BTYSE 2016 winner Diana Bura and BT Ireland MD Shay Walsh. Image: Julien Behal
Ireland’s biggest STEM event for young people, BT Young Scientist, will return to the RDS next January.
BT Ireland has extended its partnership with the organisation behind the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (YSE) for a further three years to foster Ireland’s young and promising STEM minds.
Ireland’s largest event centred around celebrating scientific curiosity and innovation among secondary school students, BT Young Scientist will mark 60 years of the exhibition’s history in Ireland next year.
The four-day exhibition sponsored by BT Ireland will take place at the RDS from 10 to 13 January 2024. BT has sponsored the event since 2001 and will mark 25 years of custodianship in 2025.
Shay Walsh, managing director of BT Ireland, said that the exhibition has “become part of our organisation’s DNA” with around 200 colleagues volunteering in the event every January.
“The exhibition is much more than a competition; it is an unforgettable experience of a lifetime for the students who take part,” Walsh said.
“We continue to see the positive impact the exhibition has on fostering young talent in the areas of science, technology, engineering and maths in Ireland, and we look forward to growing the exhibition further in the years to come with our exhibition partners.”
Earlier this year, BTYSTE returned to the RDS for a spectacular in-person event after Covid-19 forced the exhibition to take place virtually in 2021 and 2022.
Approximately 550 projects from more than 1,100 students were on display throughout the RDS, and 19-year-old students from The Abbey School in Tipperary, Shane O’Connor and Liam Carew, were named overall winners of the 2023 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
Applications for the 2024 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition will open in late August.
“BT Ireland has helped the exhibition reach new heights since it became the custodian of the exhibition 23 years ago, increasing engagement levels amongst students and the public and strengthening relationships with exhibition partners,” said Pat Guiry, UCD professor and chair of YSE.
“They have introduced a science festival around the annual exhibition as well as extending the exhibition to primary school students through the Primary School Science Fair and developed a business skills extension programme for exhibition alumni.”
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