Perse Rouse Awards winners announced

12 Sep 2019

The winners of the 2019 Perse Rouse Awards have been praised for the excellent standard of their research investigations.

The Rouse Awards scheme, which was launched in 2016, is an internally-assessed independent research programme for Lower Sixth students. Students taking part had supervisions with a subject specialist teacher guiding them through their research journeys.

Entries were then assessed by a panel of Perse Governors and Oxbridge academics based on the intellectual curiosity, depth and quality of the research undertaken.

This year’s four winners were:

• Ben Bradshaw – How Has the Popular Jazz Style Developed from the 1930s into Contemporary Mainstream Music?
• Hari Prasad – Abiogenesis via Dissipation-Driven Adaptation? Assessing England’s Origin of Life Theory
• Georgina Follows – Influences on the Standardisation of Modern Italian: Applying Haugen and Joseph’s Frameworks
• Annabel Worth – To What Extent is Menstrual Cycle Phase and Resulting Oestrogen Levels a Significant Risk Factor for Non-Contact ACL Injuries in Female Athletes?

Perse Governor Diana Shave, who was among the judges, admitted it was tough call for the panel to decide the winners, given the quality of projects put forward.

She said: “The panel of judges thoroughly enjoyed meeting the Rouse finalists and discussing their projects. We were very impressed by the hugely diverse range of subjects investigated and by the professional standards of both research and written presentations to which the all the finalists adhered.

“It was no easy task to select the winners. However, it was evident that the winners had carried out thorough independent investigations, had carefully assessed and critiqued their research materials and could speak very knowledgeably about what they had discovered.”