Seven Laois projects are among the 550 finalists for the 2021 BT Young Scientist Exhibition.
Two Laois schools will be represented – with four projects from Portlaoise College and three from Heywood Community School making the cut.
The first-ever virtual BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition will take place from Wednesday January 6 to Friday January 8 next year.
The finalists were selected from over 1,300 entries and represent 213 schools across 29 counties. They will showcase their projects on the BTYSTE virtual platform to a national – and increasingly international – audience.
The four Portlaoise College projects, who all come from Transition Year students are as follows:
Movie Moral: Social and Behavioural Sciences – Group project by Aleksandra Polak, Ben Cambell and Noor Fatima.
Sexism In Sport: Social and Behavioural Sciences – Group project by Sean McComish Day and Faith Sacre Quigley.
Effects That Different Diets Have on a Venus Fly Trap: Biological and Ecological – Group project by Marta Kozakiewicz, Josh Boylan and Natalia Orlik.
Microtransactions and Their Effect on Human Behaviour; Social and Behavioural Sciences – Group project by Hristo Petrushkov, Zara Murphy and Tim Drennan.
Speaking about the entrants, principal Noel Daly said the college was proud to be able to support the efforts of the next generation of innovators.
He said: “Our teams, under the guidance of their science teachers Chris Gleeson and Conor Whelehan, are focusing on preparing to exhibit their projects and meet the judges at the 57th annual Exhibition.
“At Portlaoise College, we have a tradition of entrants into the BT Young Scientist competition, but year’s record 4 finalists really showcases our students love for STEM.
“One of our aims at Portlaoise College is to support the next generation of innovators”
The other Laois school who will have representation next year is Heywood CS.
They have three projects and among them is a young man who was a winner at the 2020 event – Evan Hogg:
The Regulations at Play Behind Your Physical Activity: A Statistical Analysis into How We Can Use SDT to Better Motivate the Nation to Participate in Physical Activity. Category: Social and Behavioural Sciences – Individual by Evan Hogg.
The Effect of Binaural Beats On Our Memory; Social and Behavioural Sciences – Individual by Cillian Moran.
Is Mental Illness Glamorised In Younger Generations and Why Is IT A Trend To Self Diagnose? In the Social and Behavioural Sciences category – a group project by Sarah Haide, Aoife Carey and Sinead Uys.
Best of luck to all!
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