Secondary school pupils from across the north and north-east will take part in practical chemistry days later this week (Wednesday, January 11) at the University of Aberdeen.
About 150 final year secondary school pupils, from 23 secondary schools will visit the undergraduate laboratories of the Chemistry Department to carry out a variety of experiments relevant to their Advanced Higher Chemistry Course.
The pupils will get the opportunity to use a variety of equipment, much of which is unavailable in all secondary schools, for example, specialised chemical glassware and heating mantels which will help them in their advanced higher studies in the subject.
Due to its popularity, the event will be repeated on Thursday, January 12, when another group of pupils will attend.
The two activity days will enable school pupils to experience the Higher Education environment and pupils will carry out two experiments, each lasting three hours. One of the experiments will involve analysing aspirin tablets to see how much aspirin is in them.
Working in the Chemistry Department has the added benefit of ensuring that pupils get uninterrupted time working on each experiment –they are not interrupted by school bells going off after each lesson.
Dr Mary Masson, Senior Teaching Fellow in the Chemistry Department at the University of Aberdeen, who has helped organise the event and will assist participants, said: "I am delighted that so many pupils will visit the University this week and experience at first hand our well-equipped Chemistry labs.
“I hope that we will be able to use the days to help the pupils with their experiments, and at the same time demonstrate the exciting nature of Chemistry and help encourage more pupils to consider studying sciences at a University of Aberdeen."
This week's Chemistry experiments are taking place as part of the programme of the University's S6 Enhancement Unit, which aims to support final year school pupils who are studying Advanced Highers.
Seema Miah, S6 Enhancement Unit Project Officer, said: "I hope that the pupils will enjoy these events as a taster of what university education is like, as well as supporting them with their Chemistry studies."