Bigger prizes to be winning formula for Young Scientists

Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

Although she has worked as an Irish and history teacher, Ms Hanafin was more than pleased to return to her old workplace at Dominican College in Blackrock, Co Dublin to help announce the plans.

Chief sponsors BT, up to recently known as Esat BT, have allowed for an extra 20 exhibit stands at next January’s event, bringing the number of entries which will go on display at the RDS to 500. In addition, the prize for the Young Scientist or Scientists of the Year has been increased from 3,000 to 5,000.

“Our support underscores our commitment to education across Ireland. We have been working with teachers, students and parents to continue to evolve this fantastic competition and as a result, we are very excited with some of the changes afoot,” said Mike Maloney, chief operating officer of BT in Ireland.

The company has pledged 1.5 million over the next three years to the competition.

The Government has been encouraging efforts to promote interest in science among young people and Ms Hanafin expressed her support for the competition.

“It has truly become a showcase of talent, creativity and enterprise, it gives students an invaluable opportunity to learn more about the world of science and to develop their skills in the areas of research and presentation,” she said.

In order to encourage more schools to get involved, BT has also launched a grant scheme to help schools meet their

accommodation costs in Dublin during the week of the exhibition. The company also plans to subsidise lunches for participating students at next year’s event from January 10-14.