Things scientific are to the fore this week as the annual Science Week Ireland gets under way. The Government's Discover Science and Engineering (DSE) programme organises the event, which this year offers some 400 talks, displays, exhibitions and science shows. These are taking place across the State in local libraries, universities, institutes of technology and other venues.
They are of little benefit however unless people get out and take part, and encouraging them to do so is the goal of the DSE programme, which seeks to improve the public understanding of science but also to interest and engage younger people in the sciences. The numbers of students taking science and higher maths in the Leaving Certificate exams is at a low ebb and this in turn has prompted a downturn in those seeking science, engineering and mathematics degrees at third level. This decline is unsustainable if we are to achieve a knowledge-based economy, the stated goal of governments for almost a decade. Knowledge economies generate wealth through ideas, creating new knowledge that can be turned into products and jobs.
It is for this reason that events such as Science Week Ireland attract funding from the State. The hope is that children attending one of the many exciting science shows, with all the attendant explosions, flashes and flares, may be inspired to pursue a career in science. It is for this reason that there is a strong emphasis on the "fun" aspects of science, something that makes the blood of many scientists run cold. A considerable number argue that this trivialises science and ignores the fact that maths and science can be demanding courses at third level. Yet sparking an interest is the key and being committed to a subject can help a student cope with a curriculum no matter how tough. There is no point in being po-faced about the complexity of science, it remains an interesting and fulfilling activity, particularly through the excitement of discovery associated with research.
Clearly there is no shortage of interest, whatever the Leaving Certificate statistics indicate. Evidence is seen in the numbers of students putting forward research projects in the annual BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. Figures released last week show the number of projects submitted for the next exhibition in January 2008 has reached a new high at 1,416, involving the work of no fewer than 3,514 students. The organisers must now whittle the total down to just 500 projects for display at the Royal Dublin Society, but who knows how many students will have been inspired to pursue a career in scientific or social research?