GIRLS outnumber boys by more than two to one at the 32nd Aer Lingus Young Scientist Exhibition, which opens to the public on Friday.
There are 364 projects, 109 from individuals and 255 from, groups spanning chemistry, civics and mathematical sciences, the social and behavioural sciences and biological and ecological sciences.
The ages of the participants range from 12 to 18, with a preponderance of transition year students who have the opportunity of preparing projects without the pressure of examinations.
All the counties of Ireland are represented except Fermanagh, with 27 projects from the North. In two of the last three years, the overall winners came from the Abbey Grammar School in Newry, Co Down. The top prize went North three times in the last five years.
There are 24 entries from Irish-speaking secondary schools. Many of the entries reflect the preoccupations of the students and the general public.
Suicide among, teenagers, stress, drugs, the effect of films on teenagers, examinations, relationships between teenagers and their parents and the importance of body image to young people are all subjects of projects.
More purely scientific projects include the discovery in the Burren of a moth previously unknown in the Britain or Ireland and the production of methane gas from mushroom compost. Pollution and the environment are the focus of numerous projects.
The Aer Lingus Young Scientist of 1996 will win the perpetual trophy and £1,000 and will represent Ireland at the European Union Science Contest in Helsinki, Finland.
Other awards include cash prizes, certificates and trips to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Arizona, the Young Europeans Environmental Research Contest in Germany and the International Wild Animal Research Week in the Swiss Alps.
Judging will take place today and tomorrow and the prizes will be announced on Friday.