Two Irish secondary school students have claimed a third place overall at the EU Contest for Young Scientists in Belgium.
Diana Bura, 16, and 17-year-old Mari Louise Fufezan won €3,500 for their project, 'An Investigation into the Effects of Enzymes used in Animal Feed Additives on the Lifespan of Caenorhabditis Elegans'.
The students from Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan were representing Ireland at this year's competition following their win at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in January.
They also won the special donated DuPont prize, which includes a visit to Dupont's plants in Denmark and a sightseeing tour.
The three first prizes were won by students from Norway, Italy and the USA, for projects in maths, computing and biology.
The Irish students project investigated what effect the enzymes found in animal feed additives have on the soil nematode C. elegans.
Now in its 28th year, the contest pits the top student scientists from Europe and beyond against one another.
The exhibition took place over four days in Brussels and today the 36 awards were distributed to the winners at an ceremony in the Belgian capital.
This year there were 80 projects across a range of categories.
