2006 IRISH SCIENTIST YEAR BOOK

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Dublin City University
Michael A. Cotter
European Union Science Olympiad 2006

Over 250 students from every county in the Republic of Ireland gathered at Dublin City University (DCU) on Saturday January 28th 2006 to compete in the Irish EU Science Olympiad (IrEUSO) and for a chance to represent Ireland at the European Union Science Olympiad (EUSO) in Brussels in April.

The IrEUSO is a competition for science students from the Republic of Ireland who are 16 years of age or younger on the December 31st prior to the competition. The Department of Education & Science (DES) through the State Examinations Commission (SEC) provided the names and school addresses of the students who achieved the highest marks in both Science & Mathematics in the Junior Certification Examinations in 2004 and 2005 and who were born on or after 1st January 1989. Almost 500 were eligible. This competition is therefore by invitation only.


Dr. Eilish McLoughlin and Dr. Odilla Finlayson with Irish EUSO Silver Medal Winners Mark Moriarty, Caoimhe Delaney, Patrick O Sullivan, Thomas McGrath-Daly, Nuala McAuley and Andrew Roe-O'Leary.

The students began arriving early to DCU to register and the three-hour tests which began at 11.00 am in each of the schools of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Dr Odilla Finlayson (Chairperson), Dr Christine Loscher (Biology), Dr Paraic James (Chemistry), and Dr Paul van Kampen (Physics), each responsible for one section of the Olympiad, had teams of DCU staff and postgraduate students ready to administer, supervise and correct the tests.

At the closing ceremony Michael A Cotter (EUSO President) opened the proceedings by welcoming Minister Mary Hanafin TD, Minister for Education & Science and Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, DCU President. He thanked the parents and teachers for their support and encouragement of these talented young Irish scientists. He was particularly appreciative of the tremendous effort put in by the DCU staff and postgraduate students in bringing the 2006 Irish EU Science Olympiad (IrEUSO) to a successful conclusion.



Minister Mary Hanafin who presented the medals and Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski thanked everyone involved, highlighted the importance of science both in the school curriculum and in the wider community and expressed their delight at the numbers of students taking part.

EUSO 2007 will be held in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany, on 25th March to 1st April 2007.

Contact: Michael A. Cotter,
EUSO President, DCU, Dublin 9.
E-mail: [email protected]