Three Cork students are among 173 contestants from 39 countries taking part in this year's EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) in Milan this weekend.
Eimear Murphy and Ian O'Sullivan, both 17, from Coláiste Treasa in Kanturk won a place at the contest by scooping top prize at this year's BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in January.
While 16-year-old Mark O'Dowd from Glanmire Community College was selected to take part in a one-off food science exhibition which is being held to co-incidence with Expo 2015 running throughout the year in Milan.
Now in its 27th year, the EUCYS is an initiative of the European Commission with the goal of promoting co-operation and interchange between young scientists and guiding them towards a future career in science and technology.
Students aged 14-20 can take part on their own or in groups of up to three, provided they have won first prize in their national science competition and have been nominated by their respective national jury.
This year there are 103 projects entered in the contest, with 67 girls and 106 boys among the 173 contestants.
Eimear Murphy and Ian O'Sullivan's project, "Alcohol consumption: does the apple fall far from the tree?", investigated the association between adolescent alcohol consumption and their parents' consumption pattern and attitudes towards alcohol use.
Using 902 survey responses from fifth and sixth year students and their parents in the Kanturk and Mallow areas, the now fifth year students found that a liberal attitude to alcohol and increased levels of consumption by the parent are linked to hazardous adolescent drinking behaviour.
They discovered that parents who believe it is acceptable for their children to drink alcohol on special occasions were up to four times more likely to engage in hazardous drinking than other adolescents.
Mark O'Dowd's project aimed to investigate whether the mechanical injury of crop seeds could increase their yields.
It found that yield rose in crops such as barley when they were rolled and perforated at seedling stage, but oats were found not to benefit from the mechanical injury.
The contest began on Thursday and over the course of four days each project is judged up to five times.
On Monday morning the prize giving ceremony will take place.
Ireland has a strong record in the contest, with Irish students scooping prizes at all but two years of the event.
Irish contestants have brought home a first prize in 14 of the 26 years of the competition, and claimed a top spot three years in a row between 2011 and 2013.
There are first prizes available for three categories, with the member or members of each winning project team receiving or sharing €7,000.
A range of other prizes are also up for grabs, including trips to some of the leading scientific research facilities around Europe.
