The festival is organised by the British Council and the competition gives finalists just three minutes to deliver a presentation on their chosen topic.

Entrants were judged according to the golden rule of the 3 Cs: content, clarity and charisma. Fergus competed against 20 other finalists with his talk on how the wood frog in Canada blurs the line between life and death.

“As humans, we think that when your heart stops beating, you’re dead. But every winter in Canada, this frog called the wood frog freezes itself solid. Its heart stops beating for weeks, and then in spring, it comes back to life as it thaws out.

We aren’t close to trying this with humans but one possible application in the future could be for storing organs for transplantation.”

Fergus is currently undertaking PhD research on the use of willow trees as a sustainable means for waste water treatment at University College Cork.

The international final was attended by over five hundred people and among the audience were Nobel prize winner, James Watson and physicist and broadcaster, Professor Jim Al-Khalili.

FameLab helps young scientists acquire valuable skills to communicate their work with passion to a non-scientific audience and challenges stereotypes of the scientist as “the geek in the white lab coat”, and justifying public funding for research.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ernest Walton (1903–1995)

In 1932, at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge, two physicists were busy building the first linear accelerator that would accelerate protons to energies of 700,000 electron Volts. They built an apparatus to bombard the element lithium and the protons were energetic enough to shatter the lithium to produce helium nuclei.

What these two scientists had achieved was not only the conversion of one element into another by artificial means but also they were able to verify Einstein’s famous equation E=mc².

This achievement was one of the greatest in physics and one of the scientists responsible was Irish-born Ernest Walton.

For his work, Walton received a scientific Nobel prize for Physics – along with John Cockcroft – in 1951. Walton remains the only Irish-born scientist to receive a scientific Nobel Prize.

Born in Dungarvan, Co.Waterford, in 1903, Walton entered Trinity College Dublin in 1922 on a scholarship to read maths and experimental science.

After graduating with first-class honours, he started work on his Masters, which he received in 1927. In the same year he received a research scholarship and went to Cambridge University to work in the Cavendish Laboratory.

He continued researching at Cambridge until 1934 and received his PhD there.

He returned to Trinity College and was appointed Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in 1946 and elected Senior Fellow in 1960.

Science Foundation Ireland has named the E.T.S. Walton Visitor Awards in honour of Walton. These awards have been developed to attract researchers to Ireland.

Learn more

Read about Walton on the Nobel Prize website

Judith and Tessy Ehiguese created the winning video “Internet Sensation” for which they wrote a song and filmed an accompanying music video, to promote the many positive aspects of the Internet for young people.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Frances Fitzgerald T.D. was on hand with Avril Ronan, Trend Micro to present the overall prize of €3,000 to St. Joseph’s College in Lucan this week.

“The Internet is an amazing resource for young people and at Trend Micro we want to promote the positive side of the Internet, while also encouraging school children to learn about digital safety”, explained Avril Ronan, co-ordinator of the Internet Safety for Schools & Families programme at Trend Micro. Hundreds of entries were received, from both individuals and schools across the country, that answered the question “What does the good side of the Internet look like?”

“The unique thing about this competition is that it is peer led – young people become advocates of their own message in promoting the positive side of the Internet as all entries are posted for public viewing, shared online and rated as well as final judging by a panel of online safety experts and anti-bullying champions.

Now in its second year in Ireland, this year’s “What’s Your Story” competition had a record number of entries from schools and young people all over Ireland. The site recorded over 35,000 public views, ratings and comments about the entries. The competition, run by Trend Micro’s Internet Safety team in Cork, has received huge praise from Webwise, antibullyingcampaign.ie, Discover Science, SmartFutures.ie as well as Suicide Aware, Facebook and other leading anti-cyber-bullying organisations in Ireland and also internationally.”

Judith and Tessy’s entry has also been selected to represent Ireland in the European Award for Positive Content for Kids in Belgium later this month.

The agreement will help encourage, develop and facilitate research opportunities in Ireland for the best young research talent in the NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Programme under the Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) initiative.

The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) has supported more than 40 Nobel laureates during its 61 year tenure. Graduates are also well represented among international government leaders, business executives, writers, and members of the National Academy of Sciences including; U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt.

Director General of Science Foundation Ireland, Professor Mark Ferguson, said, “This partnership will create new opportunities for young, talented researchers while strengthening the academic ties between our two countries. As set out in Agenda 2020, SFI has a strategic objective to be the exemplar in building partnerships that fund and support excellent science.

It is important to note that the NSF identified SFI Research Centres as a major reason for agreeing this partnership for their GRFP. This agreement will deliver excellent research in areas of national importance including; nanotechnology, marine renewable energy, ‘Big Data’, medical technologies and food, which will have a positive impact on Ireland’s economic future.”

Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide supports NSF’s broader commitment to address the internationalisation of science and engineering and to provide multiple pathways to engagement with top researchers worldwide. Other countries participating in GRFP include; Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Japan, Korea, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and South Korea.

The Fellows, selected through the normal process through the NSF GRF Program and invited to participate in GROW, are hosted by a science agency in a partner country for a period of three to 12 months. In Ireland NSF Graduate Research Fellows will be hosted by SFI Research Centres.

The UL research team have been awarded €480,000 to support their study on human-robot interaction for high frequency manual handling to minimise the risk of lower back injury in industry.

Dr Leonard O’Sullivan, Lead researcher explains the significance of this study; “About 44 million EU workers are affected by work related musculoskeletal disorders every year, with an annual cost in excess of €240 billion euro to the European economy.

The Robomate project aims to develop an exoskeleton for use in the workplace and in turn reduce back injury. Our team has extensive expertise in ergonomics and occupational health research, which, combined with our expanding research expertise in product design will determine key technology advances for the exoskeleton.”

The European Foundation for Living and Work Conditions reports that 65% of workers perform lifting and carry loads for at least a quarter of their normal work time. Work related low back pain and injuries are the most common musculoskeletal disorders; these are directly related to frequent manual handling of heavy loads.

The UL research team is a collaboration between the Human Factors and Product Design Research Group and the Centre for Physical Activity and Health Research.

Dr Leonard O’Sullivan is Co-Director of the Enterprise Research Centre and Lecturer at the Department of Design and Manufacturing Technology, University of Limerick.

The Robomate project, ‘Intelligent exoskeleton based on human-robot interaction for manipulation of heavy goods in Europe’s factories of the future’ is co-ordinated by Zurich University of Applied Science and involves 11 industry and academic partners from across Europe. The project is funded under Framework Programme 7.

Secondary school students are on a mission to explore space as part of a new competition aimed at generating an interest in science-related careers.

The nationwide competition, called ‘The Saffron School Science Competition’ asks students to create a short video showing what transport will look like in 2030.

The winning class will get a three-day trip to the European Space Centre in Belgium. The competition is sponsored by eFlow, the electronic tolling company.

The aim of the competition is to demonstrate the practical application of science in an effort to bridge the gap between education and job placement. According to the Government, Ireland’s investments in ESA programmes are expected to increase the amount of jobs here to 2,000 in the areas such as aeronautical science, physics and astrophysics by 2015.

According to Enterprise Ireland’s 2012 report on Ireland’s space endeavours, since 2000, over 80 Irish companies have secured European Space Agency contracts exceeding €80m in value with about four new Irish companies becoming involved with the sector each year. In 2010, the National Space Centre took over operation of the Earthstation at Elfordstown Midleton, Co. Cork.

Schools now have a home-based space industry with exciting job opportunities in the fields of space programme development, electronics, propulsion and software development to point their students towards.

Simon McBeth, Director of Communications and Customer Relations at eFlow said ‘The competition tests students’ ingenuity and imagination, giving them a practical project that will boost their interest in science and lead to new careers in an area that looks set to be jobs-rich’, and urged all junior cycle students in Roscommon schools to apply.

Students can apply though www.competition.saffrontravel.org. Closing date for registration is 1 September, 2013. The winning entry and their class will visit the European Space Centre in Belgium in January 2014.

To find out more about a career in science, technology or engineering, visit www.SmartFutures.ie.

Minister Sherlock said, “The TIDA programme focuses on commercially relevant research projects. It will enable numerous research teams to take the first steps in developing new discoveries and inventions with commercial potential.”

The Minister added “Today’s funding announcement will help deliver the commercialisation of excellent research taking place in Ireland in a range of areas such as ICT, ‘Big Data’, medical technologies and food, amongst other things. These are areas of significant employment and should provide additional opportunities for Ireland.”

Amongst the research activities being funded are:

• ‘Big Data’, a sector currently growing at up to 40% per annum
• The development of new drugs for cancer treatment and diabetes
• New ways to detect cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease
• Research to develop genetically modified crops tolerant to drought
• Underground high-voltage power cable technology as a substitute to overhead power lines
• Smart networked sensing systems in Agriculture
• Projects supporting off-shore wind turbines, wi-fi technology and ultraviolet light sources for the pharmaceutical and semi-conductor sectors

The Director General of SFI, Professor Mark Ferguson, said, “As set out in Agenda 2020, one of SFI’s strategic objectives is to become the best scientific funding agency in the world at creating impact from excellent research and demonstrating clear value for our research investment. Each submitted project has been through a rigorous review process and ultimate selection was on the basis of the quality and novelty of the proposed innovation, its potential impact, and its fit with the National Research Prioritisation areas. Additionally, the commercial expertise that Enterprise Ireland brought to the TIDA selection process played a key role in further underpinning the market potential of the award recipients.”

The report has identified a number of skills shortages currently within manufacturing and an increase in demand for skilled operatives and qualified technicians and professionals in the areas ofscience, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). It highlights that the need for higher levels of qualifications, even at basic entry level, is rising. It acknowledges that shortages exist in roles such as toolmaking, machinists, supervisors, polymer technicians and many other engineering disciplines.

Approximately 206,000 people are employed in manufacturing, with over 12,000 manufacturing enterprises currently in Ireland. Employment in the areas of Pharma-chemicals, Medical Devices and Food has remained resilient throughout the recent recession, while the engineering and ICT hardware sectors have stabilised. The qualifications profile of the manufacturing sector shows significant differences across the various areas, for example in the food and drink and consumer products sector 16% of employees have Junior Certificate qualifications or lower, while in the Pharm-Chemical and ICT hardware sectors over 60% of employees have a third level qualification or higher.

A significant increase in the level of enrolments in STEM courses was also reported, with an 39% rise representing 45,000 students going into higher education courses in STEM between 2006-2011. There have also been strong increases at Level 6/7 enrolments, particularly in ICT related programmes, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, while enrolments in Level 8 and 9 mainly relate to biological/biochem/chemical sciences; computing and electronics and engineering categories. Energy and environmental related programmes have also had strong increases in enrolments.

Top talent among graduates in these areas are also highly sought after in other sectors such as health, software and research. In 2012, approximately 18,000 FETAC awards were given to students across science, engineering manufacturing and computing courses.

The Springboard programme which has provided training for the unemployed, saw 8,000 places being provided on courses from NFQ level 6 to 9 in manufacturing relevant areas like Pharma-Chem, Food, Green Economy, ICT and Medical Devices and this initiative is expected to continue. A strong need for professionals with skills in data analytics was a finding, as was a shortage of polymer technicians with Level 7 qualifications.

Key Enabling Technologies (KET) were recognised as being the foundation for the development of new products and processes and important for Ireland to develop its competitiveness in manufacturing, particularly in the areas of advanced materials, nanotechnology, biotechnology and photonics.

The report highlights the importance of up skilling the workforce as unskilled jobs become eliminated and replaced by skilled operative jobs and the need for STEM graduates continues to rise, with some leading manufacturing employers requiring NFQ Level 6 or 7 qualifications for operatives, Level 8 qualifications required for technicians and professional level occupations requiring postgraduate diplomas, Masters or PhD qualifications. Other skills were also outlined as being increasingly required, such as communications, problem-solving, planning and project management skills.

The full report can be read on the website here. For more information on STEM careers visit www.SmartFutures.ie.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell: discovered pulsars while she was a postgraduate researchers

Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943, Belfast) is the astrophysicist who first discovered pulsars – rapidly rotating neutron stars that release regular bursts of radiowaves. The discovery is one of the most significant in astrophysics.

While at Cambridge University during her PhD, Jocelyn began working on a radio astronomy project using a telescope she herself had helped to construct. She was responsible for monitoring the daily recordings from the telescope, which proved a tedious job until, in November 1967, she began to take notice of unusual signs on the recordings.

After playing with theories of reflections from the moon, or even extraterrestrial origins, Bell noticed that the unusual radio source remained fixed with respect to the stars and was therefore beyond the solar system. Over the next few months, she discovered 3 more pulsating radio sources.

The signals were coming from pulsars.

Burnell was awarded the prestigious Michelson Award with her former graduate advisor Anthony Hewish in 1973.

The following year when Sir Martin Ryle and Anthony Hewish were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “for their pioneering work in astrophysics”, Jocelyn was not acknowledged or recognised for the discovery.

Many astronomers felt she should also have been awarded the Nobel prize. Today Jocelyn Bell Burnell is still working on the advancement of astronomy and is currently a Visiting Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Mansfield College.

Here is the opening video of her 2010 Science Week lecture in Dublin on “Will the world end in 2012?”

Students in these catchment areas are invited to enter the competition which requires them to find out about the 13th element in the periodic table – Aluminium. They can work individually, in groups or as a class.

Students must research the element, find out 13 facts about it, carry out an experiment if possible, and then make an A3 poster displaying what they have found out. Entries should be sent to Anyone 4 Science, Ashford, Co. Wicklow.

The prize is a crime scene investigation workshop for the class of the winning project in which students will learn about crime scene investigation, learn how to do two tests carried out by forensic scientists and solve a mystery. The closing date for applications is May 24th 2013.

Winning workshops will take place during the first week of June. For more informaiton contact competitions[at]anyone4science[dot]com.