Celebrating 5 Years of Supporting Early Career Scientists Through Paid Summer Projects
This year we were delighted to welcome two talented scientists, Imogen Osinibi and Helen Vjestica, to the CCDC team for the summer. Their presence brought fresh perspectives and valuable insights to our work.
Imogen and Helen engaged in a range of impactful projects this year. They contributed to archiving legacy data and searching for patent data, collaborated with our Training, Education & Outreach team to enhance our outreach content, and worked closely with our Scientific Editors to improve existing database entries.
Since 2019, we have been dedicated to nurturing young scientists through our initiative, which offers them a glimpse into the meticulous efforts required to maintain the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD)— a trusted resource with over 1.3 million structures. Through these experiences, we aim to inspire and support early career scientists and emphasize the importance of good data management practices.
Creating CIFs from Legacy Data
In the first three weeks, Imogen and Helen worked on digitizing data not yet in CIF format. They extracted crystallographic data from historic publications, patents, and theses, creating a total of 221 CIFs. Many of these have already been validated by our Scientific Editors and are now accessible to users.
Helen found particular significance in 22 REFCODES, which originated from her alma mater, the University of Bath. Additionally, Imogen was able to digitalize a structure from 1977, showing how we can benefit from nearly 50 years old data. Both scientists gained insight into the importance of standardizing crystallographic data presentation and providing timely access to accurate data.
Our CSD Teaching Subset and Olga Kennard
The CCDC’s Education and Outreach aim is to advance the understanding and use of crystallographic data in scientific research and education.
Imogen and Helen worked to make the CSD Teaching Subset more accessible to those without a crystallography background. They added information such as compound name, space group, and chemical formula to 193 molecules in the annotated spreadsheet. The structures themselves were also reviewed to determine if they were understandable by non-experts to help assess how we can evolve the subset and what additional resources we can provide alongside it in the future.
They also researched Olga Kennard, refining the transcripts of three videos about her work, life, and legacy, ensuring broader accessibility to non-English speakers. Both were excited to explore the contributions of this pioneering woman in STEM, and her dedication and commitment that went into establishing the CSD.
Scientific Validation
The students concluded their time at the CCDC collaborating with our team of Scientific Editors, working on standardization projects, ensuring the CSD stays up-to-date and continues to serve as a reliable resource for the scientific community. This included working on the Bioactivity of structures, where they enhanced the Bioactivity field of 168 out of the total 540 validated structures within the subset.
Their next task involved correcting the charges on 2D diagrams, as all CSD entries require a charge balance to retain neutrality; they achieved a very impressive total of 1666 structures enriched.
Working on improving the existing entries was an eye-opening experience for Imogen and Helen, revealing the meticulous effort required to ensure each structure is scientifically accurate before being included in the CSD, a quality they will apply for their future research.
Imogen Osinibi
Originally planning to study Evolutionary Biology at The University of Edinburgh, Imogen’s experience teaching A-level Biology students led her to shift her focus to Chemistry for her undergraduate studies.
Whilst studying at university, Imogen embarked on a project highlighting the importance of water’s chemical properties to the development of life on Earth and possibly different planets, and comparing this to the other Group 16 Hydrides to show what makes water special.
Imogen was incredibly proud to be a part of the ‘Broadening Horizons Programme’ by the Royal Society of Chemistry, aimed at tackling the lack of representation for minority racial and ethnic backgrounds due to systemic barriers.
Later this year Imogen will be joining AstraZeneca where she will be working on the analytical team.
Helen Vjestica
Helen’s passion for science began at the age of 8 with the science kit full of potions which started her fascination with Chemistry.
She studied Chemistry at the University of Bath for her Bachelor of Science and her Master’s degree, where she worked on hydrogels treated with cold atmospheric plasma to trigger antimicrobial release to help treat burn wounds.
Helen’s proudest achievement during her placement year in Northampton was creating a 3D-printed model of the Eiffel Tower from 80% bioderived materials. She also organized STEM events to introduce young girls to science.
From September, Helen will teach Chemistry at Clifton College in Bristol.
The Legacy of the Summer Project
The Summer Student project has been going on since 2019, welcoming 16 young scientists to the CCDC. You can read about a previous cohort here. Their combined effort has led to over 2250 structures originally from hardcopy, now accessible in the CSD, dating back to the 1920s. Additionally, numerous entries have been enhanced, and their creative contributions include some of our most popular educational materials, such as our most-watched YouTube video on symmetry.
This illustrates the tangible difference the summer students have made at the CCDC, and it has allowed the Data and Community Team to benefit from the student’s impact on data science.
The Future of the Summer Project
As we bid farewell to this year’s students and begin preparations for next year, we invite you to take this opportunity to ensure your work is preserved and valued. By sharing your data, which might otherwise be overlooked, we’ll transform it into a polished CIF format and contribute to advance research and drug discovery. Each individual structure holds significant value, contributing to the greater impact of the entire collection.
Imogen summarized her thoughts on creating the CIFs from the hardcopy data:
“It was incredibly rewarding to feel like the work I was doing this summer at Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre had made a tangible difference.” Imogen Osinibi.
The importance of data sharing within the scientific community is paramount, as is allowing the opportunity for the students to be exposed to untyped data that will benefit them immensely as well as the researchers and academics. Each will have something different to gain from the data that would otherwise remain only available in non-digital form. We always do our best to inspire and encourage the students with the hope that their time here may enlighten a passion for crystallography.
Providing opportunities and support for early career scientists is crucial for scientific growth and for those who think they may be part of that positive change, please do consider our summer project in 2025.