Queer Science Competition
You may have heard about the achievements and experiences of gay mathematician
Alan Turing: there’s a building
named after him at Exeter Science Park, a film made about his life
(The Imitation Game),
and he even features on the reverse of
polymer
Bank of England £50 notes! But why don’t we know more
Lesbian, Gay, Bi/Pan, Trans, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) scientists,
technologists, engineers, mathematicians and medics?
Through their bi-annual Queer Science Competition (QSC), PRISM Exeter - in partnership with the Intercom Trust, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and the University of Exeter - challenge secondary school, college, and university students across the South West to discover lesser-known LGBTQIA+ scientists, technologists, engineers, mathematicians and medics and celebrate them. We want to know whose life and/or work students find inspiring and why.
One overall winner received a cash prize of £100 and two overall runners-up each received a cash prize of £50. As the theme for LGBT+ History Month 2024 was “Medicine - #UnderTheScope”, PRISM Exeter teamed up with Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to offer a special additional prize for the 2024 year’s competition. The highest ranked entry championing an LGBTQ+ medical professional received a work experience placement with the trust and had their entry transformed into a poster by local digital artist Jules Hoad, which was displayed in the Trust's hospital library on its Wonford site in Exeter.
Since then, a further seventeen QSC entries from the 2020, 2022 and 2024 editions of the competition have been transformed into posters. View these at our QSC poster exhibition on Wednesday 19th February or preview the artwork here.
