Make it stand out.
Marie Barberon, Student in Third year medicine at the University of London is a former National Jonk Fuerscher contestant who has been twice awarded for the outstanding quality of her work, converted most of her family to the FJSL cause and is now an active volunteer.
From successful contestant to active Volunteer
It all begins with with a last minute application to the National Jonk Fuerscher Contest in 2019. During the completion of her IB, Marie had the opportunity to study bronchial tubes and had the idea thanks to her readings, to apply fractal Mathematics principles to the study of the geometric tree-like structure. This work “The fractal structure of the bronchial tree”, with the support of “iconic teacher” Tess Charnaud who helped with both motivational aspects and the re-lecture, led Marie to the qualification to ISEF and .
This prize came as a surprise for Marie,
“it’s a contest but not against others, an event that thrives on extra scholar excitement in a very nice environment!”. Marie fondly remembers setting up her stands next to two 12yo participants that same year, with their project “The ever rolling ball, a model of perpetual motion” and being amazed by their commitment and excitement! The multicultural and international context combined with the shared culture of curiosity and drive in all Science fields convinced Marie to participate again during the following edition.
Marie presents then two years later in 2021 her new research designed specifically for the contest: "DNA Walks" of Polyglutamine Neurodegenerative Diseases. Using Python, she modelled the DNA sequences of 2 neurodegenerative diseases as “DNA Walks”. Marie revealed different results for affected sequences through Fractal analysis and has been awarded with a prestigious week of research seminar and international exchange in Israel.
Marie is now looking for opportunities to pursue her research in Fractal Mathematics applied to biological medicine.
The National Jonk Fuerscher Contest had enough positive impact on Marie to convince her to enrol two of her younger sisters Sophie (in 2019 Using EDTA titration, to investigate the calcium content of tibiotarsus bones from chickens raised in battery-farms compared to chickens raised in open-air farms) and Sophie (2022: Bien Lire - an application for iOS) as well as taking an active volunteer role during the 3 days of the 2022 edition as a moderator.
Photos:
Header Marie (Right) and Charlotte (Left) - Edouard Olszewski
Below Marie (Center) and Sophie (Right) with their Mum - Edouard Olszewski
We hope you explore this list, draw inspiration from their journeys and share your story as a past competitor.
If you would like to nominate yourself or other alumna/us to be considered for the website, please email alumni@fjsl.lu with the subject line “Alumni Nomination”.
Please visit our Linkedin group Les amis de la fondation des jeunes scientifiques to share with some of our existing community and discover the next generation of innovators.