Scientist stereotype knocked for six

The methodical madness of scientists was evident last night as six research students discussed their work at a Science Week Ireland lecture at Athlone Institute of Technology.

"There's Method in Our Madness" was the overall title chosen for the six presentations because so many people believed the Hollywood stereotype of the frazzled, white-coated nutty science professor, stated Ms Margaret Franklin, a senior chemist at Athlone IT, who organised last night's meeting.

The students were competing for a £200 prize made available by Enterprise Ireland, which sponsored the event.

"Science is fun. We are just trying to get that message across," said Ms Franklin. The object was to build awareness of the work of scientists and to encourage pupils who might see the possibility of a career in the sciences.

All of the students are working on master's degrees at Athlone IT either in chemistry or in toxicology. Ms Natasha Kemmy explained her work in the "chirality" of chemicals, whether they line up in a right or left-handed way. Ms Siobhan Keaney spoke about "test-tube toxicity testing", the use of human cells in vitro to test for poisonous substances, rather than animals.

Ms Olivia McCartin entitled her talk, "How dirty can it get?", a presentation of her research into the "dirtiness" of industrial effluents. Mr Adrian Redmond took the opposite approach in his presentation, "How clean is clean?", on ways to prevent contamination in chemical manufacture.

Mr Ian Horan discussed the "Kitchen clinic", and his research into herbal medicines. Ms Sinead Devery's talk carried the unusual title, "Genes, comets and back to bases", which explained how to identify breakages in DNA and how this might affect genes.

Judges for the event were the director of the college, Mr James Coyle; Mr Nick Mernagh, the regional director of Enterprise Ireland in the Midlands; and Ms Mel O'Flynn, a businesswoman from the town.