Best budding scientist to be chosen

Judges will pick Ireland’s most promising young scientist today from hundreds of schoolchildren all bidding for the prestigious award.

Some 1,416 projects have been entered in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition by secondary school students throughout the island.

The overall winner – who will receive a Waterford Crystal trophy together with a cheque for €5,000 – will be announced at a ceremony in Dublin’s RDS this evening.

Several other winners in a number of different categories will also be rewarded for their work as budding inventors and experimentalists.

More than 70 judges have been scouring 500 projects on display in the exhibition centre since Wednesday.

Diverse entries included studies on why penguins don’t freeze, whether women can multi-task better than men and the hierarchy of turtles.

There was also the timely application of science to address current problems such as an energy-generating bicycle that can recharge a mobile phone.