Young Laois scientist returns home to hero's welcome 

CELEBRATIONS took place in St Mary’s CBS, Portlaoise yesterday (Monday) morning as Joshua Corbett returned to school, having won the overall individual runner-up at the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (YSTE) in the RDS over the weekend.

The leaving certificate student impressed judges with his project There’s Plenty of Room to Breakthrough at the Bottom, which centred on intranasal drug delivery aimed at overcoming pre-clinical failures and advancing treatment options for brain cancer.

Joshua was also named the overall category winner for chemistry, mathematics and physics.

To mark his success, the school hosted a homecoming celebration. Senior cycle students gathered in the GPA to applaud Joshua upon his return to school.

This was followed by a question-and-answer session with Joshua, his teacher Ms Emily Barrett and principal Ms Maura Murphy, which offered students insight into his work.

Joshua described the experience as “life-changing” and “almost surreal.” He explained that to see the project to fruition, he taught himself material beyond the school curriculum, often without a textbook. He, instead, learned independently and contacted experts for guidance.

Balancing the project with school life was challenging, Joshua noted, but working to deadlines with a genuine passion helped keep him focused.

He advised prospective students not to enter the competition with the sole aim of winning, but instead to choose a topic that teaches them a new skill and leaves them with something meaningful, regardless of the result.

This is the second time Joshua has been recognised at the competition, having previously placed second in the senior technology individual category. His earlier work focused on the development of a novel nano-QSAR model to predict drug delivery of nanoparticles to the brain, with the long-term aim of assisting research into treatments for glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer affecting the brain and spinal cord.

Joshua’s immediate focus is the leaving certificate, but he hopes to continue developing his research at UCD, with the ambition of getting his work published.

Joshua returns to hero’s welcome after claiming runner-up spot in Young Scientist Exhibition Continued from page 1 Ms Niamh Hyland, PRO of St Mary's CBS, said that the entire school community is immensely proud of Joshua’s achievements, noting that they “stand as a powerful example of what can be achieved through curiosity, perseverance and hard work.” She continued: “We congratulate Joshua on this exceptional success and wish him every continued success in the future.” YSTE 2026 saw 1,000 students from 221 schools present their projects. This year’s exhibition took place from 7-10 January and was sponsored for the first time by financial services company Stripe, who took over from long-time sponsors BT.

Head of Stripe YSTE Niamh O’Donnellan told the Irish Times that the experience of running the event had been fantastic.

She said: “We’re absolutely blown away by the talent. They’re using cutting-edge science technology, but a lot of their own ingenuity and thought and a huge amount of hard work has gone into these projects.” Stripe was co-founded by brothers Patrick and John Collison, both of whom have a history with YSTE; Patrick is a former Young Scientist winner and John won a category award at the competition.

In 2022, John Collison paid €11.5m for a house on the historic 1,120-acre Abbeyleix estate.