2022 marked SciFest's 17th year, where the programme demonstrated its resilience, durability, and unquestionable importance to second-level STEM education with a successful emergence out of Covid-19 and a return to in-person SciFest events. We were thrilled to be able to welcome back students, teachers, our sponsors, and stakeholders to inperson SciFest@College fairs and the SciFest National Final for the first time in three years.
These events created an atmosphere that an online event simply cannot conjure. At the SciFest National Final 2022, there was incredible excitement in the hall as students from every corner of Ireland set up their projects and shared their innovative ideas with judges, teachers, their peers, and our guests. This was a true celebration of talent and excellence in STEM.
SciFest's strong growth in 2022 has set the perfect foundation for the 2022/2023 academic year. SciFest@School looks set to have record-breaking participation with already over 90 SciFest@School fairs signed up as of the beginning of February 2023. We are incredibly excited to see what 2023 brings and thank you for joining us in this shared vision, that every second-level student will have an opportunity to participate in SciFest, no matter their background or circumstance.
Best Wishes,
Medtronic Foundation becomes DEIS School Partner
In June 2022, SciFest was delighted to announce the launch of a two-year STEM partnership with the Medtronic Foundation that is focussing on the underserved in second-level STEM education. A core principle of the SciFest programme is its accessibility and inclusiveness. Addressing inequality in access to STEM has been central to SciFest’s vision since its foundation in 2006. The partnership with the Medtronic Foundation is enabling SciFest to increase the number of DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools participating in the programme and to provide more support to STEM teachers. The programme will impact students from disadvantaged backgrounds, empowering them to continue their study in STEM to Leaving Certificate and on into third level and beyond.
New SciFest Team Member
In July SciFest announced the appointment of a Senior School Liaison Officer, Dr Billy Fleming. Billy is working closely with the Medtronic Foundation to bring SciFest to DEIS schools around Ireland. With our expanded team, SciFest can now offer additional supports to teachers in DEIS schools which wish to run a fair for their students.
New Sponsors and Supporters
SciFest is privileged to have support from across the second and third-level education sectors, industry and government. In 2022, the SciFest sponsor and supporter community were joined by the Medtronic Foundation, Regeneron, Vermilion Energy and the ESB Energy for Generations Fund.
SCIFEST@SCHOOL
FAIRS HELD IN 2022*
1623 STUDENTS 139 SCHOOLS
This strand of the SciFest programme was launched in 2011 and has been growing rapidly ever since. A SciFest@School STEM fair can be hosted by a school at any stage in the academic year. Since the lifting of restrictions in March 2022 many schools returned to inperson fairs, whilst many continued their fairs internally with SciFest facilitating both. Since the beginning of the 2022/2023 academic year, SciFest@School registration has accelerated and we greatly look forward to building on the momentum gained in SciFest@School through 2023.
It was thrilling to be back at in-person SciFest@College fairs and to celebrate innovation in STEM in 2022. Over 1,600 students from 139 schools submitted over 800 projects! In recognition of their achievement, all participating students received a specially designed certificate. Select winners had the opportunity to compete in the SciFest National Final in November 2022, adding further incentive to continue work on their project.
61% AVERAGE FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN SCIFEST@COLLEGE SINCE 2010
On Friday 25 November 2022, for the first time in three years, the SciFest National Final 2022 took place in-person at the Marino Conference Centre in Dublin. The in-person event was preceded by an online event launched the previous evening, Thursday 24 November, which centred around a series of STEM-related talks hosted on a bespoke website www.scifestfinal2022.ie. The excitement was palpable in the hall on Friday as students set up their projects and the judging commenced. This was a true celebration of excellence in STEM from across Ireland. Each participant received an Excellence in STEM Award and twelve special awards were presented. The coveted SciFest STEM Champion 2022 Award was presented to Liam Waldron, Rachel Griffin and Luke O’Sullivan, from Killarney Community College, Co. Kerry.
SciFest STEM Champion 2021 Clare Reidy, from Our Lady's Bower Secondary School in Athlone, represented Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2022 which took place in Atlanta Georgia, 8 – 13 May. Clare traveled to Atlanta with Grace Ni Ifearnáin, a secondyear student from Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí, Tralee. Grace won the Broadcom MASTERS International Award at the SciFest National Final 2021. Both girls really enjoyed their experience and did SciFest, their schools and Ireland proud.
Two SciFest projects represented Ireland at the virtual Hong Kong Global Youth Science and Technology Bowl (GYSTB) 2022 on June 10-12 and claimed an overall Grand Prize –Silver Award and a first-place category award. The Grand Award was claimed by Hari Pranavam from Saint Eunan’s College, Letterkenny. Grace Ní Ifearnáin from Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí, Tralee won a first-place award.
In July, two students from Ursuline College Sligo, Niamh Carolan and Líle Hensey, had the opportunity to visit the Berlin Long Night of Science in Germany as winners of the Berlin Long Night of Science Award at the SciFest National Final 2021. This incredible opportunity is supported and facilitated by the Department of Foreign Affairs through the Embassy of Ireland in Berlin.
A lot has changed at SciFest in 2022 and we are very excited about what 2023 will bring. Already, two current sponsors have upgraded their sponsorship in 2023, further emphasizing their commitment to the SciFest programme. In February, SciFest was delighted to welcome EirGrid as a new SciFest Project Partner, joining Intel and Boston Scientific. Previously a gold sponsor, EirGrid's increased commitment is a major boost to the programme. As part of its increased support EirGrid will provide a Climate and Delivering a Cleaner Energy Future Award at all levels of the programme tthrough to the National Final, a first for the SciFest programme. In January 2023, Dawn Meats became a SciFest Gold Sponsor and will be sponsoring a brand new award, The Dawn Meats Agricultural Science Award. This year also marks another first for SciFest, with the introduction of a theme of Climate Action. This theme will further encourage students to investigate the causes and impacts of climate change and to come up with some possible solutions to what is already affecting the lives of millions of people around the world. The closing date for receipt of completed entry forms to SciFest@College 2023 is Friday 10 March 2023. All SciFest@College fair dates are available to view at www.scifest.ie.
The SciFest 2023 programme was officially launched at a special SciFest@School Fair in Clogher Road Community College in Dublin on 1 February The programme was launched by the Minister for Education, Ms Norma Foley, TD, alongside SciFest's partners, Intel, Boston Scientific and EirGrid
