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Laura Ní Eidhin of Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí a runner-up for the main prize at the Scifest 2017 event in IT Tralee last May. Photo by Dermot Crean
SCIFEST returns to IT Tralee on Wednesday, May 9 this year and Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton TD has called on second-level students in Kerry to put their skills in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) to the test as he launched the event.
SciFest is the largest and most inclusive science fair initiative on the island of Ireland and the event always attracts a huge amount of entries from Tralee and schools around the county to the event at the IT Tralee every May.
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In SciFest, second-level students showcase STEM projects at a series of one-day science fairs held locally in schools and regionally in the 14 Institutes of Technology, DCU and St. Mary’s College, Derry.
Since launching in 2008, over 50,000 students have participated in the competition, which represents an average year on year increase of 23% in participation.
SciFest is funded primarily by Science Foundation Ireland, Boston Scientific and Intel Ireland.
SciFest aims to give students of all abilities the opportunity to develop research, problem solving, critical thinking, and presentation skills. The closing date for SciFest@College 2018 is Friday 9th March 2018.
The winners from each regional science fair will go on to compete at a national final in November 2018. The winner(s) of the SciFest National Final 2018 will be presented with a trophy and will represent Ireland at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Kerry students can log on to the SciFest website (www.scifest.ie) and enter online. Completed entries must be submitted by Friday 9th March 2018.
SciFest 2018 will also be the fourth year of the prestigious Boston Scientific Medical Devices Award, which is presented at each of the 16 regional science fairs; the overall winner of this award will receive the Boston Scientific Medical Devices Grand Award at the national final in November.
