Celebrating independent research

Last Thursday saw the return of one of the flagship academic events of the school year: the Senior Independent Research Project (IRP) Final. This year, some 80 pupils from across the Sixth Form submitted projects, all researched and written over the summer holidays. The breadth, ambition and intellectual curiosity on display were quite extraordinary.

The submissions explored an enormous range of ideas: from gender and power in Shakespeare to the possibilities of machine learning; from sensationalism and the right to a fair trial to the relationship between physics and determinism. Narrowing this impressive field down to just seven finalists was no easy task.

Our finalists presented their research to an audience in Wilberforce Hall, responding with impressive confidence and intellectual agility to questions from a distinguished judging panel. This comprised Richard Evans, Second in Chemistry and Chair of the Montcrieff-Jones Society; Leo Walsh, Head of Seminar at Tonbridge School; and Rye Barcott, Marine Corps veteran, social entrepreneur and bestselling author of Courage Can Save US, as well as co-founder and CEO of With Honor, an organisation promoting principled leadership across the political divide.

Congratulations to all seven finalists for the quality of their research and presentations, and particularly to our prize-winners:

• First prize: Mumu Z – To what extent are Boltzmann entropy and Shannon entropy analogous?
• Second prize: Chloe A – Can Personalised Neoantigen Vaccines Become Standard Cancer Care?
• Third prize: Sebastian D – What Characterises Early Congo Activism in Britain, and how did it organise into the Congo Reform Association?
• Audience Prize: Sophia P-W – To what extent is human exceptionalism a valid categorisation or is it a fragile illusion?

The evening was a wonderful celebration of independent thought and intellectual ambition. The Intermediate and Junior competitions, for our younger pupils, will be launched in the new year.