Three sisters from Tralee won the top prize at this year’s BT Young Scientist of the Year for their smartphone technology project – ACT (Aid Care Treat): App-timising emergency response – which they developed over the last 12 months to greatly improve the response of the health services in emergency situations.
Ciara (17), Saoirse (15) and Laoise Murphy (12), who are in 5th, 3rd and 1st year respectively at Presentation Secondary School Tralee in Kerry, won the overall award at the 61st BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) for their innovative technology project.
ACT (Aid Care Treat) – a medical assistance app designed to support emergency healthcare responses – integrates crucial features to provide swift and effective aid during critical situations. This is the second year this project has been recognised at the exhibition having previously been awarded the Runner-Up Group in 2024.
The transformative app is designed to tackle challenges in transferring medical data effectively and efficiently to the emergency services. It also has the capability to share precise geolocation co-ordinates. Once the data reaches the emergency services, there is the possibility for onward transmission to the dispatch control centres, the attending mobile units and the hospitals in a matter of seconds.
The Tralee sisters spent the last 12 months working on their project along with the Department of Health, the HSE and the National Ambulance Service, together with An Garda Síóchána, to maximise the potential of their app.
Following the presentation of the award, Ciara Murphy said that it was “absolutely unbelievable” adding “we’re so, so honoured and delighted that we have been selected by the judges. It has been the most phenomenal experience, and this has been the most perfect way to end it, and we’re very thankful to everyone”.
Their father Seamus Murphy said that his daughters received great support from all the stakeholders involved in the project, adding that “it’s been a really worthwhile and rewarding experience”. With the app’s potential to have real-world applications, their mother Theresa pointed out the project initially started out following “an incident that happened within the family, and the panic that ensued as a result of a medical emergency. They immediately started to think how do teenagers and young people with a situation like this.”
Congratulating Ciara, Saoirse and Laoise on bringing this project so far, Prof Joe Barry, Chair of the Health & Wellbeing Group Judging Panel, said that their smartphone technology has the potential to save lives and reduce recovery times. “With the support of the emergency services, this project has the potential to make a real difference in helping citizens in an emergency situation.”
Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD (who is a former teacher at Presentation Secondary School in Tralee), congratulated the sisters on their extraordinary achievement of winning top prize in the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2025. “This win is testament to their creativity, dedication and hard work and the tremendous support of their family, teachers and school. Way back in 1963, the founders Dr Tony Scott and Fr Tom Burke presented a vision and today in 2025, we congratulate the winners of the 61st Young Scientist competition – an outstanding legacy.”
The Minister also thanked BT for their continued dedication to supporting and empowering students through this exhibition. “The most outstanding aspect is the absolute engagement of students and their enthusiasm. It has been a privilege to meet them here in the RDS and to see the innovation, creativity and attention to detail in their projects.
“It is heartening to see that Irish post-primary students in second year were in top position in the EU in mathematics and science in the latest international assessment of mathematics and science achievement – known as TIMSS 2023. The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition plays a key role in promoting our young people’s interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).”
In addition to receiving the top prize of €7,500, the Tralee sisters will now represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) in Riga, Latvia in September. And this year for the first time, as overall BTYSTE winners together with the Best Individual winner (Tomás Markey, a sixth-year student in St Brogan’s College, Bandon in Cork), they will be awarded a trip to the World Expo, in Osaka, Japan.

Sixth-year student Tomás Markey (18) from St Brogan’s College, Bandon in Cork, who won the ‘Best Individual’ award for his project ‘PM-DAC: A system for removing CO2 from the atmosphere’, pictured with Shay Walsh, MD of BT Ireland, and Minister for Education Norma Foley presented (Pic: Fennell Photography)
Shay Walsh, Managing Director of BT Ireland, congratulated all the participants and finalists of this year’s BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, whom he said have not only showcased some truly innovative project ideas, but have also done themselves, their teachers and schools, and families proud.
“In addition to demonstrating boundless energy and ingenuity across topics ranging from Artificial Intelligence (AI), cyber security, mental health, sustainability, agriculture and many more, what has been most uplifting is seeing how STEM subjects can be used for the betterment of society and the world around us.
“Over the last 25 years, since taking up the custodianship of the YSTE, BT Ireland has been honoured to play our part in evolving one of the most prevalent and longstanding STEM exhibitions in the world, and we look forward to seeing what exciting endeavours our winners have in store in the months and years ahead.”
Click here on the BT Young Scientist YouTube channel for video highlights of this year’s exhibition and award winners.