{"id":15,"date":"2019-04-12T11:52:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T11:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sophiaphysics.ie\/?page_id=15"},"modified":"2026-04-17T16:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:04:10","slug":"the-sophia-project","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sophiaphysics.ie\/","title":{"rendered":"The SOPHia Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow our recent activities on SOPHia Blogs<\/a>!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

**Please sign up for our 2026 SOPHia Project Competition for Primary School students<\/a>. Register your interests via this online form<\/a>. Please contact us at sophiaphysicsproject@gmail.com<\/mark><\/strong> if you have any questions.<\/strong> The award-giving ceremony will take place 9 am May 21st, 2026<\/strong> at the University of Limerick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Project<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SOPHia project aims to encourage more students, especially girls, to take up physics as a Leaving Certificate Subject. There is a three to one ratio of male to female students taking physics at Leaving Certificate level in Ireland. This has a knock-on effect on the numbers of females taking physics at third-level, and ultimately taking up senior roles in academia and industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Physics and the Science Learning Centre at the University of Limerick, in partnership with the Institute of Physics in Ireland, launched the SOPHia Project in 2018. The project aims to encourage young people to form positive perceptions of physics, and to help address the gender imbalance in physics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project was originally funded under the Science Foundation Ireland Discover Programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Project comprised:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. A school visit<\/span><\/a> programme that involves undergraduate students of physics delivering a workshop to junior certificate, transition year and upper-primary school students.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. A student competition<\/span><\/a> for projects researching famous physicists\/important physics discoveries\/local physics;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. A showcase event<\/span><\/a> to inform teachers of the issues with regards to addressing the gender imbalance in physics;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. An interactive website for parents, teachers and students, to supplement the school visit programme, with curriculum-linked activities, including our Beewise blog<\/span><\/a> and helpful links and resources for the Physical World<\/span><\/a> and Earth and Space<\/span><\/a> strands of junior cycle science. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The project is currently supported by the Department of Physics at the University of Limerick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For further information contact sophiaphysicsproject@gmail.com<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Follow our recent activities on SOPHia Blogs! **Please sign up for our 2026 SOPHia Project Competition for Primary School students. Register your interests via this […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The SOPHia project aims to encourage more students, especially girls, to take up physics as a Leaving Certificate Subject. There is a three to one ratio of male to female students taking physics at Leaving Certificate level in Ireland. This has a knock-on effect on the numbers of females taking physics at third-level, and ultimately taking up senior roles in academia and industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Department of Physics and the Science Learning Centre at the University of Limerick, in partnership with the Institute of Physics in Ireland, initially launched the SOPHia Project in 2018. The project aims to encourage young people to form positive perceptions of physics, and to help address the gender imbalance in physics. The project is funded under the Science Foundation Ireland Discover Programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The project comprises:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    1. A school visit<\/span><\/a> programme that involves undergraduate students of physics delivering a workshop to junior certificate, transition year and upper-primary school students.<\/li>
    2. A student competition<\/span><\/a> for projects researching famous physicists\/important physics discoveries\/local physics;<\/li>
    3. A showcase event<\/span><\/a> to inform teachers of the issues with regards to addressing the gender imbalance in physics;<\/li>
    4. An interactive website for parents, teachers and students, to supplement the school visit programme, with curriculum-linked activities, including our Beewise blog<\/span><\/a> and helpful links and resources for the Physical World<\/span><\/a> and Earth and Space<\/span><\/a> strands of junior cycle science. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      In 2020 we will broaden our reach as follows:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u2022 Expanding the impact of the project through dissemination of the outreach model in partnership with the Institute of Technology Carlow <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u2022 Partnering with Tait House community organisation to co-create activities with students from urban schools<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u2022 Reaching out to adult members of the community through parent evenings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u2022 Targeting pre-service science teachers to inspire an interest in physics, and awareness of its importance for female students<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n

      \u2022  Helping students, teachers and schools make the link between physics the environment through developing educational resources<\/p>\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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