Question: What sort of equipment would you buy with the money for you to complete your research?

Sarah Thomas answered on 14 Jun 2011:

Hey there,

The prize money is not allowed to be spent on research, it has to be spent on science communication. Have a look at this link the the FAQs:

/faq/whats-all-this-about-500-prize-money

As well as my research, I’m doing a scholarship in science communication. I have created a workshop about cancer research that I have been running at schools and science festivals. But there isn’t a lot of funding for that sort of thing so I borrow all the materials I can from the lab and the rest I pay for out of my own money. I really like doing science communication because I think a lot of people don’t realise that when they fundraise for cancer research, that the money goes to pay for research like mine. And also I want to teach people about the dangers of cancer and things they can do to be healthier and avoid getting it. I also want to encourage young people into science, show them how important science is! I hope that when students meet me, they see that I am a normal person who didn’t get straight As in school, but my family was devastated by cancer and I decided that I wanted to do something about it. I strongly believe that young people should be able to do anything they want with their lives, what ever their motivations are, they should just go for it.

So the prize money would pay for materials for my workshop, so that I can go and visit a lot more schools and teach people about cancer research. I made a video so that students can see the types of experiments in my workshop. here is a link: http://vimeo.com/24988026

The videos are also embedded into my profile so if that link doesn’t work, you can view them there.