Winners 2005

Congratulations to the 2005 winners!

Nobel chemistry laureate Prof Peter Agre of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US, handed the prizes to the three winners of the 2005 Saturday Star / SAASTA Young Science Writers’ competition in November 2005. The first prize in the competition was awarded to Laura Vatta (left) of the University of Stellenbosch. The runners-up were Ciara Metcalfe of the University of the Witwatersrand and Anthony Mills (right) of the University of Stellenbosch.

The high standard of entries for the inaugural writing competition made it "incredibly difficult" to decide on the finalists.

"The entries were fascinating and achieved the aim of being both educational and entertaining," said Saturday Star executive editor Brendan Seery.

The first prize in the competition was awarded to Laura Vatta of the University of Stellenbosch. She wrote about cutting-edge use of magnetic technology in the fight against cancer.

Runners up are Ciara Metcalfe of the University of the Witwatersrand and Anthony Mills of the University of Stellenbosch.

To read the relevant articles, click on the article titles below.

Overall winner

Magnetic warriors fight cancer
Laura Vatta - University of Stellenbosch.

International poster prize for Laura The prize Laura won last year in the Saturday Star SAASTA Young Science Writers’ Competition provided her with the opportunity to make her mark once again – this time in the international arena. Read more ...

Runners-up

• Ancient adversary
  Ciara Metcalfe - University of the Witwatersrand
  
  
• Cornflakes, elephants and kangaroos
  Anthony Mills - University of Stellenbosch

Finalists

• The immunological battle of the sexes
  Louise Brockenhurst - University of the Witwatersrand
  
  
• Old foes return
  Basil Brooke - University of the Witwatersrand
  
  
• Forensics tackles illegal trade in critically endangered plants
  Jessica da Silva - University of Cape Town
  
  
• A deadly sip and breath
  Nonhlanhla Dlamini - University of KwaZulu Natal
  
  
• Food for thought - School feeding programmes and positive external effects
  Olivia Engelbrecht - University of Stellenbosch
  
  
• One race
  Debra Joubert - University of Stellenbosch
  
  
• Size not only matters but also is very important: The world of nanotechnology
  Charity Mbileni - University of the Witwatersrand
  
  
• "Sukuzincandela umgalagala" - Finding solutions to poverty and conservation without biting off more than can be chewed
  Dylan McGarry - Rhodes University
  
  
• The science of biomaterials
  Rogen Nilen - CSIR
  
  
• Environmentally not so friendly
  Jane Reddick - University of Cape Town
  
  
• Why being left-handed can be murder
  Sally Reynolds - University of the Witwatersrand
  
  
• Extinctions and islands: big lessons from small worlds
  Ross Wanless - University of Cape Town

What the judges said

Judges Report by Lizette Rabe, Professor and Head: Department of Journalism, University of Stellenbosch

Judges Report by Brendan Seery, Executive Editor, Saturday Star