Diya Vincent (Year 7) has been awarded the GSK UK Young Scientist of the Year 2020, making her one of the youngest top prize-winners ever in The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition.
Diya’s winning project, Microgreens from Goldfish, which she conducted independently at home, is an original experiment in which she grew microgreens using fertilised water from an aquarium and then compared them using three different methods.
The first method grows microgreens in a neutral medium with unfertilised water. The second method uses water from an aquarium which is naturally fertilised with fish waste and absorbs water via cloth wicks toward the plant roots. The third method also uses fertilised fish water, but the water flows continuously around the plant roots, thanks to a solar panel powering a water pump.
Diya concluded that method three is the fastest, delivering a harvest of microgreens such as cress to the family salad bowl within ten days.
Over 300 young people from across the country were selected to be digital finalists of The Big Bang Competition, an annual contest designed to recognise and reward young people’s achievements in all areas of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), as well as helping them build skills and confidence in project-based work.
After competing in the regional rounds earlier this year, Diya progressed to the final round in which competitors were asked to make a five-minute video about their individual projects showcasing their motivations, methods and real-world applications.
You can hear Diya talk more about her project here.
Huge congratulations to Diya on this terrific achievement.
