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8 Questions with Stephen Potts

3 August 2017

This week, meet Stephen Potts, a recently appointed Teaching Fellow who would have a very interested dinner party! Read more…

1. How old were you when you first realised you were interested in chemistry?

When I was 11 (year 7). The coloured flame tests we did got me hooked.

2. What made you take up a career in chemistry?

I initiated a science club at school. It was incredibly rewarding to be able to explain scientific concepts to younger pupils.

3. Who inspired you to take up chemistry and why?

It would have to be my high-school chemistry teachers. Especially those who taught me during my A levels.

4. What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

It’s a toss-up between winning “Teacher of the Year” at Queen Mary in 2016 and winning the Electrochemical Society’s Young Author Award in 2011.

5. What is your favourite album, film and novel?

“Like a Prayer” by Madonna, “Mrs Doubtfire” on many levels, and “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell.

6. Who would be your dream dinner guests?

Barack and Michelle Obama, Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Saunders, Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Tom Daley, Cher (or Charlie Hides as Cher), Kylie Minogue, Albert Einstein, Mary Berry, Nigella Lawson (maybe they’d do the cooking…)

7. What would it surprise people to know about you?

I started and finished my undergraduate degree at different universities, I speak a bit of Icelandic and I’m a hardcore Eurovision fan.

8. What are your top three things to do/see/go to in London?

Only three?! The London Transport Museum, the Kensington Museums (Science/Natural History/V&A) and the National Gallery.