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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/H050671/1
Title: The E-Word and other Chemical Stories
Principal Investigator: Sella, Professor A
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Chemistry
Organisation: UCL
Scheme: Senior Media Fellowship
Starts: 01 August 2010 Ends: 31 July 2012 Value (£): 114,442
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Chemical Structure Energy Efficiency
Materials Characterisation Medical science & disease
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
17 May 2010 Senior Media Fellowships 2010 Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
Over the course of the last two years I have significantly widened my range of media contacts and i have been been involved in a number of major projects including Science and Islam, Chaos, Elements, and Science Stories to which I have made significant contributions. I have also been brought basic chemistry, physics and thermodynamics to a number of areas not normally treated in this way by the general public - beer, cocktails, coffee, curry etc. and presented science slots in television series devoted to food. On the strength of the contacts I have built I would like to expand the work I have done so far and focus more on being an advocate for chemistry. I have four major directions in mind. 1. To talk about carbon dioxide and its relation to energy (The E-Word) in our world and in particular to try to put ideas about energy into context and provide a sense of scale by making driect comparisons between everyday energy uses.2. To talk about mercury and our love/hate relationship with it. Mercury has played a role in almost every major discovery in the physical sciences between the 17th and the mid 20th century. It was also widely used in medicine. Yet its toxicity was something of which even the ancients were aware. I would like to use mercury as a classic example of the trade-off between costs and benefits in technology.3. To talk about molecules and the extent to which their properties and their technology permeates our lives. This would be a direct development from the two BBC4 series Atom and Elements. 4. To talk about the materials that lie at the heart of objects and devices in the everyday world. This would complement the recent series Atom and Elements whilst in a sense be more closely tied in with the interests of the broader population. We would ask questions about where the materials come from and how they are made, and how our choices and demands have political, environmental, and economic implications in the world. 5. I will continue to discuss chemistry, physics and materials science in everyday contexts, particularly developing the Science of Cocktails sessions that I recently started hosting.
Key Findings
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