Projects focusing around food production, crop management, sustainability and schemes will all feature at this year’s 61st BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE).
Preparations continue through today at the RDS in Co. Dublin for the opening tomorrow (Wednesday, January 8) when 550 projects from 225 schools will be on display.
The projects span over the following five categories: Technology; Biological, and ecological sciences; Social and behavioural sciences; Chemical, physical and mathematical sciences; and health and wellbeing.
Head of the BTYSTE, Mari Cahalane said that there will be a variety of projects, with the health and well-being category remaining popular since its introduction last year.
“Students want to talk about what is personal to them, what they are interested in. You’ll have kids from farms looking at farm safety, looking at crop rotation.
“The more personal I think a project is, the better. And they are the subject matter specialists and the judges want to talk to them about their projects so they should be there to wow the judges,” Cahalane said.
One of the students, Jack Rahilly from Colaiste Treasa, Co. Cork, is working on his project with aid from Teagasc Moorepark to look at the production of biofuel from invasive dock and rush leaves.
The leaves are prominent in some regions in Co. Cork, where people have used harmful herbicides to control the weeds, resulting in negative impacts for water quality.
Jack hopes to give financial value to a weed crop by using them to produce biofuel in his project called ‘Rush to Renewable’, as well as contributing to the wider society of farmers and consumers across Ireland.
Students in Árdscoil na mBráithre, Co. Tipperary are studying the effect of maximising payments for grassland farmers under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).
Another project called ‘Problematic Parasitics’ looks at correctly timing the dosing of calves, along with the negative effects of worming medication, and how and why farmers show use these medicines correctly.
The project is being ran by Grace Hickey and Caoimhe O’Donovan from Skibbereen Community School in Co. Cork, with the aim to help farmers across Ireland.
A judging panel of 85 experts will have the challenging task of choosing over 200 prize winners this weekend, including the overall BT Young Scientist, who will be given €7,500.
For the first time ever, the recipient of the award, along with four other category winners, will be awarded a trip to the World Expo in Osaka, Japan in July, while also representing Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) in September.
President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins will officially open the 2025 exhibition tomorrow at a special ceremony for students, teachers, and partners, which will be streamed live on the BTYSTE website and on Facebook Live from 2:00p.m.
Speaking before the opening, the president said: “May I offer my very best wishes to all of the students participating in this year’s BTYSTE, and may I pay a special tribute to all those teachers and parents who have been such an essential source of encouragement.”
The 2025 BTYSTE is open to the public from Thursday, January 9 until Saturday, January 11, and a limited number of tickets are still available online.