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Warwick Student wins prestigious Salters' Institute Award

Martin Beckett
Martin Beckett
Originally Published 25 February 2004

A final year student in the Chemistry department has been awarded the prestigious Salters’ Graduate Prize.

Martin Beckett, a fourth year MChem student, was one of just 5 chemistry students in the UK to receive this award. Awards are given to candidates judged likely to take up leading positions in public life, either by employment in the Chemical or related industries, or more generally in employment that supports the industrial life of the UK.

Martin will receive the £1,000 prize when he enters industry after completion of his degree. With job offers already coming in, Martin will almost definitely receive his prize.

Nominations for the Salters’ Graduate Prize are invited from around 100 chemistry departments in the UK. The chemistry department nominated Martin after he completed a successful year in industry as part of his degree and expressed an interest in returning to industry after graduating. He feels that his year in industry working for Glaxo Smith Kleine helped him win the award. “After this I was much more independent. My practical ability was much higher and I also developed a number of transferable skills such as presentation skills.”

Martin also feels that studying at Warwick and the support of his department has contributed to his success. “I chose to study at Warwick because it had the best-equipped labs. The labs are fitted with equipment that is comparable with the most up-to-date equipment use in industry.

“What is unique though is the level of openness of the staff at Warwick. I was always confident that if I approached an academic outside the formal environment of lectures and tutorials they would be willing to talk at length about any topic of interest.”

To find out more about the Salters’ Graduate Award, visit The Salters’ Institute website. http://www.salters.co.uk/institute/graduate_about.htm