Category winners

Biological and Ecological

Junior

Group: 1 Gary Sexton, Eoin Hennessy, Padraig Kennelly, Do Cows Graze in a North-South Direction?, Meánscoil Na mBráithre; 2 Sinéad Flynn, Doireann Ní Mhuimhneacháin, Gas Safety and the Older Person, Coláiste Choilm; 3 Isabel Cooke, Megan Quirey, An Investigation into the uses of Halophytes as a Biofuel, Skerries Community College.

Individual: 1 Brian Cawley, Best Cooking Methods to Save Vitamin C in Cabbage, Colaiste Lorcain; 2 Peter Moore, A Study of Cardiovascular Fitness amongst 12-19 Year Olds in the Balbriggan Area, Balbriggan Community College; 3 Paul Connolly, Is Monocular Vision Better Than Binocular Vision for Estimating Distance?, Colaiste Lorcain.

Intermediate

Group: 1 Emma Courtney, Ashley Dooley, Genevieve Courtney, A Study of the Health Benefits of Probiotics, Colaiste Lorcain; 2 Sarah Deegan, Hannah OByrne, Rachel Clancy, Does the Ingestion of Foods Rich in Anthocyanins Alter the Blood Sugar Levels of Diabetic Patients?, Loreto College - Foxrock; 3 Georgina Gilsenan, Pippa Tuthill, An Investigation into the Water Heating Power of Animal Waste, The Kings Hospital.

Individual: 1 Fiachra Maguire, The GWR and Water Treatment Project, St Marys College - Rathmines; 2 Mark Caswell, The Effect of Different Liquids on the Pitch and Tone Produced in the Human Larynx, Coláiste Phádraig CBS; 3 Máire-Áine Ní Shúilleabháin, An Mbíonn Éifeacht ag Dath Gruaig/Craiceann Capaill ar Tarchur Ultra-fhuaim?, Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach.

Senior

Group: 1 Sile Stafford, Rebecca Kummert, A Study Of Cystic Fibrosis and Ways of Improving Mucus Detachment, Sutton Park School; 2 Áine Smyth, Laura Sheils, Factors Determining Running Speed of Young People, Our Ladys College - Drogheda; 3 Stephanie Quilligan, Meabh Coakley, Fiona Cunniffe, Control of Somatic Cell Count Using Karmine Apple Cider Vinegar to Reduce Staphylococcus Aureus Infection of Irish Dairy Cows, St Josephs College - Lucan.

Individual: 1 Harriet Byrne, To Study the Effect of Selected Metals on Certain Digestive Tract Bacteria, Ursuline Secondary School - Thurles; 2 Lorna Madden, To Investigate Predator-Prey Interactions of the Purple Sea Urchin, Paracentrotus lividus, Scoil Mhuire; 3 Sorcha Crowe, Lobster: The Journey from Summer Sea to Christmas Plate, Coláiste Ghobnait.

Chemical, Physical Mathematical Sciences

Junior

Group: 1 Robert Flood, Stephen Palminteri, An Investigation of Shock Absorbency in Non-Newtonian Fluids, Sutton Park School; 2 Séan Mac Giolla Chailín, Ryan Feeney, Cén Lionsa Oftalmach is mó tá Ábalta Radaíocht Ultraviolet a H-ionsú?, Coláiste Ailigh; 3 Gráinne Jones, Órla Mannion, Can we use our Local Seaweeds as a Bio-fuel?, Skerries Community College.

Individual: 1 Paul Harrington, A Study of the Relationship Between Inflation Pressure and the Performance of a Football, Kinsale Community School; 2 Ciara Stein, Under the Influence: Drink or Diet, Presentation Secondary School - Killarney; 3 Dylan Grace, An Féidir Polaistiréin a Dhianscaoiledh ag Úsáid Úsc ó Torthaí Citreach?, Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh.

Intermediate

Group: 1 Gary Carr, Darragh Moriarty, Graham McGrath, Efficient Numerical Tests of Robins Reformulation of the Riemann Hypothesis, Synge Street CBS; 2 Tom OToole, Gerald Miles, Eoghan Doyle, Sound Localisation, Bandon Grammar School; 3 Noel Kennedy, Colm Reidy, Thomas Brouder, Does our Tap Water Contain Medicinal Drugs?, Comprehensive School - Listowel.

Individual: 1 Sharon Howley, Music Strings - An Investigation into the Effect of Temperature on Pitch/Frequency, Scoil Mhuire; 2 Leila Smith, Speed Ramps - Bumping up CO2 Emissions, Loreto College - Foxrock; 3 Colin Lock-Tunissen, Smoothies - Home or Away, Sandford Park School Ltd.

Senior

Group: 1 Denis Patterson, Shane Curry, Seismic Activity in the British Isles and the Wider World, Scoil Chonglais; 2 Ríona Walsh, Laura McLoughlin, Maeve Tuohy, Eye in the Sky, Ursuline College - Sligo; 3 Ruairí Kenny, Richard OShea, Short Term Local Weather Prediction, Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal.

Individual: 1 Sinéad OHalloran, An Application of Fourier Analysis to a Study of the Musical Notes Produced by the Reed and Chanter of a Set of Uileann Pipes, Scariff Community College; 2 Noreen Lynch, An Investigation into the Effectiveness of Radon Barriers, Mary Immaculate Secondary School - Lisdoonvarna.

Social and Behavioural Sciences

Junior

Group: 1 Melissa ONeill, Molly Gibson, Are you Loving your Dog to Death?, Kinsale Community School; 2 Aoife Smith, Ruth McGuinness, Lisa Barry, Is There a Science Behind Baby-holding?, Our Ladys College - Drogheda; 3 Niamh Hughes, Madeline Clancy, Aoife Curran O Neill, Mind Over Music, St Patricks Academy.

Individual: 1 Tommy Collison, What are the Issues Faced by Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) in Mainstream Education?, Castletroy College; 2 James Goodman, Cigarette Smoking - Awareness of the Addiction and its Consequences among the Irish Youth - An Investigation, Balbriggan Community College; 3 Sinéad Dullaghan, Do Dogs and Cats have a Paw Preference?, St Louis Secondary School.

Intermediate

Group: 1 Aly Egan, Amy Murphy, Genetic Information Card, Loreto College - Foxrock; 2 Aidan Coffey, Matthew ODonovan, James OFlynn, Journey to the Centre of the Maths Problem!, Ardscoil Uí Urmoltaigh; 3 Laura Power, Lisa Manning, Subliminal Messaging - Auditory vs. Visual, St Marys Secondary School.

Individual: 1 Lucy ODonovan, A Statistical Analysis of Peoples Attitudes towards Cancer and the Prevention Of Cancer including Breast and Lung Cancer, Kinsale Community School; 2 Seóighe Kearney, Public Reaction to Teenage Fashion Styles - A Social Experiment, Davis College; 3 Stephen Lehane, Do Gender and Age of a Teacher Change Students Willingness to Learn?, Clonkeen College.

Senior

Group: 1 Siobhan Hanily, Jennifer Fannon, The Stages of Change of Smokers in Relation to their Smoking Habits, ScoilMuire gan Smal; 2 Rebecca Keating, Ruth Keating, Aoife McGowan, Song of the Earth?, Loreto Abbey Secondary School; 3 Adam Brady, Killian Breen, Brian Woods, You See Therefore I Am, Castleknock College.

Individual: 1 Laura Breslin, Why are certain Leaving Cert. Subjects so Popular?, Naomh Iosaef; 2 David Crowe, The Future of the Family Farm in North Clare. What Lies Ahead?, Mary Immaculate Secondary School - Lisdoonvarna; 3 Shane OConnor, How Air Travel Affects People, Comprehensive School - Listowel.

Technology

Junior

Group: 1 Daisy Pemble, Thérése ODonoghue, Laura White, The Development of a Self-Cleaning Biological Water Filter for Home Use, Kinsale Community School; 2 Piaras Murphy, David Price, Paul McCabe, Dyno Slow, Abbey Christian Brothers Gs; 3 Ronan Roche Griffin, Richard Tyrrell, Bus Notification and Alarm System for the Visually Impaired and Blind, St Conleths College.

Individual: 1 Ciaran Trotman, How Good is Your Posture? Can the Ergo-Bag Help?, Castletroy College; 2 Thomas Breen, Blind Sensor Aid, Belvedere College; 3 Bryan Murphy, Enviorman, Abbey Christian Brothers Gs.

Intermediate

Group: 1 Enya Fullston, Laurie-Ann Reilly, To Find an Alternative to Sandbags to Prevent and Reduce Flooding, Mount Sackville Secondary School; 2 Emily Riordan, Ruth Quinn, Leaves as a Renewable Energy Source, Loreto Secondary School - Wexford; 3 Peter Nolan, Gerard Luby, Baling Out Farmers, St Kierans College.

Individual: 1 Patrick ODoherty, Automatic Energy Saving, Gonzaga College; 2 Andrew Doyle, The Ambidextrous Golf Club, Coláiste Choilm; 3 Scott Baker, The Development of an Educational Computer Game to Help Combat Bullying in Schools., Salesian College - Celbridge.

Senior

Group: 1 Christopher Hobbs, Daniel Hobbs, Sonic Pathways, Maynooth Post Primary School; 2 Sean Hynes, Eamonn Walsh, An Investigation into Variable Valve Timing in an Internal Combustion Engine, St Josephs Secondary School; 3 Cillian Ryan, James Gavin, Eoin McCormack, Keeping It Clean - An Ultraviolet Sterilizer, Salesian College - Celbridge.

Individual: 1 David McCarthy, An Eco-friendly Processor, Christian Brothers Secondary School - Cork; 2 Eric Higgins, An Improvment of Hearing Protection used in High Noise Envirorments, Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal; 3 David Vaughan, Automatic Classification of Music, St Francis Capuchin College.

Father Tom Burke Memorial Bursary Award

Social and Behavioural Sciences — Junior: Tommy Collison, What are the Issues Faced by Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) in Mainstream Education?, Castletroy College.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times