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 December  2004

Aspiring Scientists Prove Science Really Does Work!

Treasa McCallion, a pupil of Scared Heart Mount Anville, learns more about DNA.The Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research opened its doors on the UCD campus to a horde of budding science enthusiasts during National Science Week. Over 140 students from ten schools around the greater Dublin area participated in ScienceWorks, Conway Institute's exciting new schools programme. The access-all-areas, interactive workshops proved a huge success with students, who gladly grabbed this chance to sample life in a research facility that boasts over four hundred researchers from a plethora of science backgrounds.

"The Ammonia Clock", one of the many chemistry illusions.
"The Ammonia Clock", one of the
many "Chemistry Illusions" that fascinated the visiting students.

Amongst the ten participating secondary schools were: Presentation Terenure; Old Bawn Community College, Tallaght; Oatlands College, Mount Merrion; Coolock's Col�iste Dh�laigh; Gonzaga College, Ranelagh; Loreto,
Blackrock; St. Benildus College, Kilmacud; Sacred Heart, Mount Anville; Rockford Manor and Blackrock CBS Carlow.
During their visit, the young scientists did not hold back, getting stuck in to some hands-on science activities in state of the art laboratories.  With DNA-based forensic investigations, evolutionary biology and some fascinating chemistry illusions, there was no shortage of authentic science investigation on offer.

The hands-on science was balanced with some scientific career guidance, in the Pathways 2Science element of the workshops, as students got the chance to meet Ireland's leading scientists. PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, laboratory technicians, medics and lecturers alike, spoke informally of their own pathway into science and described their current work. Their tales of research scholarships and prestigious awards, far-flung conference destinations, intriguing research techniques, high-tech equipment and, in some cases, TV appearances, appealed greatly to the students, most of whom are currently contemplating their Leaving Certificate subject choices.

The aim of ScienceWorks is to encourage and foster an interest in the sciences amongst second level students, and this certainly seemed to have been achieved with those students who took part over the course of the week. Feedback from teachers and students has been extremely positive, and so impressed were some of the participating students, that requests for work experience placements have ensued.

The demand for the workshops, on this its pilot run, was so great that plans are already underway for repeat run early in 2005!
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