SciFest

SciFest 🔬🔭 Calling all future scientists, engineers, and innovators! 🚀💫Step into a world of endless possibilities at a SciFest STEM Fair! 🌟🧪 Higgins as its sole Patron.

SciFest is Ireland’s largest STEM fair programme for second-level students. SciFest’s mission is to ensure every second-level student has an opportunity to develop critical STEM skillsets through participation in a STEM fair, irrespective of their ability, background, gender or circumstance. SciFest operates across the whole island of Ireland and throughout the entire school year and, being locall

y and regionally based and free to enter, it is highly inclusive and accessible. The SciFest programme was founded by the current CEO, Sheila Porter. The first SciFest STEM fair took place in the Institute of Technology, Tallaght in 2006. The programme was launched nationwide in 2008, with some 1600 students taking part in nine fairs in regional venues. In 2025 over 16,000 students took part in over one 165 SciFest fairs, local, regional and national. The SciFest programme consists of one-day STEM fairs hosted at local level in schools (SciFest@School), at regional level (SciFest@College) in TU Dublin (3 venues), ATU (3 venues), TUS (3 venues) DkIT, DCU, MTU (2 venues), SETU (2 venues) and St Mary's College, Derry, culminating in a national competition for the overall winners of each regional event. Winning students from the National Final represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in America, The Eskom EXPO International Science Fair in South Africa and the Berlin Long Night of Science. SciFest is funded entirely by sponsorship. The main sponsors are Intel Ireland, Boston Scientific, EirGrid, Mallinckrodt, Research Ireland and the Department of Education. SciFest is also supported by a number of other companies and organisations. The ongoing expansion and development of the SciFest programme continues to create opportunities for additional sponsors. SciFest is honoured to have the President of Ireland, Michael D. In 2016 SciFest joined Gaisce as an official Challenge Partner supporting The President's Award. The SciFest programme is run by a not-for-profit company, SciFest PLC:
CRO Number: 517787; Registered Charity Number: 20081270; CHY Number: 20478. RCN 20081270

08/08/2026

Boston Scientific and SciFest: A Partnership Making a Difference

We are extremely grateful to all our partners and sponsors who support SciFest not only through their sponsorship, but also by giving their time and expertise to volunteer as judges at SciFest fairs across the country.

In the video below, Luke Courtney, representing our long-standing partner Boston Scientific, shares his thoughts on SciFest after judging at SciFest@MTU Cork in May. He also has some great advice for students who might be thinking about taking part in a SciFest fair.

Having professionals like Luke engage with students, listen to them explain their research and ask questions about their projects is such an important part of the SciFest experience. For students, the opportunity to discuss their work with someone working in STEM can be both exciting and inspiring.

Boston Scientific sponsors the Boston Scientific Medical Devices Award at each of our SciFest@College regional fairs, as well as a Boston Scientific Grand Award at the SciFest National Final, recognising students who are using STEM to develop innovative solutions in the field of medical devices.

Thank you, Luke, for giving your time to judge and for sharing your advice with our students, and thank you to everyone at Boston Scientific for the tremendous support you have given SciFest over the years. It is very much appreciated.

Munster Technological University Irish Science Teachers Association Society for Science

🇮🇪 Irish Students are Amazing! 🇮🇪Imagine being asked to spend part of your summer holidays working on a STEM project!It ...
07/08/2026

🇮🇪 Irish Students are Amazing! 🇮🇪

Imagine being asked to spend part of your summer holidays working on a STEM project!

It takes enormous dedication, commitment and hard work, although when this was mentioned to Srinidhi Karthik, a Fifth Year student at Athlone Community College, her response made us smile:

“I love doing my project so it doesn't really feel like work to me! 😄”

And we think that says it all. When young people are genuinely excited by what they are researching, learning and creating, the work becomes something they want to do.

Srinidhi is one of three exceptional SciFest students selected to represent Ireland in the Intel® AI Global Impact Festival:

The two other students are:

🌍 Zack O'Leary, TY, Clongowes Wood College SJ., Co. Kildare

“MANTIS: Physics-Informed Multi-Agent Bayesian AI for Remote Geohazard Intelligence”

🌍 Aditya Surendran, TY, Athlone Community College, Co. Westmeath

“Adaptive Byzantine Fault-Tolerant Consensus with Committee-Based Sublinear Routing”

The Intel® AI Global Impact Festival is an online global celebration of AI innovation and impact, bringing together next-generation technologists alongside academia, industry and government partners. Since it began in 2021, 466 AI projects representing 35 countries have competed at global level and this year, for the first time, Ireland will be among them! 🇮🇪

We wish all three students the very best as they represent SciFest and Ireland on the global stage. Whatever the outcome, they are already fantastic ambassadors for Irish STEM. ☘️

Society for Science Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone 🇮🇪 ☘️

What are you passionate about? 🌍💡The best SciFest project ideas often start with something you genuinely care about. Whe...
06/08/2026

What are you passionate about? 🌍💡

The best SciFest project ideas often start with something you genuinely care about. Whether it's wildlife, sport, technology, music, health or the environment, your interests can spark questions worth investigating.

Follow your curiosity, explore what fascinates you and you could make a real impact along the way. Your passion might just become your next great discovery.

There are no limits at SciFest, use those big ideas to create something amazing!🏅
05/08/2026

There are no limits at SciFest, use those big ideas to create something amazing!🏅

Where are they now?Over the past 20 years, over 145,000 students have taken part in SciFest. Every now and then, we catc...
05/08/2026

Where are they now?

Over the past 20 years, over 145,000 students have taken part in SciFest. Every now and then, we catch up with one of them to see where life, study and their STEM journey have taken them.

✨SciFest 2006: Édáin Martin Nee Quinn, Deputy Manager for Physiotherapy and Surgical Specialities, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

✨SciFest 2015: Adam Burke, Process Chemist with Thermo Fisher Scientific, MSc Chemistry Graduate

✨SciFest 2016: Ciara Mac Carthy, Senior Engineer at Thornton Tomasetti

✨SciFest 2020: Dara Newsome: Software Engineer, Intercom

These are just four more of the many remarkable young people who have been part of SciFest over the past 20 years. I look forward to celebrating many more of their stories.

✨If you have participated in SciFest at school, regional or national level, visit the SciFest Alumni Network Group on LinkedIn and request to join. We would love to reconnect with you and hear where your journey has taken you.✨

04/08/2026

This is SciFest!

Where curiosity becomes confidence and ideas can change the world.

Irish Science Teachers Association

Every student deserves the opportunity to discover what they're capable of. 💙That's why we're proud that 97% of teachers...
31/07/2026

Every student deserves the opportunity to discover what they're capable of. 💙

That's why we're proud that 97% of teachers surveyed agree that SciFest@School is suitable for students of all ability levels.

Science is for everyone. Curiosity has no limits. And every idea deserves the chance to shine. 🌟

30/07/2026

The Keenova STEM Excellence Award recognises the very best in STEM. Celebrating innovation, creativity, technical excellence and outstanding communication, it's awarded at every level of the SciFest programme to projects that push ideas further and solve real-world problems. 🏆💡

Your next project doesn't need a lab... just a laptop. 💻 Whether it's AI, coding, cybersecurity, robotics or app develop...
29/07/2026

Your next project doesn't need a lab... just a laptop. 💻 Whether it's AI, coding, cybersecurity, robotics or app development, SciFest is your chance to turn ideas into reality.

What Students Really Take Away from SciFestWhen students pack up their project boards at the end of a SciFest fair, they...
28/07/2026

What Students Really Take Away from SciFest

When students pack up their project boards at the end of a SciFest fair, they take home much more than certificates or awards.

They learn how to:

✔️ ask better questions

✔️cope when an experiment doesn't work

✔️explain complex ideas clearly

✔️defend their conclusions with evidence

✔️accept constructive criticism

✔️manage their time

✔️work as part of a team

✔️keep going when the answer isn't obvious

These are life skills.

Perhaps most importantly, they begin to believe in their own ability to make a difference. They realise that their ideas matter and that they can use STEM to better understand the world around them and help solve real-world problems.

Whether a student progresses to a SciFest National Final, represents Ireland internationally, or simply completes their very first project, every participant gains something valuable.

At SciFest we are not just inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers, but helping thousands of young people develop the curiosity, resilience and confidence that will serve them throughout their lives.

Visit www.scifest.ie for more information.

Irish Science Teachers Association Educate Together Society for Science Research Ireland

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