After 51 years Ireland's annual competition for young scientists continues to establish new records, attracting ever more entries and each year setting higher standards in scientific research and technological innovation. The winner of the 2015 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, who will be announced today, can take pride in his or her achievement. To come first in a major national competition, one that has attracted more than 2,000 entries from 4,616 students from 367 schools throughout Ireland is a defining achievement in the life of a young scientist.
And for many, national success has been a stepping-stone to wider international recognition. Irish students have secured the top honours some 14 times at the European Union Science Contest. Above all, success should ensure that greater opportunities and rewards await the winner in third-level education. And – as past winners have demonstrated – it should also open the way to a wide range of career options, whether as scientist, technologist or entrepreneur.
The competition, however, does not just produce a prize winner. All entrants enjoy a great educational experience, and are given an early opportunity to show initiative and enterprise. But the competition also greatly relies on the parents and teachers who provide support and guidance for the efforts of the young scientists.
Last year, in a poll of secondary school students, some 86 per cent of respondents believed that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects offered the best career opportunities. This reflects the remarkable change of attitude by students to science and technology so evident in recent years. It is also an acknowledgement of the increased importance of science in the domestic economy.
This week An Post issued two new stamps to celebrate science in Ireland, and to coincide with the exhibition. It represents an overdue recognition of the important role that the young scientist exhibition has played for over half a century in fostering and developing a greater interest in science – and in generating outstanding scientists.