BUDDING boffins from a Greenock school have become the first young people from Scotland to be invited to attend an international science conference.

Young Scientists brings students aged 12-20 together from across the globe to share theories, results and experiments.

A group of pupils from Inverclyde Academy have just made history by being the first Scottish representatives to attend the summit.

They are members of the young scientists group at the school, which was formed in June and is made up of fifth year pupils who have a particular interest in the subject and are interested in studying at university.

Ailee Gray, Hannah Livingstone, Laura Stewart, Zoe McEachran, Anissa McKay, Scott Pearson, Ben Percival, Owen Musgrove, Lauren McAskill and Christopher Thomson travelled to Cambridge for the conference.

They attended talks by distinguished scientists, participated in a variety of workshops and got an insight into important experiments aimed at combating the spread of diseases across the world.

Now they will conduct a scientific project in school which will eventually be published in academic journals.

English teacher Jackie Stevenson, along with colleague Jane Wilson and science teachers Lesley-Anne Couper and John Harkins, led the group on the trip and say they were delighted when they were asked to attend.

Jackie said: “We are so proud of all the pupils, they are a brilliant group.

"They work so hard and deserved this opportunity.”

Jane, who joined the pupils for the trip, added: “They were a delight to go with and having experienced the conference are now looking at what else they can achieve.”

As the first Scottish school invited along, Inverclyde Academy has now been tasked with organising the first Scottish conference of the scheme, which will be held in February.

Lesley-Anne said: “We were asked if we could organise the conference in a bid to help get more schools from Scotland involved, as Inverclyde Academy are the first.

“We have a lot of work to do to make it happen but I know we can do it.

"The pupils are brilliant and this is a fantastic opportunity which will open so many doors for them.”