In order to encourage more women to participate in the discipline of engineering, Science Foundation Ireland in association with Dell has launched its 2008 scholarship for Young Women in Engineering.
This scholarship is for Leaving Certificate students interested in applying for engineering courses across all the major universities and institutes of technology in all categories of engineering ranging from chemical to robotic to digital media.
The grant includes €2,000 per year of the undergraduate degree, as well as a Dell notebook upon beginning the course.
Further benefits include support from an active researcher acting as their mentor throughout the degree and a summer research-internship in an academic research laboratory or an industry R&D laboratory.
Entrants must be female and have completed their leaving certificate within the last year. Only exemplary students with an A1 or A2 in the following subjects are being considered: maths or applied maths and physics, biology, chemistry, technical drawing, engineering or construction studies.
“One component of the Science Foundation Ireland [SFI] strategy is a series of investments which will increase and sustain the participation of women within the Irish research community,” says the SFI.
“SFI’s objective is to encourage and support the development of mechanisms and practices which will ensure that there is a fully competitive technical workforce to build a knowledge-driven economy and to benefit from the full participation of women in research-based careers.”
Earlier this year the Faculty of Engineering in DIT hosted the 2007 Role Model Seminar for Leaving Cert cycle girls with presentations by professional women engineers and networking sessions between students and ‘role models’.
A list of all eligible courses for the scholarship is available on the SFI’s website.
By Marie Boran
