60th BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition begins today

The 2024 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) has begun with over 1,100 students arriving to the exhibition from across the island of Ireland to set up their projects and prepare for the first round of judging, carried out by 85 expert judges.

The official opening of the event takes place this afternoon by President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.

As the BTYSTE begins to fill up with displays of the participants amazing ideas, BT Ireland, in partnership with Business in the Community Ireland, will hold an exclusive Executive Leaders Forum for business leaders at the RDS this morning.

This year’s forum will focus on one of the most urgent topics facing our planet today, sustainability, and how decisions made at recent world leader conferences such as COP 28 can influence sustainability business strategies effectively.

Speakers at today’s Forum include Managing Director of BT Ireland, Shay Walsh, who will join CEO of BT Business, Bas Burger to talk about their experiences leading an ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) strategy at a global organisation and Tomás Sercovich, CEO of Business in the Community to talk about sustainability trends. Companies represented at the event’s panels include Analog Devices, Veolia, SSE Airtricity, Bank of Ireland, HSBC, and Barclays.

The forum will be directly followed by the opening ceremony of the 2024 and 60th BTYSTE, where students and guests will be addressed by President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins. The ceremony will be streamed live from 2pm on the BTYSTE website and on Facebook Live.

Speaking ahead of the first day of the exhibition today, Mari Cahalane, Head of the BTYSTE said: “BT Ireland’s team of almost 200 volunteers are working tirelessly at the RDS to get this year’s exhibition ready and are excited for the students, teachers, and partners to see their BTYSTE home for the next few days.

“As we open BTYSTE 2024 and begin to celebrate the exhibition’s 60th edition we look forward to showing our esteemed guest, President Higgins, and the people of Ireland the incredible and diverse projects that the country’s brightest young minds have been working on.”

The BTYSTE opens to the public from Thursday, January 11 to Saturday January 13, with a full programme of fantastic events and special acts for everyone to enjoy, as well as all the student projects will also be on display throughout.

Additionally, over 57 brilliant stands from the exhibition’s partners, including the Department of Education, Analog Devices, Amgen, Stripe and RTE will be on display throughout the RDS.

Tickets to the BTYSTE can be purchased at https://ticketing. btyoungscientist.com or at the venue.

Visitors can plan their visit to the RDS in advance by downloading the free BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition app, available on Android and Apple devices.

Full of helpful information, the app includes an exhibition map, a search tool for student projects and exhibitors, a schedule of events, as well as links to the BTYSTE social networks for live updates throughout the event. 

For more information on the exhibition, please visit the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition website or follow @BTYSTE on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube or Snapchat.