''I want to know why things are the way they are. That's why I love science so much.''
The 16-year-old Otago Boys' High School pupil's passion for science has aided him in achieving excellent exam marks and, as a result, he has been selected to attend the Professor Harry Messel International Science School in Sydney for two weeks in July.
''I'm pretty chuffed. It's a big award, so it's quite an honour,'' he said.
The science school is the flagship of the Science Foundation for Physics, with a 45-year history and a reputation as the best programme of its kind in the world.
As part of his selection, Timothy has been awarded the Talented School Students' Travel Award, which is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Timothy was chosen from more than 200 New Zealand applicants and is one of six New Zealand pupils who will join 19 like-minded pupils from Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, China, India and the United States.
The theme for this year's science school is Nanoscience: Small Wonders, Big Future.
Despite his passion for physics and chemistry, Timothy said he was looking forward to learning about nanoscience.
''It sounds like a really interesting field. It's the way forward.''
The science school would provide an opportunity for him to learn from top international and Australian nanoscience experts along with leaders from the breadth of science, including keynote speaker and Nobel prize-winning cosmologist Prof Brian Schmidt.
It will also be a chance for him to investigate the vast array of nanoscience and nanotechnology applications, from invisibility cloaks inspired by extraordinary metamaterials and bespoke medicines fighting disease at the molecular level, to the next generation of optics-based IT technologies that will outperform today's fastest communication systems.
