Limerick student 'forever grateful' as family and school celebrate BT Young Scientist win

THE roof of the RDS Arena nearly came off on Friday night as the winner of the BT Young Scientist competition was announced, but it will be at a secondary school in Croom this week that the celebrations will truly erupt.

Congratulations have been streaming in for Limerick student Seán O'Sullivan after he took home the top prize at the competition in Dublin.

The 5th year Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom student won the competition with his project VerifyMe: A new approach to authorship attribution in the post-ChatGPT era.

In his project, Seán considered the challenges of author verification in the context of the significant improvements in Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.

The 17 year-old developed a novel approach to author authentication that identifies stylistic differences to verify authorship.

The Pallaskenry native was joined on stage on Friday by his siblings Sarah and Tom as well as his mother Tara and father Gerard, who is the principal at Coláiste Chiaráin.

Speaking to Limerick Live from the RDS, Gerard said that he is thrilled that one of his students won the top prize, and that it is "super, super special" that the winner is his own son. 

"As a principal to win an outright BT award is amazing and as a father who has worked with him along the way, it is incredibly special.

"I am absolutely over the moon for him, he has worked tirelessly for nearly a year on this, the last three months he has been doing nearly 18 hour days.

"This is his fourth year here at the competition and I told him he wasn't doing it in 6th year because of his Leaving Cert but he sorted that for himself because he can't come back next year as the winner!"

As well as one of their students winning the coveted top prize, Coláiste Chiaráin were also awarded the Best School award.

Pupils Aiden Oscar and Taha Njie were also awarded the Analog Devices Technology Award for their project Portanos Portable, Extensible, Modular, Open Source Medical Device.

Gerard said the wins were a "testament to the whole team from the school that is up here". He especially thanked Seán's teacher and mentor Edel Farrell. 

When he is not working hard at his study and projects, Seán enjoys swimming and his club, Askeaton Swimming Club congratulated their member on his fantastic achievement.

"Massive congratulations to our senior squad swimmer and his mother Tara who coaches with us. Phenomenal achievement Seán".

Limerick student wins BT Young Scientist competition with AI project

Seán attended Pallaskenry National School who congratulated their past-pupil on Facebook.

"A huge congratulations from all staff and students to past pupil Seán O’Sullivan who today won the BT young scientist award with his excellent project, VerifyMe. A huge achievement and something to be very proud of! Comhghairdeas Seán".

The last time a Limerick student won the competition was in 2005 when Patrick Collison took home the top prize.

A former Castletroy College pupil, Patrick went on to form Stripe with his brother John, which is now a multibillion-euro payments company. 

However, Gerard is happy to keep his son's feet on the ground for now with no mansions in Silicon Valley on the cards just yet.

"Once he is happy, healthy and doing what he loves, everything else will follow.

"I won't worry about the millions. We have a young man who is passionate, driven and incredibly hard working, we will keep the feet well and truly on the ground".

Mayor Gerald Mitchell commended Seán's accomplishment, emphasising the significance of nurturing young talents.

Mayor Mitchell remarked, "In a world driven by technological advancements, Seán's work stands as a testament to the brilliance that emerges when education and innovation combine.

"The people of Limerick are immensely proud of his achievement and foresee a bright future ahead for him".

This is not the first time recently Seán has been on the national stage as he also represented Limerick at the Poetry Aloud competition earlier this month.

Seán will now represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) taking place later this year in the European City for Science 2024 - Katowice, Poland.