Transition Year Programme
The Get into Geoscience Transition Year Programme challenges Transition Year students to solve a real world geoscience problem by working with a geoscientist from iCRAG, the Science Foundation Ireland Centre in Applied Geosciences.
What is our TY Programme?
In short: a competition to solve a real world geoscience issue
The TY programme takes place over six sessions, spaced in a way that works for the class's schedule. During these six weeks, students will work in groups to solve a real world geoscience challenge with the help of real geoscientists. Students will research the topic, develop a research question and research proposal, conduct the research and present their findings in a creative way. They can then enter their findings into a competition to win a variety of prizes.
Session Plan
Learning
This is the introduction to the course. Students will learn about the topic from experts and are given a full overview of the course.
Design
In session two, students are given a design template to begin to formulate their ideas.
Development
Sessions 3 and 4 are a chance for students to work with expert geoscientists to develop their ideas and project
Construction
Students should aim to complete the construction of their project by the end of session 5. This can take any form they like! Creativity is key.
Delivery
During the last session, students deliver their final solution to their group.
The Competition
Best project
Teams can enter their finished projects into the 'best project' category. This is expected to be in the form of an essay, a video, described photographs or something else entirely! Creativity is key. The projects will be judged by industry experts. This category will have one overall winner and three runners up per year.
Best Learning Journey
Teams can enter the competition for best learning journey. To enter this category, teams must show evidence of their learning. This could be a mind map, photographs, an essay or something else entirely! This category may be appropriate for teams that don't quite manage to finish their project.
Learn More
A different theme every year
Each year, the programme takes a new theme dependent on important and current global geoscience issues. In 2023-24, the theme was Environmental Science and students were challenged to come up with a research project based on an aspect of this theme that interested them.
School visits during the programme
During the programme, scientists will visit your school up to three times to interact with the students. They will advise on the mini-research projects the students are undertaking and work with them to improve their understanding of the scientific method, the topic of the project and how to present their research.
A university visit for participants
At the end of the programme, we will invite the participants to visit us at our headquarters in University College Dublin. We will put on a day of talks, workshops and chances to network with scientists and industry experts and cover the costs of your travel. If you can't come to us, we'll come to you!
