On September 21, 2019, the Naughton Foundation honoured 36 exceptional Irish students by awarding them third level scholarships towards their studies in the fields of engineering, science and technology.
The ceremony took place in Trinity College Business School in Dublin where the founding patrons of The Naughton Foundation, Dr Martin Naughton and his wife Carmel was joined by Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohue to present winning students with their awards and cheques.
Supporting academic and innovative excellence
Supporting academic and innovative excellence in Irish students, this scholarship award is an investment in the future of Ireland's reputation as a country with outstanding graduates.
Dr Martin Naughton and his wife Carmel.
Since its establishment in 2008 the Naughton Scholarships worth more than €4 million to date have been awarded to nearly 300 students and this weekend, 36 new scholars joined this esteemed and respected group. In 2008 the scheme started in 3 Counties and has continued to expand annually to become a nationwide initiative.
Speaking about the growth of the programme over the past 11 years, Dr Martin Naughton said: “We started supporting students in their science and engineering studies in Louth, Meath and Monaghan in 2008 to give back to our local area.
"We never imagined what a wonderful community of connected young people the Naughton Scholarship program would become. Alumni from the programme are in the best universities, research institutes and businesses across the world.
'They are in turn giving back to society'
"Each year we hear back from them on the value of this network to them and the connections it has given them across disciplines and Ireland. It is also heart-warming for us to read of their successes and how they are in turn giving back to society.”
There is one guaranteed Scholarship (€20,000) for each participating county, with the exception of Cork and Galway where there are two scholarships awarded and Dublin where there are four.
Five additional scholarships are also to be awarded. Each Scholarship is worth €5,000 per annum for each year of a student’s three or four year undergraduate degree.
The secondary schools they attended will also be presented with a prize of €1,000 towards their school’s science facilities, for their support of these students.
More than 200 schools have benefited from this prize to date with some schools receiving it on more than one occasion.
This year sees the Naughton Foundation also invest further in their latest initiative, ‘Science in a Box’ – STEM classes for primary schools.
Steam Education Limited was set up in Cork in 2014 and devised 'Science in a Box' in an effort to teach a fun and engaging science program to children in primary school with new innovative materials.
Outreach teams comprising PhD students from Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork are involved in the delivery of the programme.
Specific aspect of science curriculum
The programme runs for sixth class pupils for 25 weeks of the primary school year with PhD students spending one hour each week co-teaching with the class teacher, a specific aspect of the science curriculum.
For 2019-20, the Naughton Foundation is delighted to continue its support of this programme for 28 sixth classes in the Dublin, Meath and Louth region. ‘Science in a Box’ will also be presented with a cheque on the evening of September 21.
The Naughton Foundation is delighted to also continue its support of the RDS into 2020-21 in delivering the ESB Science Blast fairs.
These Primary Science Fairs are inspiring entire classrooms around the country with the incredible wonders of STEM with annual fairs in Dublin, Limerick and Belfast open to every primary school in the country.
Full details on The Naughton Foundation Scholarships are available at www.thenaughtonfoundation.ie