This past summer, I traveled to England with a friend to attend a science forum called the London International Science Youth Forum (LIYSF). The forum was hosted at Imperial College London.
This year was the 64th edition. LIYSF is a not-for-profit social enterprise established in 1959. They provide students with a deeper insight into science and how it can be applied for the benefit of all humankind.
It lasted 2 weeks, from 26/7/2023 to 9/8/2023, and I thought it was quite a valuable experience. The forum was very well-organized. There were many guest speakers who gave excellent talks on different fields of science ranging from forensic science to quantum physics, including a professor who won a Nobel Prize, Professor Ben Feringa. The talks were very interesting and enthralling. I was impressed by the charismatic energy of the speakers, and the fascinating content of their lectures. Below are some of the talks that I enjoyed the most.
At the opening ceremony, Professor Ben Faringa, who won the 2016 Nobel Prize, delivered an impressive speech about The Joy of Discovery. The focus is on Professor Ben Feringa’s journey in in the world of molecular switches and motors, the process of discovery and personal experience through his scientific career.
On July 28th, Professor Dame Sue Black from the University of Oxford gave a lecture titled “Are your hands unique?”, where she discussed whether our hands might be unique to us. Most of us look to faces for recognition of individuals, but in the world of forensic investigation, the hands are for of utmost importance. The speech was also very emotional and thought-provoking, because it contained a sad real life scenario of a girl who was harassed by her father and police were able to arrest him through handprint indentification.
On August 5th, Professor Steven Cowley – Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory-USA, presented the science and prospects to accelerate fusion development and design and build the first fusion pilot plants.
In addition, wonderful lectures were presented by Professor Dame Wendy Hall – Uni of Southamton, Professor Waseem Qasim – Uni College London, Professor Richard O’Kennedy – Qatar Foundation, Qatar, Professor Christopher Jackson – Jacobs Engineering Group, Professor Lee Cronin – Uni of Glasgow and many other distinguished and brilliant lecturers.
Apart from the lectures, there were also trips to different places such as Oxford University, Airbus UK, Aerospace Bristol museum, which I particularly enjoyed because they had an exhibition of a real plane that had been in use, and research facilities within Imperial College London, where the forum was hosted. They gave me many insights into what college life would be like.
At the Science Forum Bazaar, I did a project on semiconductors in solar panels, where the goal was to find a good material to use in solar cells. I did the research at Hanoi National University of Education, where I had help from a professor. At The Science Forum Bazaar, we each had our own stand with the poster, and people would come to ask us questions about our research. I think people had a lot of thoughtful queries, and I enjoyed talking to other people my age who were also interested in science.
Apart from the forum activities, I also visited different places in London, Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh.
Overall, I think the trip was great. I learned and saw a lot of interesting things. I think the UK is very developed, and the people are nice. I hope to return one day.
