A WHITTLESEY quarry is to open its doors to university students as part of a new academic research competition.

Hanson’s Kings Dyke Quarry will host the students as part of the Quarry Life Award, a competition launched by their parent company HeidelbergCement Group.

The competition, which comes with a prize fund of more than �100,000, aims to find new ideas for the conservation and promotion of species diversity in quarries.

Students from across the country will be invited to submit projects which could be carried out at Kings Dyke, and five other UK sites, based around one of four biodiversity topics.

Projects will be judged by a panel of experts and three national winners will be selected to win a cash prize.

The overall UK winner will be submitted into the global Quarry Life Award with the opportunity to claim the top prize of �27,000.

Martin Crow, head of environment and sustainability at Hanson UK, said: “The Quarry Life Award offers students a unique opportunity to add ecological and educational value to a mining environment.

“We have always promoted the protection of biodiversity during and after quarrying at our sites and we hope that the research projects will raise the understanding of the biological value of quarries while providing students with an insight into a possible career path.”

The other five UK participating sites are Shardlow near Derby; Wykeham near Scarborough, North Yorkshire; Padeswood near Mold, North Wales; Wrotham near Maidstone, Kent; and Warmwell airfield, an inactive site near Dorchester, Dorset.

The deadline for proposals is February 17, 2012 with selected projects being carried out between March and September 2012. Completed research is to be submitted by September 30, 2012.

For more information visit the Quarry Life website: www.quarrylifeaward.com