A record number of over 3,100 students in 80 high schools across the province will be taking part in the annual TRU Chemistry Contest this week.

Designed for Grade 11 and 12 students, the written contest takes place on Wednesday, May 18 in high schools who choose to participate, with prizes awarded at both grade levels. The annual event is organized by faculty in the Chemistry department at TRU, and takes on greater significance for them this year, as they celebrate the International Year of Chemistry.

In addition to the contests being written at schools, a group of over 40 Grade 11 students will get to spend the day on the TRU campus where they will take part in the contest in the morning, and spend the afternoon taking part in a hands-on lab experience with TRU faculty.

Students from Kamloops, Clearwater, 100 Mile House and Salmon Arm will be participating in the campus experience, with the lab experience scheduled for 1:30 pm in the science building.

Organized by faculty members in the Chemistry department, the annual event has grown from a small, regional activity designed to highlight chemistry at the campus into a province-wide event that is helping attract some of the best high school students to TRU.

TRU science graduates, who benefit from a degree program that focuses on hands-on learning and the development of research and communications skills, and real world experiences through Co-op Education and Study Abroad semesters, have an enviable record of being admitted to graduate and professional schools across Canada.

The top university graduate at TRU in 2010, awarded the Governor Generals Medal for the highest GPA of all university graduates last spring, was a TRU Chemistry major. From her undergraduate degree at TRU, she was admitted directly into the PhD program in organic chemistry at the University of Calgary.