A MALVERN schoolgirl with stars in her eyes hopes to make her own giant leaps for the UK at an international space camp.

Aidan Parker, aged 17, is the only Briton to take part in the United States summer school.

The Malvern Girls' College pupil has joined 21 other international students, plus 51 US students, at the Centre for Excellence in Education.

She is taking part in a Research Science Institute at the internationally renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The six-week course for young scientists and mathematicians will be an academic and personal challenge for Aidan, who lives in Malvern.

To be accepted on the coveted course she had to complete an eight-page British Association for Science Education application form.

She had to describe what she thought should be explored, why she wanted to go into science and what she did to be involved in science.

Aidan, who has her own telescope and is involved in astro-photography, has already attended a British space summer school at Brunel University, in Middlesex, where she built rockets and satellites.

"I'm really looking forward to this trip," she said before jetting off to the US. The first week involves lectures in science and the humanities.

"This is followed by my research project, which will be on neutron stars, and I will be helped by two mentors.

"Finally, we get to go camping and walking and see the Boston Pops."

Aidan, whose ambition is to travel in space, is studying for her AS-levels in maths, further maths, physics, chemistry and German. She hopes to be accepted by Cambridge University to study maths and physics, plus space research and theoretical physics.