FOUR York University students are set to launch Europe's first student experiment in space.

Neil Melville, David Waterman, Jon Howe and Tony Wilkinson have won a European Space Agency competition to organise a scientific experiment on board a Russian satellite next year.

The final year physics undergraduates plan to study the crystallisation of protein solutions in weightless conditions.

Neil, 21, said they hoped the results could eventually be beneficial to researchers in fields such as the investigation of insulins and human growth hormones.

But they must first raise an estimated £5,000 to £6,000 in sponsorship towards the costs of the experiment.

Neil said this was the second ESA competition they had won: their success in an earlier contest had entitled them to enter this one.

In the first competition, they experienced the weightlessness of space travel through going on "parabolic flights".

They went up in an Airbus 300 over France and then experienced total weightlessness for 22 seconds as it flew downwards in an arc, giving them total weightlessness.

Parabolic flights were used in the filming of Apollo 13 and was also used in the early training as astronauts.

"It was a fantastic experience," said Neil, who had no fewer than 65 such experiences.

"We understand this is the first totally independent student project of this kind in Europe."

Two other teams of students - from Edinburgh and Switzerland - are also conducting different experiments on the same satellite.

The Foton M1 satellite will be orbiting for about 16 days next October.

David, 21, said: "We will take the equipment to Russia, possibly even to the launch site in Plesetsk."

Tony, 22, said that in weightless conditions, the crystals would grow larger and with fewer defects, and it would therefore be more easy to work on them when they return to earth.

"We very much appreciate the ESA for giving us the chance to take part in this unique experiment."

* Anyone able to help sponsor the experiment should contact the students by e-mailing to nfm102@york.ac.uk, or by calling Neil on 07813 198383.

Updated: 08:37 Thursday, December 13, 2001