By Aline Nassif

aline.nassif@essnmedia.co.uk

A SCHOOLGIRL has won the chance to spend her summer rubbing shoulders with legendary scientists such as Stephen Hawking.

Mariam Hyatt is the only student in the country to have won a prestigious placement at the 2010 International Summer School for Young Physicists, in Canada.

Mariam, 17, who studies at Old Palace School, can now look forward to discussing time travel and quantum physics with some of the greatest scientists in the world.

She told the Advertiser: "I was really happy to be chosen – when I found out last week I couldn't believe it.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and my life will change forever as a result.

"My love of physics started at secondary school when one of my teachers gave a talk about quantum physics.

"Since then I've known I want to pursue the subject for a career, and get into research that could lead to finding a clean nuclear alternative for fossil fuels."

Mariam, who is currently sitting her A-level in physics, will be studying at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario, for 17 days from July 8.

She will be among 50 students – 25 of them from Canada and the rest from across the rest of the world – chosen for the course.

"I can't wait to meet like-minded people who enjoy physics like I do," she said.

"It is not the most popular subject, mainly because teachers tend not to bring it to life and show just how fun and relevant it is.

"A lot of people enjoy science fiction novels and Dr Who, with time machines and alternative universes, but don't realise it's all to do with physics."

Mariam is determined to "pluck up the courage" to talk to the eminent physicists who will be giving lectures during the course.

She said: "I am already feeling quite intimidated but I hope I have the nerve to speak with Stephen Hawking and Lee Smolin, who is my favourite scientist."

Mariam won her place at the summer school with a personal statement outlining her achievements in physics to date and her passion for the subject.

On top of getting an A* in her physics GCSE, she won a national postcard design competition last year with her entry "of a boy holding up the cosmos".

She also recently completed an Open University course in particle physics and cosmology, and gives regular school lectures to her peers.

Robert Shirley, Mariam's physics teacher, said: "Mariam is a genuinely gifted student who loves to learn.

"Her depth of understanding was apparent in a superb lunchtime lecture on black holes which she presented this term.

"We are very fortunate to have a student of Mariam's calibre studying physics at Old Palace."