A polar bear may be in the limelight at the young scientist exhibition next week. But behind the scenes the real stars - the students - are busy preparing for one of the biggest and oldest events of its kind, writes Dick Ahlstrom.
Students and visitors attending this year's BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition will be able to make their acquaintance with a polar bear. The furry close encounter is just one of the many attractions that will contribute to the proceedings at the RDS in Dublin next week.
The plight of the polar bear Bjorn will be presented at the Exhibition's Eco-Theatre during the event which gets underway on Wednesday, January 9th. Bjorn's handler Ursula will be there as well to talk about how the bears live and how their very existence is now under threat due to climate change.
The BT Arena at the RDS will also host an exciting science programme by Science Made Simple and a programme presented by Pluck called "How not to set your violin on fire". Pluck includes three musicians who will talk about music, energy and the history of audio equipment.
While the attractions help draw the crowds, the exhibition is primarily about the aspiring young researchers who put so much work into their projects and presentations.
This will be the 44th exhibition, making it one of the oldest such student science fairs in the world. It is also one of the largest, with student participation reaching 3,514 in the initial 1,416 projects entered, and public attendances during the three days of public access expected to easily exceed 36,000.
There were a record number of project entries this year. As usual these are placed in several age groupings and divided into four subject categories including chemical, physical and mathematical sciences; biological and ecological sciences; technology; and social and behavioural sciences.
They can be either group or individual and this year there are 394 group and 118 individual projects involved. As usual there are more girls than boys involved, with 783 (64 per cent) female entries in total and 449 (36 per cent) male entries in total.
THE ORGANISERS HAVEreduced the total project numbers to just 500 and these will now go forward for judging, which begins on Wednesday afternoon.
The winning entry, either group or individual, will be announced on Friday evening at an awards presentation which is usually a lively and very noisy event. The young scientists are vying for a top prize worth €5,000.
There is also a primary school element that has grown steadily over the years. This time the Health and Safety Authority takes over sponsorship of the Primary Science Fair, which runs alongside the main exhibition.
There will be about 100 primary projects on exhibit and the organisers expect to welcome 2,500 primary school students to the RDS over the days of the Primary Science exhibition which runs from Thursday until Saturday next week.
"The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition is one of the finest showcases in the world for science, technology and mathematics," says Chris Clark, chief executive officer of BT Ireland.
"Continued focus is needed on developing Ireland as a knowledge economy. We believe that our investment in, and commitment to, this exhibition encourages schools throughout the island to have a passion and interest in those very skills that will help Ireland advance and thrive.
"We look forward to the judges' assessments of the entries and wish every entrant the best of luck at the RDS next week," he added.
• The exhibition opens to the public on Thursday and runs until Saturday. Adult tickets cost €12 while family tickets (for two adults and three children) cost €30. Student and concession tickets are €6, with secondary school parties of more than 20 €4.50 and primary school parties above 20 €4 per person. Accompanying teachers are free with school groups.
More information about the event is available at www.btyoungscientist.ie or by phoning 1800 924 362 or from Northern Ireland, 0800 917 1297.