Monmouth Science Initiative's annual conference drew nearly 400 students and teachers to the Blake Theatre to hear two of the country's most exciting young speakers deliver papers on the science of DNA and the hidden maths in The Simpsons.

Matt Parker is a highly enthusiastic mathematician whose life goal is to make people more excited about maths. He was the People's Choice Award in the 2009 national Famelab competition, and winner of the Joshua Phillips award for innovation in Science Communication in 2012.

Sam Durley is a PhD Student studying chromatin and epigenetic processes that control how genes are used in the cell. His main research topic is based on how the packaging of DNA is re-modelled to repair damaged DNA. He too as a finalist in the Famelab competition 2012.

Monmouth School's very own pyrotechnics, Drs Danks and Clarke, brought the conference to a close with explosions and fireballs.

Dr. Alan Francis and Miss Emma Barson who organised the event said, "We were delighted to have speakers of such a high calibre. We hope they will have inspired the next generation of scientists and mathematicians. The attendance has grown year on year and we attracted delegates from six schools from both the independent and maintained sector."

This is an important event in a yearlong programme where each week local pupils from state and independent schools are given hands on practical science experience which is provided at no cost to the participating schools. The scheme is in its fourth year and is considered to be sector leading practice as recognised by the Welsh Government in a recent STEM publication.

Please click here to view the MSI Annual Conference leaflet.