The Science Department is proud to announce the name of the Scientist of the Year for the academic year 2015 - 2016. This year's recipient is Youngbin Noh, an extremely motivated and talented student who demonstrated through weeks of hard work that she had what it takes to make a successful researcher.

The Senior Scientist of the Year Award is made to a Grade 12 student who has demonstrated the highest levels of motivation, organisation and development of their scientific research skills during Grades 11 and 12. The student typically listens to and acts upon advice given, responds positively in the face of adversity, and puts time and effort into their research projects above and beyond expectations. Their research projects will have been developed as a result of in depth background research. The student will typically have used creativity in overcoming problems with their experimental protocol and will have refined their method based on the results of preliminary experiments. They will have demonstrated the highest levels of moral and ethical integrity and have demonstrated an appreciation for safety issues and the environmental impact of their projects. The award is the most prestigious award made by the Saint Maur Science Department and as such is only made in years when a sufficiently talented student is present.

During the course of her IB Diploma, Youngbin Noh studied Higher Level Biology, Higher Level Chemistry and she elected to conduct her Extended Essay in Biology. This meant that over the course of her two IB years, she had to plan and execute no less than three major research projects (four if one counts the Group 4 Project). As you probably know, any project undertaken in the field of Experimental Sciences requires an incredible amount of time spent in the lab, on top of very extensive preliminary reading and requiring often sophisticated data analysis. Youngbin spent in excess of 70 hours in the lab on her individual projects. She consistently planned her work efficiently, impressing the Science Department with her high level of forward planning and organisation and never hesitated to help fellow students whenever she could. The award of Senior Researcher of the Year was well deserved.