A leading professor, who was once told there was no future in science for him, has said he believes students need to back themselves and follow their "gut dream".
Professor Neil Rowan, an expert in medtech, food security, environmental sustainability and bioeconomy, is the inaugural Director of the Bioscience Research Institute at Technological University of the Shannon.
Now ranked number one in the world for decontamination research, Prof Rowan was the first from any generation in his family to attend university.
A native of Coosan, Athlone, Co Westmeath, it was a football scholarship that led him to the University of Galway in the 1980s.
"If you told me then that I would one day be awarded a higher doctorate of science, I wouldn’t have believed it," said Prof Rowan.
"As a young boy, I was very active, I was very creative, I was a daydreamer and I was very sporty," he said.
"I was playing off a handicap of 2 at golf, I was playing soccer, Gaelic football and was involved in athletics but I always had an interest in science," Prof Rowan said.
However, some advice came after the Christmas exams in 1985, which rattled the now world-leading professor.
"I remember the report after my biology exam, which said I was ‘marginally honours’ and 'greater consideration needed to be given to the subject’," he said.
The report ended by advising Mr Rowan that there was no future for him in science.
"Thirty years on, I'm happy to report that I'm the top-ranked scientist in the world for decontamination," he smiled.
"I had fire in belly to do something I wanted to do and I went on to prove everyone wrong, when I got one of the first soccer scholarships at the University of Galway," Prof Rowan added.
"I went on to do a degree in microbiology in science," he said.
From the University of Galway, Prof Rowan made his way to the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow on an academic scholarship, where he did a PhD which combined high voltage engineering with microbiology.
Prof Rowan was later appointed a lecturer and then a senior lecturer at the University at the age of 29.
"I came to Ireland to TU Dublin, DIT back then, that was in 2003 and then on to AIT, which is now Technological University of the Shannon in Athlone," he added.
Throughout his academic career, he has supervised around 120 undergraduate projects, as well as around 42 PhDs with industrial applications.
The Higher DSc is the highest academic degree in the Irish and UK university systems, above a PhD and fewer than ten higher doctorates are awarded per year in Ireland.
Prof Rowan is also on a United Nations panel on the effects of nuclear war, as well as on the new National Science Advisory panel and a new scientific committee for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
He also works closely with the European Commission and Research Ireland on a number of innovation programmes.
So what advice does Prof Rowan have for Leaving Certificate students?
"Live the dream and give it the best shot that you can," he said.
"It is all about delivering things for yourself and having the confidence to do it.
"The world has changed a lot, we have greater opportunities and there's greater information and guidance from schools," Prof Rowan added.
While students may be feeling the pressure, he wants to remind them that the Leaving Certificate "is not the be-all and end-all".
"14 of the 42 PhD students I have supervised were mature students and some of them came from a ladder system from level 5," he said.
"The challenge is to get the first exam over and then you are up and running.
"It's important to live the dream but also to be open to opportunities if it just doesn't work out for you.
"You have to back yourself and be confident - go and try things and follow your gut dream," Prof Rowan said.
Study Hub: All our Leaving Cert 2026 exam tips
