O’Dowd congratulates Young Scientists
Education Minister, John O'Dowd, has congratulated pupils from local schools who have taken part in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2013.
~ Friday, 11 January 2013
The Minister visited the event today, where he viewed at first hand many of the entries submitted by local schools and discussed the projects with pupils and teachers. He was also due to present the award for the best north of Ireland project.
The exhibition, which has been held annually since 1965, received over 1,800 entries from more than 350 schools across Ireland, with 550 projects making it to the finals event in Dublin. These include 33 projects from 14 schools in the north.
Speaking about the event, the Minister said: “The importance of young people embracing technology and science cannot be overstated. The global economy is now such that Ireland, in order to be able to compete with much larger and better resourced countries, must make the most of its knowledge base and differentiate itself by having an innovative edge.
“The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition offers young people a fantastic, hands-on way to get involved with Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) – those subjects that form the basis of any such economy. By being able to create their own investigative projects, young people can examine issues that they best relate to and which they feel most passionate about, while applying and boosting their scientific learning.
“The finals event in Dublin gives young people the chance to view their peers’ projects, meet new people, exchange ideas and practise their presentational skills. The energy in the exhibition hall must be experienced to be believed, and I encourage any school from the north to visit the event, whether they have entered or not, as it cannot fail to inspire their pupils.”
The Minister added: “My congratulations go to all the young people and their teachers who have worked so hard on their projects over many months. I would also like thank the organisers and main sponsors BT for their continued commitment to this excellent event.”
Speaking ahead of the event, Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry said: “It is greatly encouraging to have so many young people from Northern Ireland actively involved in this competition again in 2013. It is clear that the future success of our economy will be increasingly dependent on our young people developing skills in STEM subjects. I hope that many of the students participating in the event are enthused to go on and study these subjects at college or university and ultimately seek employment in this sector by taking up some of the exciting opportunities in Northern Ireland.”
The four categories of entries are: Technology; Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences; Biological & Ecological Sciences and Social & Behavioural Sciences. There are 80 judges involved, drawn from academia, business and other public sector organisations. Over 120 awards are given out, and the overall winner goes on to the EU Contest for Young Scientists. Thirty students will also be chosen to participate in BT’s Business of Science & Technology Programme in March 2012.
