THE mental state of top athletes, bullying and exam pressure on students are some of the topics which, quite literally, came under the microscope in Laois schools over the past few months.

These are, of course, just some of the subjects which have been studied for this year’s Esat Young Scientists Exhibition. This year six projects representing three schools in Laois participated in the exhibition.

The schools which participated in the exhibition, which took place in the RDS from Tuesday to Sunday last, were Scoil Chriost Rí, Portlaoise, Patrician College, Ballyfin and Brigidine Secondary School, Mountrath.

Brigidine had three projects entered. Aileen Keane, Hilary McCarthy and Donna Hannigan studied “the flora of the cut-away bog”. “A study of leaf yeasts in Laois” was undertaken by Laura Byrne, Aislinn Burke and Fiona Delaney. Deirdre Wall, Marina Carroll and Emer Murphy devised “a method of measuring the refractive index (n) of liquids”.

Patrician College, Ballyfin submitted two projects - both concentrating on issues that involve pupils. “Bullying - incidence, nature and effects” was the topic undertaken by Mary O’Reilly, Laura Hyland and Ruth Comer. Most appropriately “the pressures of exams on students” was studied by Ellen Mackessy and Mary Lyons.

Scoil Chriost Rí, Portlaoise entered one project by Mary Dooley and Linda Lambe. Appropriately for a school that has figured regularly amongst the prize winners in basketball championships, the girls studied “the mental world of the complete athlete”.

But these were not the only girls from the school who participated in the RDS last week. Katie Heffernan was the envy of many as she won a place to operate as a reporter for The Examiner newspaper for the week, during which time she interviewed many of the contestants and celebrities who were in the RDS.