Establishing a testable hypothesis is often the hardest part of any Science investigation but for those among you who have an interesting idea that could be investigated as a Scientific project you should strongly consider entering it into national competitions like the regional Scifest competition in LYIT and the BTYS selection process which could provide you with the opportunity to showcase your project at the national exhibition in the RDS.
After school Science club
To help develop your idea into a project, Ms. Furey runs an after school club that helps you to research your project and to write a project proposal so that you can enter both competitions however it is important to note that there is a non-refundable project assessment fee of €20 for each individual or group member that enters the BTYS competition and we would like to stress that the selection process for BTYS is very rigorous.
Sometimes the hardest part of your BTYS application is deciding on a good idea. Slants on topical scientific or social issues are usually well represented at the exhibition but the best projects are often based on the simplest ideas.
Taking part in one or both competitions will be a fantastic learning opportunity and the skills you will gain by taking part in developing a project for Scientific competition will help you both in and beyond the classroom.
BT Young Scientist Past Projects
Current BT Young Scientist Projects
BT Young Scientist 2022
Congratulations to first time competitor Ciara Cannon on achieving second prize in her category, Intermediate Biological and Ecological, with her investigation into the optimum antimicrobial activity of nanoparticles. The foundation for this project idea came from reading and discussing the practical applications of nanoparticles with her older brother, Paul, who is a biomedical physicist, completing a Ph.D in utilising nanotechnology for DNA analysis. In her project Ciara investigated silicon, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles at six different concentrations and found that each material was effective against three of the bacteria used in this experiment. Silicon was effective against Enterococcus faecalis (+), Staphylococcus aureus (+) and Klebsiella pneumonia (-) respectively. Zinc Oxide was effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (-), Staphylococcus aureus (+) and Escherichia coli (-) respectively. Titanium dioxide was effective against Staphylococcus aureus (+), Escherichia coli (-) and Staphylococcus saprophyticus (+) respectively.
