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The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, commonly called the Young Scientist Exhibition, is an Irish annual school students' science competition that has been held in the Dublin, Ireland, every January since the competition was founded by Fr. Tom Burke & Dr. Tony Scott in 1965.
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The competition
The purpose of the competition is to encourage interest in science in secondary schools. For the 51st year of the competition in 2016, there were over 2,000 entries, from 396 schools which was the highest number ever, 550 of which were selected for the Exhibition at the RDS.
Students apply to participate in the competition. Their science project entries are evaluated by judges and about one third of applicants are accepted to participate in the public exhibition. Students are allocated exhibition stands in an exhibition hall where they set up their projects for viewing by the public. Competing projects are judged during the three days of exhibition, and prizes are awarded.
Projects are awarded in four categories: biology, physics, social and behavioral sciences, and technology. Three levels of entry are accepted. In each category three main prizes are awarded; other prizes include a display award, highly commended rosettes, and a cancer awareness award. The winners of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition advance to participate in prestigious international events such as the European Union Contest for Young Scientists.
Dr John Monahan, PhD, was the inaugural winner of the Young Scientist Exhibition in 1965, then a student of Newbridge College, his project was an explanation of the process of digestion in the human stomach. He went on to establish a NASDAQ-listed biotech company in California after attending University College Dublin.
Aer Lingus sponsored the competition for the first 33 years. 2017 will be the 17th year in which the Exhibition was sponsored by BT Ireland. It has produced at least one author, Sarah Flannery, and one multi-millionaire, Patrick Collison. Many of the past winners have gone on to establish international companies in the technology they developed. One of the most notable was Baltimore Technologies.
Father Tom Burke, who co-founded the exhibition with physicist Tony Scott, died in March 2008. An award at the event was named in his memory.
Winners by age
The youngest winners are listed first.