BT Young Scientist Winners take home second prize at the EU Contest for Young Scientists

Shane O’Connor and Liam Carew, winners of the BTYSTE 2023, have been awarded second place at this year’s EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) in Brussels today.

Shane and Liam, former students at Abbey School, Co. Tipperary, were singled out by the EUCYS judging panel for their BTYSTE winning project, titled ‘Assessing the impact of second-level education on key aspects of adolescents’ life and development.’

The project saw Shane and Liam survey 2,000 12–19-years-old students across Ireland to examine how they found their education experiences impacted their social, physical, and mental wellbeing. O’Connor and Carew wowed the judges at the EUCYS with the depth of their research, which found that secondary school is vital for the social development of most students.

At EUCYS, O’Connor and Carew competed against over 130 young scientists aged 14 to 20 years from 36 countries, including EU member states and the USA, Canada, and South Korea.

Speaking on their achievement, Shane O’Connor said, “It was an honour to represent Ireland in Brussels and share our work with the international STEM community. With the level of competition so high, we cannot believe our work has been recognised as one of Europe’s best today.”

Liam Carew added, “It is fantastic to end EUCYS on such a high. We are heading straight into our first year at University College Cork (UCC) on Monday, and we can safely say that the skills we have developed at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition and here at EUCYS have been crucial in preparing us for university life.”

Mari Cahalane, Head of the BTYSTE, BT Ireland said, “We are incredibly proud of Liam and Shane and what they that they have achieved, from their time at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2023, to now taking home the second prize at the EUCYS.

“Liam and Shane reflect the high calibre of young STEM talent across Ireland and would encourage students to get their entries in for the exhibition in January 2024 by Monday the 2nd of October. Not only could they get a chance to showcase their projects at BTYSTE2024, but they could also represent Ireland in Europe at the EUCYS.”

Applications are open for the 60th BTYSTE, which will take place from January 10 to 13, 2024, in Dublin. BT Ireland is encouraging students aged 12-19 to turn their creativity into project entries.

Entrants are asked to fill out an online application form and simply submit a one-page proposal outlining their idea. Qualified entries will be announced at the end of October and will be showcased at BTYSTE 2024 in January.