Real University Research. Real Skills. Real Impact.
The Education Academy Ireland is a dynamic organisation dedicated to equipping young people with the skills they need for future learning and lifelong success. The Academy focuses on fostering critical thinking, adaptability, digital literacy, and self-directed learning.
The Research Academy
Our most innovative programme, open for school registrations now, the Research Academy, brings real university style STEM research to Transition Year students through flexible, online, self-directed learning.
Students explore cutting-edge topics, including:
- Neuroscience provided by Trinity College Dublin
- Biomedical Science provided by Queen’s University Belfast
- Chemistry provided by Queen’s University Belfast
- Psychology provided by Ulster University
- Renewable Engineering provided by DKIT
- Data Science – data provided by these leading institutions- a greatly unique project to get ahead and learn incredibly useful skills.
Key Attributes of the Programme
Flexible: Complete in school or outside school hours, including 1-2 hours per week for 13 weeks to count towards your Gaisce – The President’s Award.
Team Based Learning: Students can work individually or in teams (recommended for teamwork skills valued by universities and employers).
Structure: A school ambassador collects questions from all students, which are answered by our supervisors by email. Student ambassadors can join an optional group video call with a supervisor (with parents/guardian present).
Skills Students Gain
- Collaboration: Working effectively in small research teams
- Data Literacy: Handling and interpreting real-world datasets
- Critical Thinking: Designing questions and analysing evidence
- Research Skills: Conducting guided literature reviews
- Communication: Presenting findings through posters and presentations
- Confidence: Experiencing university-style learning in a supportive environment
Includes all online resources, tutorials, supervised group calls, and final research poster. An effective way to deliver university-endorsed, future-ready learning for TY students.
“It was a pleasure to work on a real research project. It clarified my future education and career path.”
Student Participant 2025
The Research Projects
Neuroscience
Explore how vitamins like Vitamin K might affect brain activity and epilepsy using real Trinity College Dublin research data.
Biomedical Science
Investigate how smoking, alcohol, and weight relate to heart disease using real anonymised patient data from Queen’s University Belfast.
Chemistry
Discover how chemistry fights antibiotic resistance by comparing different antibiotics’ effectiveness, cost, and impact on superbugs using real data.
Psychology
Analyse whether lifestyle factors like age and gender relate to wellbeing in young people using Ulster University’s Northern Ireland dataset.
Renewable Energy
Calculate Ireland’s wind power potential using real turbine data from Dundalk Institute of Technology to explore sustainable energy solutions.
Data Science
Learn to spot health patterns by exploring real datasets, understanding probability, and discovering how data drives modern medical decisions.