Call to Longford Secondary School Students for BTYSTE applications

Longford Secondary School Students are being advised not to miss out at as applications close in one month for the 2025 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE).

BT Ireland have announced that further funding for schools is available through the accommodation grant scheme to mark 25 years as sponsor and custodian of the Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

BT Ireland are encouraging secondary school students aged 12-19 years from Longford to submit their project ideas for the 2025 BTYSTE before applications close on September 27, 2024. Since BT Ireland launched the Accommodation Grant Scheme in 2006, the company has contributed €15,200 in funding to qualified projects from Longford schools.

Schools in the Delivering Equality of Opportunity for Schools (DEIS) programme who must travel over 70km or more to the Exhibition will now be eligible for 20% more funding under BT Ireland’s Accommodation Grant Scheme

Applications close for the 2025 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE), at 5pm on September 27, 2024. This year, BT Ireland opened entries for the BTYSTE earlier than ever in May, to allow students as much time as possible to turn their creative ideas into project entries.

Next year’s BTYSTE will take place from January 8 to January 11, 2025 and will once showcase incredible projects from students across the five categories of Technology, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Biological and Ecological Sciences, Chemical, Physical, Mathematical Sciences, and Health and Wellbeing.

Hundreds of prizes will be on offer to finalists across the various categories and age groups, amounting to a total prize fund of €50,000.

The overall winner(s) of the BTYSTE 2025 will also take home the BT Young Scientist & Technologist(s) of the Year Award, worth €7,500, and will go on to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) in 2026.

Speaking ahead of the 2025 BTYSTE project entries deadline, Mari Cahalane, Head of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition said: “Throughout BT Ireland’s 25 years as lead sponsor of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, it has been fantastic to see first-hand the impact that the Exhibition, and the students taking part, have had on Ireland’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sector.

“The BTYSTE is an opportunity like no other for secondary school students in Ireland to turn ideas into initiatives and develop a lifelong passion for STEM. We are thrilled that this year we are able to provide further funding to schools through the Accommodation Grant Scheme to support as many schools as possible to participate in Exhibition week.”

BT Ireland’s Accommodation Grant Scheme

Since BT Ireland launched the Accommodation Grant Scheme in 2006, the company has contributed €1,358,950 in funding to qualified projects from schools located 70km or more outside of the exhibition venue in Dublin - including €15,200 in funding to Longford schools.

Donal Enright, teacher at Desmond College, Limerick said: “The accommodation grant has really made all the difference for us in being able to send our students to the BTYSTE to represent their school. Desmond College has participated in the BTYSTE for over 50 years now, with many of our students going on to win awards across the various categories.

“The BTYSTE has been the first step for many of our students into the world of STEM and lots of our alumni have gone on to enjoy successful careers in STEM after school. We’re delighted that thanks to the grant scheme, we can continue to send pupils to the BTYSTE each year.” 

To give more support for schools in the DEIS schools programme taking part in the BTYSTE, DEIS schools located 70km or more from the RDS in Dublin will now be eligible for 20% more grant funding under the Accommodation Grant Scheme. In those schools, an individual project finalist will receive €180 and a group of finalists €360 towards their accommodation costs for attending the BTYSTE in Dublin.

For those DEIS schools that are not eligible for the accommodation grant, they will receive separate funding of €50 for each shortlisted project, to a maximum grant of €500 per school.

For more information on the 2025 BTYSTE, visit btyoungscientist.com.