Minister Devins Awards Science Foundation Ireland STAR Certificates

Next-generation of Irish scientists to benefit from summertime teacher / researcher collaborations

Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Jimmy Devins T.D., today (Wednesday, August 20^th, 2008) awarded certificates to secondary teachers who participated in the 2008 Secondary Teacher Assistant Researchers (STARs) programme. Overall, 37 second-level teachers took part in this year’s initiative, across eight universities.

Funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the STARs programme is designed to equip secondary school teachers with new skills and knowledge, which in turn, can be passed onto pupils, thereby encouraging an active interest in science.

Through the STARs programme, secondary teachers receive support to conduct research alongside an SFI-funded researcher or research team for an 8-week period during the summer holidays. STARs’ primary goal is to help teachers renew their interest in science as researchers, connect them with science faculties in a variety of universities and institutes of technology, and enhance the teaching of science across our educational system.

Speaking at the award ceremony at the Science Gallery, Trinity College, Minister Devins said: “I wish to warmly congratulate this year’s STARs participants for enthusiastically embracing the opportunity to forge close links with, and to work alongside, the scientific research community in Ireland. These teachers’ active, hands-on interest in the very latest scientific developments is something from which their own students will benefit through the course of the forthcoming academic year and beyond”. Minister Devins added “Through programmes such as STARs, Science Foundation Ireland is leading the way in encouraging a greater appreciation of, and participation in, science-related activity. It is crucial that developments in innovation underpin our teaching and learning of the sciences, and STARs narrows the gap that might exist between internationally-recognised laboratories and the local classroom.”

Examples of projects undertaken by teachers over the summer include: Irish Sign Language Recognition from Video Images – Expert Testing; Genetics of Autism; Virtual Maynooth; Public Awareness on Genetic Modification; and Novel nanomedicines targeting hospital superbugs and resistant cancer cells.

Director General of SFI, Professor Frank Gannon, said; “Collaborative initiatives such as STARs are a core element of SFI’s strategy, namely to support and encourage research excellence in Ireland, including at all stages of our educational system. First introduced in 2004, STARs has been placing teachers in innovative, cutting-edge environments, where, side by side with world-class researchers, invaluable skills and knowledge are acquired. The likelihood of cultivating a genuine interest in the sciences among second school students is considerably enhanced as a result.”