Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2026
Ireland’s brightest young minds showed up and blew everyone away
Every January I look at the entries for the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition and think the same thing.
How on earth are these teenagers doing projects that would challenge most adults. Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2026 Ireland’s brightest young minds showed up and blew everyone away
This year proved it again.
Huge congratulations to the overall winner
Aoibheann Daly, Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk, Kerry
Her project
GlioScope – a new way to help doctors diagnose brain cancer faster and more safely.
Right now doctors often have to take brain tissue to figure out what type of tumour a person has.
It is risky, slow, and stressful for families.
Aoibheann built a tool that lets doctors look at a standard MRI scan and make a good prediction about which mutation they are dealing with.
That means faster decisions and less danger for patients.
She is fifteen. Take that in for a second. She walked away with €7,500, a very heavy trophy, and will now represent Ireland at the EU Young Scientist competition in Germany.
Other standout projects that deserve a loud cheer
Best Group
Aoife Fadian & Jessica O’Connor, Ursuline College Sligo
They used sheep wool to strengthen concrete.
Yes, actual wool from actual sheep.
Stronger buildings, better insulation, and maybe new income streams for farmers.
Individual Runner Up
Joshua Corbett, St Mary’s CBS Laois
His project looked at getting medicine into the brain through the nose.
Tiny particles that can slip past the body’s natural defences and deliver treatment where it is needed.
Runner Up Group
Ritvik Venkateshwar & Hao Wen Liu, Stratford College Dublin
They used physics and code to model what happened when the universe was just born.
At Junior Einsteins Science Club® we get to see that spark happen right at the start.
Little faces lighting up when they make slime for the first time, launch a rocket across a hall, or discover that electricity can make a Barbie doll’s hair stand on end. Primary school is where belief begins. Where a child quietly realises they might actually be a scientist. We spend our days giving that spark space to grow. Hands-on experiments and Messy discovery.
Curiosity over perfection every single time.
So to see slightly older young minds standing confidently at the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, presenting projects that could change how we diagnose cancer or build homes or understand the universe, is honestly a joy.
It makes me proud of them, proud of their schools, and proud of Ireland. This country produces serious talent and we should shout louder about it.
And it is exactly why we do what we do at Junior Einsteins Science Club®. Catch children young, feed their curiosity, show them science is for everyone, and watch what happens next.
Ireland’s future is bright. It is creative, ambitious, and already solving problems that matter. And it is still wearing school uniforms.
Our future is in very good hands.
#StripeYSTE 2026
