Meet The Three Inspiring Sisters Who Won The 61st BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition

The annual BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition is widely esteemed and highly respected both nationally and internationally. So many past winners and participants have gone on to do great things. This year, three remarkable and inspiring sisters from Kerry took home the trophy, which is sure to be the starting point for an exciting trajectory for them.

Ciara, Saoirse and Laoise Murphy are the dedicated and passionate girls behind their project, ACT (Aid Care Treat): App-timising emergency response, an app designed by them to aid bystanders in medical emergencies. 

Winning the BT Young Science and Technology exhibition doesn’t come without grit, persistence and passion. Missy was delighted to chat with the girls as they shared their journey and experience of winning the 2025 award. It’s clear to see just how remarkable and passionate they truly are. We’re also pretty sure that they’re going to inspire a whole new generation of girls to enter the competition.

Where The Idea Came From

The idea for the ‘Aid Care Treat’ app came from a raw and scary experience for the girls back in September of 2022. Ciara (17), shared how a relative of theirs collapsed after an ultra-marathon in Kerry.

Although their relative thankfully regained consciousness, it opened the girl’s eyes to the impact that a scenario like that has on a bystander. “It did highlight for us in those scenarios and under circumstances of high stress and pressure and panic, the intensity of those situations can become overwhelming for the bystander, and the ones surrounding the patient. So we originally wanted to come up with an idea that would aid the bystander in these situations, so that they could be more prepared and equipped with the knowledge and tools to respond effectively.” says Ciara, the oldest of the sisters who is currently in her 5th year of school. 

App-timising Emergency Responses

Ciara explains how the goal was to ultimately save lives with this app and with the opportunity to make a “bad situation at the time” into “a positive to improve patient outcomes”. Ciara, Saoirse and Laoise have spent the last 12 months working on their project along with public and private sector stakeholders. The transformative app is designed to tackle challenges in transferring medical data effectively and efficiently to the emergency services. The app 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.

During the project Ciara, Saoirse and Laoise built a working relationship with the Department of Health, the HSE and the National Ambulance Service, together with the Gardai, to maximise the potential of the app. You can clearly see the potential that this app has to make a huge difference in life and death situations. It is this that truly shows how purpose-driven, resilient and inspiring these girls are and why they won the top honours this year.

Making It A Reality

Having an idea for an app is the easiest part, but just how do you go about making it a reality? “There were challenging times”, Ciara explains. “We did have to overcome obstacles as the actual technical act development side progressed. And then also…there were the stakeholders. We were very lucky with how they collaborated with us. They were always so kind and so willing to give their time to us to ensure that we were putting everything we could into it for the exhibition.”

It’s quite easy to forget that these sisters are still just in secondary school balancing the realities of 1st, 3rd and 5th years. Alongside the challenges that the girls faced throughout the development of the app, they also had to deal with juggling school. “Yeah, it was quite difficult,” admits Saoirse (15). “I’m in third year now, so I’m in exams quite soon, two weeks to the mocks. But particularly over the Christmas break, my study definitely suffered. It was quite difficult to balance them (school work and building the app), but I tried quite hard to do a bit of both. I think every bit of work that we’ve put into it has definitely paid off”. 

Although it was difficult balancing school study and the development of their project, the girls made it work and throughout showed true grit and discipline.

More Than An Experience 

Saoirse says that if anyone is considering entering the competition next year, they should firstly just “enjoy themselves”. She speaks on the experience as one she called “fantastic”. But as well as this, she touches on how much preparation is key. Saoirse explained how “you never know what the judges are going to ask you, so you just have to be prepared for every possible scenario.” Saoirse also pointed out how important it is to “enjoy every moment of it (the exhibition) and live it.”

Not only did the girls get to take home the trophy and the top prize of €7,500, Ciara, Saoirse and Laoise will represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) this year in Riga, Latvia. Also, this year for the first time, Ciara, Saoirse and Laoise as the overall BTYSTE winners, together with the Best Individual winner, will be awarded a trip to the World Expo, in Osaka, Japan.

Speaking about the journey, youngest sister Laoise (12) also added “it’s just unreal to be honest, it’s been an incredible experience. It was so enjoyable, especially with Ciara and Saoirse by my side, we can’t wait to go to Latvia and Japan. We’re just so excited.” 

Laoise shared how her favourite part of the entire experience has been getting to work with her two sisters. The girls also expressed their gratitude in getting to actually attend the RDS despite the amount of snow that had fallen during the week of the exhibition. 

An Inspiration For Us All

These sisters couldn’t have worked harder to earn their achievement, however being crowned the winners of the 61^st BT Young Scientist is not the only prize these girls have won. They have also earned the distinction of being the beacon of inspiration and hope to young girls everywhere, demonstrating how grit, persistence and passion will always pay off. “We are so glad that our hard work has paid off,” said Laoise.

It’s no secret that STEM is overwhelmingly populated by men. Seeing 3 young women set the bar high so early on in life is exciting to witness and hopefully indicative of changing tides. As eldest sister Ciara says “We are the first girls in nearly ten years to win this – it was a long time coming. I think it was about time”.

We’re sure that the girls win, and also the other incredible projects submitted this year for the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, are going to inspire so many people to enter next year. If there’s one thing that we can learn from Ciara, Saoirse and Laoise it’s that you should always follow your passions and be courageous to put forward new ideas to better us all. 

The future is certainly bright for the Murphy sisters. We can’t wait to see what they do next.

If you are interested in entering next year’s BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, keep an eye on their website for more information over the coming months.