You are invited to attend the finals of the Debating Science Issues (DSI) Competition which will be held on Thursday, April 15th 2010 at the Science Gallery, Pearse Street, Trinity College Dublin.
Funded by the Wellcome Trust and co-ordinated by 8 research, medical and science centres DSI is a dynamic debating competition which invites secondary school students to engage in debate on the cultural, societal and ethical implications of advances in biomedical science.
11:00 - Semi-final Ulster v Leinster
12:00 - Semi-final Connacht v Munster
13:00 - Lunch / Press Reception
14:00 - Final followed by prize-giving
You are welcome to attend all or part of this exciting event. RSVP March 22nd 2010 to danielle.nicholson@nuigalway.ie or 091 495259
2009 Competitions
Competitions in November 2009
Irish Met Society Photography Competition
Closing Date: November 30th 2009
To enter submit a colour photograph with a weather or seasonal theme.
Free to enter, with prizes of 150, 75 and 50 Euro for first, second and third places.
For more information, guidelines and to enter click here
Great Prizes ...including laptops & digital cameras!
An exhibition of selected entries will take place during Science Week and winning photos will be displayed by Bus Eireann on local commuter routes throughout the country.
Closing date for entries is Friday October 16th ‘09
Tyndall National Institute is Ireland’s largest facility for research and development in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) www.tyndall.ie
Can you rap science?
This is the question being posed to Irish second-level students in a new competition as part of Science Week 2009. Science Raps Challenge is aimed at encouraging young people to express their thoughts about science and technology through rap music.
Students of all ages are invited to participate in the event which offers great prizes including laptops and Flip video cameras. Entrants are simply required to compose and video their own Science Rap, upload on YouTube and send in the link on a completed application form.
Closing date for receipt of entries is Friday, October 23rd 2009.
Information will be sent to all Irish secondary schools.
Are people’s DNA sequences their business and nobody else’s?
Your opinion on this subject is invited in the form of a scientific essay of no longer than 1,000 words. This competition is open to students in the senior cycle – 4th, 5th and 6th year – of secondary school. Entries are restricted to one per student.
Closing date for receipt of entries is Friday, October 30th, 2009.
Winner and runner up prizes include a laptop, iPod, trophies and a science equipment bursary for the students’ schools.
For competition rules, helpful hints and additional information on how to enter check out www.remedi.ie/education
To celebrate the International Year of Astronomy 2009, DCU's School of Physical Sciences and the National Centre for Plasma Science and Technology are holding an astronomical digital photo competition “Eye on the Sky”. Entries are welcome from residents in both the North and South of Ireland. The closing date is 1 st September 2009.
The competition has been divided into three categories: schools, the general public and DCU students and staff. Three prizes per category and an extra class prize for schools will be awarded.
The International Year of Astronomy is a global celebration of astronomy which is endorsed by the United Nations and was opened officially on 15/16 January at the UNESCO building in Paris. A variety of activities are foreseen worldwide to draw global attention to the splendour of celestial phenomena. These have played an important role in determining the seasons for agriculture, for orientation in navigation and for other practical purposes. Nowadays celestial objects are made less prominent by city lights but they are still extensively studied as they are relevant to the understanding of the physics of Nature, particularly under extreme conditions that cannot be achieved on Earth.
The awards ceremony will be held during Science Week (November 2009) in DCU.
The Institute of Chemistry, together with The Royal Society of Chemistry, ROI Section and the Society of Chemical Industry, Ireland Section, sponsors a Schools Chemistry Newsletter Competition.
This competition, organised by the Institute, is open to all second level students (both North and South) who are interested in Chemistry. Entrants must submit a 4 x A4 Newsletters, suitable for the non-scientist, explaining clearly and accurately the significance of any aspects of chemistry in an engaging, informative and easily intelligible manner.
Details of the competition are sent to each school in Ireland each year.
All secondary school students in Ireland are invited to submit a 700-900 word essay that can be either fiction or non-fiction. The title of the essay is the Science Week theme: Science, Shaping our World.
A competition for second level students of geography
The competition closes on Friday 14th March 2008
This competition is open to all students in Transition Year in the Republic of Ireland and GCSE students in Years 11 and 12 in northern Ireland. Our object is to stimulate geological awareness among school pupils throughout Ireland and to encourage students to consider pursuing geoscience at third level.
What to doWrite a short essay (absolute maximum 1000 words) describing an erratic boulder or stone (pebble, particle or fragment), that is an erratic of any size, and tell where it is and how it got there. You may have picked it up in your garden, on the road or on a beach, or seen it in a field, in a wall or on a mountainside.Remember an erratic is simply a stone out of its original place. Also remember you must tell us what type of stone it is.Illustrate your essay as appropriate. You may use sketches, diagrams, cartoons and/or photographs.
Creative writing that tells the story well and imaginatively will be welcomed.
In response to the success of the REMEDI national essay competitions 2005 and 2006, this initiative has now become an important annual event in the school calendar.
The 2007 competition has now been launched and applications are invited from schools within the Republic of Ireland for short essays of individual work around the following theme:
“Genetic Engineering, Panacea or Pandora's Box?”.
As scientists advance their ability to identify, screen, and manipulate genes; is gene therapy a potential panacea for the terrible illnesses we cannot cure, or a Pandora's box where genetically enhanced 'designer babies' with perfect looks and high IQs become a reality?
We invite your views under the essay title of: "Genetic Engineering: Panacea or Pandora's Box?"
Sponsored by Medtronic, the competition is open to students in the senior cycle of secondary school.
Closing date for receipt of entries is Friday, October 26th 2007.
Science and French Language Competition for Secondary School Students of French
Deadline: March 30th 2007
Science and French Language Competition for Secondary School Students of French.
Sixteen- to 20-year-old secondary school students who study French and enjoy sciences (maths, applied maths, physics, biology, chemistry and earth sciences) may be interested in a French language competition initiated by the Cultural Service of the French embassy and promoted by the Department of Education and Science.
First and second prizes consist of a trip to Paris and the Ile-de-France region from July 9th to 19th. The prizes include return flights, accommodation, meals, transport, activities and insurance.
Interested students must write an 800-word essay in English on the topic "Why is science important for the future of mankind?" and a 200-word summary of the essay in French.
The deadline is Monday, March 30th.
For further information and to view the rules and regulations visit www.ambafrance.ie
2006 Competitions
This competition is now closed
Irish University Promoting Scienceis running a competition entitled 'MY INVENTION'
Describe your invention in 100 words and Wina FANTASTIC top of the range i-pod. One for each category.
Prize-giving at the January 2007 BT Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS, Dublin.
Laura Bree, Taylor’s Hill Secondary School, Galway, was the winner of REMEDI’s Science Essay Competition 2005
The Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) at NUI Galway has launched its national Schools’ Science Essay Competition 2006.Sponsored by medical technology company Medtronic, the competition is open to all students in the senior cycle of secondary schools in Ireland.
REMEDI’s Schools’ Science Essay Competition was launched in 2005 to stimulate discussion among students on the ethical and societal implications of advances in biomedical research. The aim is to generate interest in science among second level students and encourage more to go on to study science at third level.
Last year over 50 schools participated from around the country. The eventual winner was Laura Bree, from the Dominican College in Taylor’s Hill, Galway, who went on to get A grades in Biology and Chemistry in her Leaving Cert. Laura has just enrolled as a first-year in Biomedical Engineering at NUI Galway.
This year’s essay topic is “The Quest for Immortality: Who Wants to Live Forever?
We live in an ever evolving world where advances in gene therapy, stem cell therapy, and tissue engineering make headline news. In this climate of scientific progress, is the quest for immortality still mere science fiction or do these emerging technologies offer the possibility of dramatically extending life expectancy for future generations?”
Full details of the competition rules, helpful hints and additional information on how to enter are available on the education section of the REMEDI website www.remedi.ie.
Closing date for receipt of entries is Friday, 27 October 2006.
2005 Competitions
WIN A FABULOUS MP3 PLAYER NOW
Irish University Promoting Scienceis running a poster competition which will run from July 2005 through to November 2005.
There are prizes for Primary and Secondary students PLUS a special prize for the best computer generated poster.
The 2005 RDS Young Science Writers Competition
(Closing date for entries is the 29 th of April 2005)
If you like science and you are between 12 and 19 years of age then you should enter the 2005 RDS Young Science Writers Competition. The theme is science fact or fiction. There are three age categories 12-13, 14-16, and 17-19 and entrants can write on any scientific topic from a factual or fictional perspective. The winner in each category receives a Personal Data Assistant (PDA) and the second placed entrant in each category receives €200. The closing date for entries is the 29 th of April. Application forms can be downloaded from the RDS website on www.rds.ie
For further details please contact Dr Ciaran Byrne, Science Department, RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 PH: 01-2407217; E-mail: Ciaran.byrne@rds.ie
2004 Competitions
August 2004
Web photo competition fromIrish Universities Promoting Scienceunder the theme "Science is Fun"
The winners have been announced
One winner in each category will win a digital camera, kindly sponsored by Schering Ploughin Brinny, Cork. They will be presented with their prizes at the ESAT BT Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS, Dublin
The IRISH UNIVERSITIES PROMOTING SCIENCE website competition was won by Glyn Egan of Pobalscoil an Inbhear Scéine, Kenmare Co. Kerry.
Thanks to all who entered the competition and to all those who encouraged and assisted them.
Glyn's prize was a laptop computer which was presented to him by Mr Ben Waterhouse of Empire Publishing, during the BT Esat Young Scientist Exhibition in January 2003.
Just to remind you, here are the questions and the correct answers.
Question
Answer
Which distinguished Scientist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics visited Ireland in January 2002?
Professor Wolfgang Ketterle
When was the National Science Museum at NUI Maynooth officially opened?
November 2000
Which distinguished Irish scientist won the1999 Boyle Medal in recognition of excellence in scientific research?
Professor Tom Cotter
We will be having a new website competition very soon. So watch this space for details.
Other Competitions from 2002
The ROYAL SOCIETY of CHEMISTRY is running a competition asking children aged
between four and eleven years of age, and not yet at secondary school, as to why poor Rudolph had such a red nose. http://www.rsc.org/pdf/publicaf/rudolph.pdf
FIRST STEP TO NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
The 2002/2003 Eleventh International Competition for High School (Lyceum) Students in Research Projects in Physics
Closing date for applications: 31st March 2003
Details: http://www.ifpan.edu.pl/firststep
or from the 
