A University of York student has won a silver award at a competition in the House of Commons for the excellence of his chemistry research.

Stephen Bromfield, a third-year PhD student in York’s department of chemistry, was awarded for his research that looks at reducing the side-effects caused by drugs used during surgery.

He presented his work to dozens of politicians and a panel of expert judges, as part of the poster competition SET For Britain.

Stephen, 24, who received a £2,000 prize, said: “I’m very proud to be awarded this prestigious prize which recognises not only the quality of the research carried out in the Smith group at the department of chemistry in York, but also the work that goes into making our results accessible to the non-expert.

“Communication is a vital facet of science and I hope that as a result of the valuable discussions at SET for Britain, politicians and policy makers can begin to realise the vital contributions chemistry can make in solving a wide range of problems.”

SET for Britain aims to help politicians understand more about the UK’s thriving science and engineering base and rewards some of the strongest scientific and engineering research being undertaken in the UK.

For details, visit setforbritain.org.uk/index.asp