Around 340 students and teachers from across the region will be attending the talks on Wednesday 11 November as part of the ‘chemistry of food’ schools’ conference, organised by the University’s School of Chemistry and its Bristol ChemLabS project. The chemistry of food theme has been chosen in support of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s (RSC) National Chemistry Week [7 to 15 November], to promote a positive image of chemical sciences by holding a variety of events linking chemistry and food.

At the event, Andrew Chapman, a chemistry postgraduate student at the University, will be giving a talk on ' the Chemistry of Chocolate'. Professor Peter Barham from the University’s Department of Physics, who has helped develop the new science of molecular gastronomy, will be presenting a lecture entitled 'the Science of Cooking'. Tim Harrison, the University’s Bristol ChemLabS School Teacher Fellow, will begin the conference with a talk on ‘the Chemistry of Fragrances and Flavours’.

Dudley Shallcross, the University’s Bristol ChemLabS Outreach Director, said: “The event is one of several well-attended conferences that the University’s School of Chemistry hosts each year to show the importance of chemical science in our everyday lives for either primary or secondary students.”