A team of University of Bath students will take part in the BBC TV quiz University Challenge this week.
The team’s first round match against the University of Southampton will be broadcast on Monday, 28 July, at 8:30pm on BBC Two. It will be the first time in 10 years that a Bath team has taken part in the show, for which 130 teams from universities across the country apply.
The Bath team is made up of captain Joni Wildman, Luca Romagnoli, Sajjan Johal, Lewis Blakeborough and reserve Jamie McLauchlin.
Joni said: “We’re over the moon to be taking part in University Challenge this year. It took a lot of hard work to be one of the 28 teams that reach the main competition in the studio, and it was a really great experience.
“It’s been a long time since a Bath team has qualified, but we’ve made it this far and we’re hoping to have a team back next year.”
As the reserve member, Jamie took on the role of the team’s coach. He said: “I wrote questions and quizzes for the team, and we watched lots of old episodes as practice, including the one when a Bath team last took part. We also had a practice match with the University of Bristol which we were grateful to them for.”
Joni is studying for a PhD in Architecture and Civil Engineering, and Jamie is in his final year of a PhD in Physics and Chemistry. Lewis, Luca and Sajjan graduated this summer, with an MSc in Physics, a BSc in Biochemistry and a BSc in Maths and Physics respectively.
The team’s subjects of study reflect Bath’s strengths in STEM (science, technology engineering, and maths), so the team divided up their revision about other fields for the show. Joni said: “Between us we felt we had some of the common topics like history, geography and classical music well covered – during the process I knew more about English Literature than I’ve ever known.
“Our revision did pay off - there was one poetry question in the audition that I’d read about literally on the way there, which was very lucky. Luca had the same thing happen with a question about a philosopher.”
Professor Cassie Wilson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience) at Bath, said: “To have a team representing Bath on University Challenge after several years is something we can all be very proud of. The team has done brilliantly to make it on to the show again and we wish them the very best of luck.”
University of Bath Students’ Union President Benji Thompson added: “Appearing on University Challenge is such a win for Bath. We can’t wait to see our team take on the rest of the country and hopefully bring home the prize.”
Having completed their filming for this year’s series, the team is now aiming to set up a permanent quiz society and encourage more Bath students to apply to take part in the next series of the show, when selections begin in the Autumn.
Bath students interested in helping to set up a quiz society or applying for University Challenge can contact Joni Wildman at jlw89@bath.ac.uk or Jamie McLauchlin at jm3296@bath.ac.uk.