How science textbooks reflect female scientists; the impact of phone-free Yondr pouches; how accurate are deductions on character based on sound alone – and scientifically gauging how happy Ukrainian students are in Ireland…the disparate projects students at one Galway school took to Young Scientist!

It’s no surprise that the students of Coláiste Muire Máthair eagerly awaited the opening of the 2025 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, finally giving the chance to exhibit and present the projects they have feverishly been working upon since their qualification was confirmed back in October.

This year the College has four projects participating from the eighteen projects qualified Galway – and they cover a wide range of topics.

Each of the eight students competing will be doing so for the first time, with first-year students Crystal Quinn and Liya Walsh particularly excited to be getting this chance at such a young age.

Their project, entered in the Junior Social and Behavioural section explores the Evolution of Science Textbooks with regard to their highlighting the work of female scientists.

With the idea that ‘if you can’t see it you can’t be it’ the girls have researched over 60 science books stretching back almost 50 years, and have found that, although things have been improving in the past few years, the commitment and contributions of women in science still leaves a lot to be desired.

Third-year Ukrainian student Yehor Popkov has used his knowledge and experience as a student in Ireland over the past two years to formulate his project A Ukrainian Perspective: Using a modified PERMA-Profiler test to gauge how content Ukrainian students are in schools in Ireland.

To gather his data, Yehor devised a scale and sent it via an online questionnaire to fellow Ukrainian students around the country.

Yehor’s project is entered in the Intermediate Health and Wellbeing section and he is looking forward to exhibiting in Dublin, and informing us about how Ukrainian students are adapting and coping in the Irish school system.

With the government proposition to spend €9 million on equipping schools with Yondr pouches during the new school year the project of fifth-year students Jasmine Polinar, Boyuan Guo and Adam Cooke is indeed a topical one.

Their project, entitled, Digital Natives: A Yondr Pouch Proposal, is also entered in the Health and Wellbeing section.

Yondr pouches were introduced into CMMG in September 2023, and the students have drawn on the experiences of their fellow students, their teachers and their parents to establish how they feel the introduction of the pouches has affected them over the past year and a half.

For schools facing into this issue next September, the project affords some valuable insights.

The fourth project qualified, in the Senior Social and Behavioural Science section, explores the effectiveness, or not, of earwitnesses.

The project, How Our Poor Voice Perception Makes Us an Unreliable Ear Witness, derives its data from an online survey designed by fifth-year students Ali Amirouche and Seoijin Lee which features respondents having to identify characteristics such as age and appearance from a range of voices they hear.

Suffice to say that our ears can often deceive us!

Pictured: Coláiste Muire Máthair student from Ukraine, Yehor Popkov who is taking his project about the mental health of Ukranian students to the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, together with their science teachers Sinead Philips and Anthony Carey. Photo: Brian Harding.