After every event we ask the winning scientists to write a short post to be sent to all the students who took part in the zone. It’s the perfect way for the scientists to reflect on all the engagement of the previous weeks, thank all the students for voting for them, and talk about how they plan to use their €500 prize money.
If you’re a scientist, whether in the public, private or academic sector, and you’re keen to experience the ‘best crash course in scicomm’, applications are open year round: imascientist.ie/scientists
Aoife Campbell, Future Neuro Centre,Drug Discovery Zone
Massive thank you to all the students who made this so interesting! I honestly had SO much fun. I was originally a little nervous about what I was going to be asked but everyone was so interested in neuroscience and what I was doing. I got so many good questions, from ‘do fish have a 3 second memory because they don’t have a hippocampus?’ to ‘what causes some people to be able to lucid dream while others can’t?’ to questions about the dangers of antidepressants on violence. I was also delighted with the amount of people that were asking questions about how to get into neuroscience or a particular area of science. I think we have a lot of future neuroscientists on our hands!
Jessica Franklin, iCRAG & NUI Galway, Energy Zone
I really hope that all the students who have taken part in I’m a Scientist know that they are all capable of becoming scientists if they want to, as long as they stay curious and keep asking amazing questions like they have done during the chats! I’m a Scientist was such an inspiring experience for me, it was so encouraging to chat with students who really care about the Earth and want to learn more about it and how to protect our environment…Meeting other scientists and engineers was also so inspiring and taught me so much about the incredible range of science being conducted in Ireland.
Katie Starsmore, VistaMilk, Teagasc, Food Zone
There were a lot of questions asking what my research is doing for the environment and also if ‘cow’s burps smell’ which I thought was quite funny. I particularly liked the range of very serious questions to the questions that I had never thought about before such as ‘what’s the best invention ever?’. I have definitely learned a lot about the big concerns of children today, which seemed to be climate change. I was proud to tell them how my research could have a huge impact on climate change, but also making kids realise the importance of farming in society.
Souvik Kundu, Tyndall Institute, Sodium Zone
I want to thank all the students and teachers who took part. I loved answering all the inquisitive questions they put forward…I was very impressed with how informed students were on topics about Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Robotics and current hot topics in research. I loved that they were concerned about the Global warming and pollution and ready to take the steps to fight against those. I would like to say to anyone who has a passion for science don’t stop questioning and always be curious! If nobody believes you, prove them wrong scientifically.
Jake Cunningham, Maynooth University, Water Zone
I would just like to take the time to thank all of the students who took their time to come and ask us loads of interesting questions, from ‘Is it possible Global warming could affect your method of power generation? ’, and ‘how does the moon move water?’ to ‘Do you like cheese’! I loved answering all of them, not only the ones related to my field but all of them! It’s always interesting to hear the perspective of others. So, thank you students for this opportunity of learning new things!
If you’re up for the challenge, want to answer some downright weird questions, even learn things from students…
I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here runs every November. It only takes 2 minutes and one sentence to apply!
