10,000+ students participated in SciFest 2017. www.scifest.ie

SciFest Vision Mission By 2018 SciFest will be recognised as a key player in the promotion of STEM education in Irish schools Mission To provide an inclusive and accessible platform for students in Irish schools to explore the STEM disciplines in an investigative way and to present their findings to a wider audience, thus supporting the development of key skills, including critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration 298 schools participated in SciFest 2017. www.scifest.ie

What is SciFest? is SciFest is a series of one day science fairs for second-level students which take place in: Schools (SciFest@School) 16 Regional venues - 14 Institutes of Technology, DCU and St Mary’s College Derry (SciFest@College) Dublin (National final) 4,412 projects were exhibited at SciFest 2017. www.scifest.ie

SciFest International SciFest is affiliated to two international science fairs: The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) in the USA The International Environment and Sustainability Project Olympiad (INESPO) in the Netherlands. In the six years that SciFest has participated in Intel ISEF students representing SciFest have won a total of eight major awards. SciFest affiliated to INESPO in 2015 and in the three years of affiliation SciFest students have won two first place awards and a second place award. Winner/s of the Runner up Best Project Award at the national final travel to Berlin in June to participate in the Berlin Long Night of Science.   More than 10,000 students have participated in SciFest since 2008. www.scifest.ie

How does SciFest work? SciFest Ltd www.scifest.ie Not-for-profit company with charitable status 8 board members representing education, government and industry CEO and CFO Partners and Sponsors Third-level colleges and Second-level schools SciFest@College National Final SciFest@School SciFest@Intel ISEF SciFest@INESPO SciFest@Berlin Over 60% of students in SciFest 2017 were female. www.scifest.ie

SciFest – Major Milestones Local SciFest@School National SciFest Final Founded by Sheila Porter 1 science fair 170 students 2008 2006 2011 Regional SciFest launched nationwide SciFest@College 88 science fairs 10 000+ students 625 Teachers 298 Schools International Affiliated to Intel ISEF in the USA 2017 2013 2012 Set up as not-for-profit company with charitable status International Affiliated to INESPO in the Netherlands 2014

The growth of SciFest 2008 – 2017 Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total Students 1612 1980 2649 3275 4059 5368 6059 7202 8084 10,136 50,424 Projects 680 836 1097 1364 1754 2262 2594 3060 3519 4,412 21,578

SciFest 2017 – The numbers 10,000 4400 298 625 16 70 1 29 62% 98% 100% Students Projects Schools Teachers (registered) SciFest@College science fairs SciFest@School science fairs SciFest@TCPID National Final Counties Female students of students said participating in SciFest was a worthwhile learning experience (2,000+ student respondents) of teachers said participating in SciFest was a worthwhile learning experience ‘My SciFest journey was a truly life changing experience.’ Student, 2016 www.scifest.ie

Why enter SciFest? SciFest is an exciting way for you to: Investigate a topic that really interests you Research and solve a real world problem Showcase your science, maths or technology project Talk to experts from academia and industry about your discoveries Improve your problem solving, computer, presentation, and research skills Work with others and make new friends Compete for more than €20,000 in prizes See real scientists in action Visit a college’s laboratories and view the facilities Learn about the courses available in the college Enhance your CV SciFest is your topic, your project, your achievement. www.scifest.ie

Who can enter SciFest? SciFest is open to all second-level students. There is no entry fee. Project Type Individual or Group - (Max. 3 students per group – all group members must be in attendance at the exhibition) Age Categories Junior: 1st Year and 2nd Year Intermediate: 3rd Year and 4th Year Senior: 5th Year and 6th Year Project Categories Physical Sciences Life Sciences Technology Don’t be left behind. Get involved today. www.scifest.ie

6 easy steps to a successful project State Problem Look around, ask questions, identify a problem, state a hypothesis Research Gather as much information about the topic as possible Investigate Design and carry out experiments to test the hypothesis; collect data Analyse Analyse the data, discuss the findings Conclude Come up with a possible solution to the original problem Present findings at SciFest Present Entry to SciFest is free. It’s hard work but worth it. www.scifest.ie

A completed project must contain PROJECT REPORT BOOK Title Page Introduction Background Research Experimental Methods Results Conclusions and Recommendations Acknowledgements Appendices References SUMMARY (included in Report Book) This is a short description of what your project is about.  It should be no more than two typed pages in length. VISUAL DISPLAY See the SciFest website for lots of useful information - www.scifest.ie ‘So many skills learned but academically and socially.’ Teacher, 2016 www.scifest.ie

SciFest T: (+353) 1 298 8312 M: (+353) 86 379 6143 E: info@scifest.ie W: www.scifest.ie SciFest is funded primarily by Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) Discover programme, Intel Ireland and Boston Scientific. It is also supported by a number of other companies and organisations: Abbott, BioPharmaChem Ireland, Newstalk, SEAI, NCE-MSTL, the Royal Society of Chemistry, ESERO Ireland, the Institute of Physics, Business Excellence Institute and the Irish Science Teachers’ Association ‘When it comes to science competitions, SciFest is the best.’ Student 2016 www.scifest.ie