Two Tipperary students have been named BT Young Scientist 2023 winners.
Shane O’Connor and Liam Carew, both sixth year students at the Abbey School, won with their project, “Assessing the impact of second-level education on key aspects of adolescents’ life and development,” at the exhibition yesterday.
Minister for Education Norma Foley and Managing Director of BT Ireland, Shay Walsh, presented the award to the two Tipp Town students yesterday evening in the RDS in Dublin.
Jack and Liam will now represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists in Brussels this September after winning the 7,500 euro prize and the BTYSTE trophy.
Following on from this Premier success, events such as the BT Young Scientist Exhibition will help encourage more girls to pursue a career in science and technology, according to a Tipperary teacher.
This year, 67% of students showing projects at the event are girls, which Helen Murray, a chemistry teacher at Rockwell College in Cashel, said doesn’t surprise her.
Speaking to Tipp FM, Helen says that over the last few years, there has been an increase in girls opting to study science subjects.
“What I have seen in my own classes at senior chemistry is that the uptake of girls this year is greater than the uptake of boys, and that has been the case over a couple of years. It used to be traditionally for chemistry and physics predominantly a male, but that is changing. It’s changing for chemistry, maybe not so quickly for physics in our school, but it’s great to see so many women take on chemistry.”
