Rosses and Loreto Letterkenny success at Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition

Students from Donegal schools have been recognised for their innovative and environmentally focused projects at the Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

Rosses Community School Dungloe celebrated major success, with students Adam Krska, Owen McGee and Ryan Boyle receiving the Road Safety Authority Award in the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences category for their project exploring the use of Irish seaweed as a low-cost, eco-friendly absorbent for road oil spills. 

The project highlighted the potential of natural, locally sourced materials to improve road safety while reducing environmental impact.

Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, featured prominently, with student Arya Satheesh claiming second place in the Senior Individual Biological and Ecological category for her project titled “Eco Purge: Biodegradable Plastic with Enzyme-Driven Microplastic Degradation”. Her work focused on tackling the growing problem of microplastic pollution through innovative biodegradable solutions.

Further recognition went to Rosses Community School student Tomas Downey, who was awarded third place in the Junior Individual Biological and Ecological category for his project on jellyfish barriers for bathing areas. The project explored methods to enhance swimmer safety while preserving ecological balance in coastal environments.

The awards showcase the high standard of scientific research being carried out by students across the county, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, safety and environmental protection.

Aoibheann Daly, a fourth-year student from Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk in Kerry, was announced as the winner of the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, with her project “GlioScope: Multi-task Deep Learning and Causal AI for Glioma & Glioblastoma Profiling”. 

 The winning project, “GlioScope”, helps doctors improve the treatment of brain cancer. The treatment and prognosis for brain cancer depend on the specific genetic mutations present, but there are currently no good methods for identifying these mutations. Doctors rely on taking samples of brain tissue, which is expensive, slow and carries a high risk of bleeding in the brain. Glioscope allows a doctor to predict what genetic mutation is likely to be present from a simple MRI brain scan, so they can make quicker treatment decisions and reduce risk for the cancer patient.

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Students from across Ireland attended the RDS Dublin for the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (YSTE), one of the world's leading student science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) events.

This year’s exhibition was the first under new title sponsor Stripe, the programmable financial services company dual‑headquartered in Dublin and San Francisco. 

Some 550 student projects - selected from 1,974 entries - went on display across five categories: Technology, Biological and Ecological Sciences; Social and Behavioural Sciences; Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences; and Health and Wellbeing. A judging panel of experts from science, technology, and business selected over 200 prize winners, including the overall winner.