News Release DC15-485
– Over 50% of schools in Republic of Ireland submitted projects
– Entrants are 62% female, 38% male
Dublin, Thursday 15th October 2015: Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan TD, was on hand today to help BT Ireland announce the record number of schools in the Republic of Ireland that have entered the 2016 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition. A total of 371 schools in the Republic submitted projects for the January 2016 exhibition which represents 51% of all secondary schools. This is an increase of 28 schools or 8% of schools since the previous exhibition.
The 52nd BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition has attracted a total of 2,048 entries from the island of Ireland with 4,449 students submitting their finest ideas and innovations for consideration across the science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects. In addition, BT Ireland announced that the gender split of entrants this year is 62% female, and 38% male.
Speaking at today’s announcement, Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan TD;
“It is a testament to Ireland’s students and teachers that, in its 52nd year, the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition is growing in such strength and numbers. This event is a fantastic platform for so many of our young talented students to develop their ideas and bring them to life on a national stage. Students inspired by curiosity and problem solving will be essential to Ireland’s economic and social future and I commend each one of them and their schools who have taken the time and effort to submit projects and I wish all the entrants the best of luck.”
Shay Walsh, Managing Director of BT Ireland, which organises the exhibition, said;
“We are delighted to hit a new record number of schools entering the exhibition which demonstrates the continued and growing interest in STEM. This exhibition is all about recognising and nurturing emerging talent in our young people and to see the continued growth year on year is outstanding. No doubt the international success of our 2015 participants spurred on many students and schools to put together their entries and we are really looking forward to seeing the new talent in January 2016.”
The 2016 entries at a glance:
- 2,048 entries received
- 4,449 students
- 396 schools represented across the island
- Dublin has the highest number of entries from any county, followed by Cork and Limerick in second and third place
- Entrants are 62% female, 38% male
- 1,580 entries are group entries and 468 are individual entries
Number of entries per category:
- Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences: 314
- Biological & Ecological Sciences: 539
- Technology: 338
- Social & Behavioural Sciences: 857
The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2016 will take place in the RDS, Dublin from 6th – 9th January 2016. There are over 120 student, teachers and school awards to be won, including cash prizes, international trips and the overall title of BT Young Scientist & Technologist(s) of the Year.
The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition is organised by BT Ireland, one of the country’s leading communications and networked IT service providers, and is supported by a number of valued partners including the Department of Education & Skills, Analog Devices, Intel, Perrigo and RTE. For more information on the exhibition, log onto www.btyoungscientist.com or follow the exhibition on Twitter @BTYSTE.
ENDS
For media enquiries, please contact:
Lydia Tierney, FleishmanHillard – 01 618 8420 or 086 165 3055
Priscilla O’Regan, Head of Communications – BT, 086 6335398
About the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition
The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition is much more than a competition – it is the experience of a lifetime for the students and teachers who take part. The original idea for the exhibition came about in 1963 when two Irish physics researchers Rev. Dr. Tom Burke and Dr. Tony Scott, happened upon the concept of ‘Science Fairs’’ while conducting research in New Mexico, America. These local school science exhibitions culminated in State Fairs and ultimately a national competition, which showed the pair that this type of hands-on science was something that Irish students could benefit from, by taking science outside the four walls of the classroom.
In 2000, BT, a leader in technology innovation, took over the organisation of the Young Scientist exhibition and since then the competition has expanded far beyond science. Today, winning projects can range from social and behavioural research, to new inventions, to solutions to major world problems and much more.
In recent years the number of entries has increased dramatically, reaching an all-time high this year when over 2,000 projects were submitted. All entries are screened to select 550 projects to go through to compete in the RDS in Dublin in January. In 2015, the event attracted over 59,000 people making it one of the largest school events of its kind in the world. The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition is supported by a number of valued partners including the Department of Education & Skills, Analog Devices, Perrigo, Intel, and RTE.
Learn more about this fantastic event at www.btyoungscientist.com
About BT
BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of five customer-facing lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Business, BT Consumer, BT Wholesale and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2015, BT Group’s reported revenue was £17,979m with reported profit before taxation of £2,645m.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.
For more information, visit www.btplc.com.
