SciFest 2026
SciFest, is a true celebration of science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) education. Spanning all of Ireland it has grown to become Ireland’s largest second-level STEM fair programme this year marking its 20th anniversary.
The School of Chemical and BioPharmaceutical Sciences, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) was delighted to host SciFest for secondary school pupils on 07 May on the Tallaght campus. This year was the 21st year in which TU Dublin hosted SciFest, with the first SciFest competition being held on the University's Tallaght Campus in 2006. It was a wonderful opportunity for staff from both campuses of the school to work together for a very successful event.
The event saw over 160 projects with approximately 360 students from secondary schools in Dublin and neighbouring counties. The Winner of the Best Project Award was Mehret Flynn from Blessington Community College (pictured below with Ms Sheila Porter, SciFest Founder and CEO) for her project titled "Bloom Busters: A Solar-Powered System to Detect and Break Down Algal Blooms in Blessington Lakes".
In addition to providing an exhibition of projects from secondary school pupils, the event allowed them to engage with professional scientists from TU Dublin and elsewhere and develop their knowledge of science and careers in STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics).
Commenting upon this year's event in Tallaght, Dr Brian Murray remarked that
Scifest plays a vital role for TU Dublin and our community, and we are delighted to host so many young people on our campus.
SciFest@College was also held at TU Dublin’s Grangegorman Campus on Friday 08 May, and involved secondary school students from 12 schools. A total of 59 posters were presented by over 150 students and judged by 50 academics and industry representatives.
The SciFest Best Project Award was presented to Srinidhi Karthik from Athlone Community College for her project entitled: “A Multi-Objective Framework for Predictive Neural Subgraph Discovery in Brain Connectivity Networks.”
Visiting students also enjoyed a series of engaging talks delivered by Dr John Butler, Dr Claire Wynne, Dr James Walshe, and PhD student Natalia Bednarz, herself a former SciFest competitor. Lunchtime edutainment activities, organised by Dr Maame Ekua Manful, included food science workshops, robotic canine demonstrations, nutritional demonstrations, and more.
Winners from each regional STEM fair progress to a national final in November. National finalists may then go on to compete at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in the United States and attend the Long Night of Science in Berlin.
The SciFest programme is primarily funded by the Department of Education, Intel Ireland, Boston Scientific, EirGrid, and Keenova.