A University of Ulster student has picked up the prestigious Roche Research Award.

Biomedical sciences PhD student Nason Maani Hessari, was selected by healthcare company Roche to receive the £750 bursary prize for the best doctoral research project in molecular biosciences.

Nason, who is from Coleraine, will now go on to represent the University in the all-Ireland finals of the competition at the Westbury Hotel in Dublin on 26 November.

The 25-year-old will battle it out with 11 other PhD students from throughout the country, with the national winner winning £2,000 and the title of Roche Researcher of the Year 2009.

Nason said: “It is a great honour to have picked up this award and it will be a fantastic opportunity to represent the University of Ulster in the finals in Dublin. To be chosen for the Roche Award is wonderful recognition of the research that our group has been conducting, and I look forward to the opportunity to share our work with scientists from all around Ireland.”

Nason’s postgraduate research project, for which he won the award, was titled ‘Design and Prediction of Quadruplex Architectures’ and examined DNA construction.

His recent success follows on from picking up an Institute of Biomedical Sciences ‘President’s Prize’ for best final year undergraduate project, while Nason was studying for his BSc Biomedical Sciences degree, in which he achieved a First Class Honours.

For further information, please contact:

Chris Barnes
Telephone: 028 90368310
Email: Chris Barnes