Young scientists fly the flag for Laois
(l to r): Laois students Seán Cheah, Ilana Holohan and Joshua Corbett at the 2025 BT Young Scientist Exhibition
THREE talented students are flying the flag for Laois at the 2025 BT Young Scientist Exhibition this week.
The determined trio overcame snow, ice and bitter temperatures during the big freeze to exhibit their projects at the famous annual competition in the RDS, Dublin.
Joshua Corbett from Portlaoise CBS, Ilana Holohan from Heywood Community School and Seán Cheah of Portlaoise College are among the students showcasing their work at the exhibition, where 550 projects from 225 schools nationwide are demonstrating remarkable innovation in the areas of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
Fifth year student Joshua is presenting a project that he hopes can assist researchers in developing treatment for Glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer that attacks the brain and spinal cord.
The teenager spent countless hours working on the groundbreaking project titled ‘Development of a novel nano-QSAR model to predict drug delivery of nanoparticles to the brain’, which is entered in the technology category.
Meanwhile, Ilana had many sleepless hours working on a project that explores how sleep affects people’s day-to-day lives.
The transition year student’s entry, in the social and behavioural sciences category, is titled ‘How does the amount of sleep you get affect your appetite, mood and focus and how sleep really affects day-to-day lives’.
Third year student Seán, the youngest Laois competitor, qualified for the BT Young Scientist finals for the second time, with a project that examines how workplaces have changed as a result of the Covid pandemic.
His project called ‘A study of the post-Covid work environment’ is competing in the social and behavioural sciences section of the exhibition, which will close this Saturday following a wonderful week celebrating inspirational young people.
