SOPHia Science Competition 2020
Grand Finale! May 12th 2021
We were delighted to host the final leg of the competition online on May 12th 2021. This was our opportunity to celebrate all the great entries to the competition in 2020 (almost 250 entries from over 450 students). We had posted out the Certificates of Participation to everyone and the prizes to the winners (38 winning projects – and it was hard to narrow it down to 38!) in April 2021. The winning projects sent us in videos and photographs of them accepting their prizes and we played these during the live online event on May 12th.
(Image of posters credit to Elora mcFall; image of certificates credit to Gráinne Walshe)
Dr Tofail Syed, Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Limerick, Lucy Kinghan, Institute of Physics Ireland, and Kelly Fitzgerald, Tait House Community Organisation, gave special addresses at the event, as well as members of the SOPHia team.
The powerpoint below runs through all the great projects represented at the Prize-giving. Click through it using the up and down arrows.
It’s been a fantastic event! Thanks to all who entered!
SOPHia Science Competition Grande Finale
Finalists Announced!
All our finalists have received an email to let them know that their poster/project has made it to the final event. We were so impressed by all the posters we received, and this year we in fact had almost 250 entries from over 400 students. 
This meant that the competition was fierce! In the end we shortlisted 105 Upper Primary entries, 43 Junior Cycle, and 31 Transition Year entries. These are all available to watch on our YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYSoyE6MCH9vSfg0hjWmqJw
These entries are fantastic and our judges will have a tricky job working out the winners. The winners will be announced by March 15th, and we will have an online prize-giving before Easter.
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We are delighted to announce our Student Science Competition for 2020 has been launched!
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO FRIDAY DECEMBER 18TH.
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The student science competition is open to all students (girls and boys) in the three categories of
– Upper Primary (5th and 6th class)
– Junior Cycle (1st, 2nd and 3rd year)
– Transition Year.
You can enter as an individual or in small groups.
You can do your project on any physics-related topic, for example:
- Find an example of a famous physicist and do a project describing his or her life and research.
- Is there a factory or industry in your area that is based on physics?
- What about physics on the farm?
- Physics in the environment
- Physics as a mean to change the world
- Is there a physics investigation you would like to carry out?
- Can you design and build a piece of technology that is physics-related?
Your poster can be any size, but A1 is recommended.
The poster does not have to be printed; it can be hand-made.
Creativity and design/presentation of their project is also taken into account.
Submission of entries
The extended deadline for submission of entries is the 18th of December 2020.
Start thinking about and working on an idea for a poster!
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Submission format:
Take a high quality photo of your project and email it to sophiaphysicsproject@gmail.com
Unfortunately due to restricted access to the Campus, it is not practical for us to accept posted entries this year.
Please also send a short written description of your project (500 words maximum) along with your entry with the following headings. Note we cannot process entries that do not provide us with this information:
- Title of Project
- Name of students
- Name of Teacher(s) or Parent(s)
- Category (Upper primary, junior cycle, transition year)
- School
- Contact details including address and email
- What is the project about?
- How did you research the topic?
- What did you find out?
Finalists will be invited to present their projects in the University of Limerick
Last year we had a lovely final event in the University of Limerick. We hope to hold a similar exhibition of the finalists’ works in 2021 in the University of Limerick, if COVID-19-related restrictions permit. Shortlisted projects will be presented by the students, with families and teachers also invited to attend. Final judging and awards for winning projects will take place.
You can email us at sophiaphysicsproject@gmail.com for further information.
(Image credit: Gráinne Walshe)
(Image credit: Gráinne Walshe)
Student Competition Information 2019
Finalists have been selected! Look out for an email inviting you to the finalists’ event in UL on November 15th!
Finalists have been selected! Look out for an email inviting you to the finalists’ event in UL on November 15th!
Finalists have been selected! Look out for an email inviting you to the finalists’ event in UL on November 15th!
Finalists have been selected! Look out for an email inviting you to the finalists’ event in UL on November 15th!
Finalists have been selected! Look out for an email inviting you to the finalists’ event in UL on November 15th!
Schedule for the Student Science Competition Finalists’ Event November 15th, University of Limerick
9am – 10am Setup in the Foyer of the Foundation Building, UL
10am – 10.30am Welcome David Corcoran (Head of Department of Physics and of School of Natural Sciences) and project team
10.30 – 11.30am Judging of shortlisted projects
11.30 – 12.30pm Judges’ deliberations
Student and teacher refreshments (in Graduate Attributes Hub)
Physics: why and what! – Four UL researchers give their story: Cian McKeown; Sarah Guerin; Eoin O’Connell; Eileen Courtney
12.30-1.00am Announcement of winners and prize giving (Karen Sheeran, National Manager, Institute of Physics Ireland)
The student science competition is open to all students (girls and boys) in the three categories of
– Upper Primary (5th and 6th class)
– Junior Cycle (1st, 2nd and 3rd year)
– Transition Year.
You can enter as an individual or in small groups.
You can do your project on any physics-related topic, for example:
- Find an example of a famous physicist and do a project describing his or her life and research.
- Is there a factory or industry in your area that is based on physics?
- What about physics on the farm?
- Physics in the environment
- Physics as a mean to change the world
Your poster can be any size, but A1 or larger is recommended.
The poster does not have to be printed; it can be hand-made.
Creativity and design/presentation of their project is also taken into account.
Submission of entries
The deadline for submission of entries is the 4th of October 2019.
Submission format: Choose one of the following
1) Post your poster to
Cian McKeown,
c/o Department of Physics,
Main Building room C0-063
University of Limerick,
Castletroy, Limerick V94 T9PX
2) Take a high quality photo of your project and email it to sophiaphysicsproject@gmail.com
Please send a short written description of your project (500 words maximum) along with your entry with the following headings:
- Title of Project
- Your name(s)
- Your category (Upper primary, junior cycle, transition year)
- Your school
- Contact details
- What was your project about?
- How did you research the topic?
- What did you find out?
Finalists will be invited to present their projects during Science Week in the University of Limerick on Friday, the 15th of November 2019.
You can email us at sophiaphysicsproject@gmail.com for further information.