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Submit your entry here by the 30 June 2025, 5pm Download a printable flyer

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In 2025, the National Heart and Lung Institute and the British Heart Foundation’s Centre of Research Excellence at Imperial College London are offering our 5^th Annual Science in Medicine School Teams Prize to engage sixth form school students with science in medicine.

The aims are to encourage students to:

stretch beyond the school curriculum, think outside the bubble of traditional biomedical fields, and learn about the excitement of research.
consider how trends in science and technology will impact on health and medicine in the future.
understand the importance of a multidisciplinary approach and teamwork to effective research and development for improvements in public and individual health.
forward think realistically by realising the importance of affordability, availability and acceptability in translating inventions towards a reduction in inequality-related poor health outcomes.
appreciate the importance of effective communication in rolling out scientific developments, via the use of art and design.

Any educational organisation in the UK with sixth form students may participate. In past years, no particular type of school has been at an advantage, so all schools that meet that requirement are encouraged to enter. Students should be less than 19 years old at the start of the school year (September 2024).

This year there are five separate team contests. Schools can have one team, or be part of one collaborating team, in each contest and may need to conduct an internal selection process. Each team should have no more than six members and should be made up of participants with varied interests to demonstrate a multidisciplinary approach. Examples of possible scientific interests include biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, maths, computing, data science, social science, and economics. Judges will be looking particularly for communication skills and team member(s) with art and/or design interests is recommended.

Collaborations within the UK or between a UK organisation and an equivalent organisation outside the UK are welcome and encouraged. In the case of a UK-Overseas collaboration, the UK based organisation must lead and will receive and distribute any prize money.

Awards:

Prizes for each contest are £3000 - 1^st, £2000 - 2^nd and £1000 - 3^rd and are intended for supporting science-related activities in the winning schools.
Prize-winning teams will be offered the opportunity for online mentoring session with an academic.
Prize-winners may be invited to submit blogs on their submissions.
All team members will receive personal certificates of participation.
Participation can help strengthen university or job applications and prepare for interviews.
Prize winning teams may be invited to work with Imperial staff to disseminate their ideas more widely.

The five contests are:

The British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Prize - This year the prize focuses on diet and nutrition as a science in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Posters should outline the scientific foundations for a general or specific dietary plan for actively promoting cardiovascular health and provide strategies for evaluation, dissemination and public adoption. The prize is supported by the Imperial British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence and the Cardiovascular Theme of the Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre.

The Lung Prize – Submissions could focus on any aspect of novel prevention or treatment of respiratory disease or on a non-pharmaceutical approach to improving the quality of life and well-being of people with chronic lung disease. The submission should also consider how to assess the effectiveness of such interventions. This prize is funded by the National Heart and Lung Institute and the Respiratory Theme of the Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre.

The Rare Autoimmune Rheumatic Disease Alliance (RAIRDA) Prize Rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases include Lupus, Scleroderma, Sjögren’s disease and Vasculitis. Patients often face common challenges which impact their quality of life, such as fatigue, consequences of immunosuppressant treatment, and navigating life with a fluctuating and often invisible chronic illness. Non-pharmaceutical approaches like nutrition, psychological support, and exercise can support people to improve their quality of life, but testing and researching these solutions can be difficult in traditional clinical trials. Your challenge is to design an innovative, non-pharmaceutical solution based on science/technology to help improve the quality of life and wellbeing of people with RAIRDs. You should consider how to assess the effectiveness and promote the implementation of such intervention. This prize is supported by the RAIRDA – The Rare Autoimmune Rheumatic Disease Alliance and the Immunology Theme of the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre

The Global Health Prize - Climate change is impacting the health of people around the world in many ways. Choose a specific health issue impacted by climate change (e.g., following an extreme weather event, displacement of people, food insecurity, vector-borne disease etc.). Your challenge is to (1) Clearly explain the science behind how climate change impacts this health issue, and (2) Design a practical and innovative approach to mitigate this health impact within the next 10 years. You can consider solutions that could be implemented in the UK, in a low/middle country or globally. This prize is supported by the Imperial College School of Public Health.

Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre contest: Cancer treatment is a challenging journey, often long and painful for patients undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery. While the treatment itself cannot be altered, innovative solutions can help make the experience more supportive and comforting for patients. The task is to develop an idea based on science/technology that enhances the patient journey by offering guidance, distraction, or emotional support during treatment. We welcome all types of innovations, such as medical devices, apps, games, or content materials (written, audio, animated, etc.) that help patients cope with their treatment experience. This contest is supported by the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre.

Instructions:

Teams should submit an ePoster demonstrating an innovative idea(s), a striking ePoster design and original illustrations.
Posters should not be too wordy and should use a readily readable font size.
Whilst the idea should be presented as a poster, the application of the idea as a leaflet, video or other modality can be presented by linking with a QR code.
Teams can choose whether to address a local, national, or global issue.
Teams are free to choose the design of the poster but are advised to describe clearly what problem is addressed, the anticipated innovation(s) and scientific basis, and steps along the way to implementation.
The judges will be looking for evidence that the vision considers affordability, availability, and acceptability in translating science and/or engineering towards improved health.
Teams are advised to indicate how each member contributed to the poster so that teamwork can be scored.
The design and the layout of the Poster should communicate the message clearly and concisely. The use of language should be pitched to communicate science and its application to the general public.
In general, a poster with a focused narrative in readable font is more effective than a text-heavy narrative in small font.
The ePoster should be submitted in Landscape format as a pdf file via our Qualtrics portal – see below.
The size of the ePoster should be suitable for a print-out size as an A0 (not larger than 84 cm (height) and 118 cm (width))
The online submission portal is below. Please submit two versions of the posters, one with and one without identification of the educational organisation.
Submission must be done via a teacher based in a UK School.

Short-listing

The submitted version without the identification of the educational organisation will be scored by the short-listing panel.
Judges will consider the following :

Definition and importance of the problem
Scientific and technological approach
Novelty and vision
Feasibility
Insight into testing efficacy
Affordability and availability
Social acceptability
Poster design
Original illustrations
Evidence of teamwork

The top scoring teams in each of the five contests will move on to the finals event.

Finals Event

For each prize, the top scoring teams from the short-listing will be invited to present their posters at an online finals event, to be held in late September – early October.
Short-listed teams will be asked to give a Power Point presentation lasting seven minutes, which will be followed by three minutes questions and answers. Judges will score the same domains as used for the short-listing.

For any queries, please email school-teams-prize@imperial.ac.uk