researchers, who are selected to present their research to MPs and peers in the Houses of Parliament.
Kieran presented a poster describing results from his work studying the influence of the amino acid, proline, in modifying the interactions between particles in aqueous solutions. The work, performed in Susan Perkin’s research group, highlights the significance of the role played by these small molecules in tuning interactions at the nanoscale. These results have implications across a wide range of natural and technological contexts, including developing solutions to combat the threat to global food security from the increasing salinisation of agricultural soils.
Kieran said:
I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to showcase my research to other early-career researchers and parliamentarians, including the MP for my home constituency. It was an exciting experience to participate in this event at the nexus between academia, industry, and policymaking—a crucial space for translating cutting-edge university research into real societal benefits.
Annina presented a poster describing her research into quantum simulations of vibrational spectra, which carry information about the structure of a chemical sample. Her work in David Manolopoulos’s research group involves using state-of-the-art quantum simulations to investigate the vibrational spectrum of water inside a microcavity composed of two mirrors. In such setups, profound changes to the chemical reactivity of water have been reported experimentally. Most interestingly, the team found that a simple model bypasses complicated quantum simulations and is still able to reproduce experimental results. The model does not take into account changes to the chemical structure of water due to the cavity, which opens questions about cavity effects on chemical reactivity.
Annina said:
I am interested in the interplay of science and policy and thus was very excited about the opportunity to present some of my research at this event in the House of Commons. It was a pleasure to talk to people of different backgrounds, from researchers in other fields to industry leaders and policy makers, and I learned much about presenting research in an engaging and accessible manner. I hope this event remains as successful in future years, and would highly recommend anyone to apply.
