Winner of the 2026 Youth Organisation First Prize of €1000 was Arden Oakes, representing Grow Music, Dundalk at the Science and Technology Festival, presented by Professor Abhay Pandit, Professor of Biomaterials and Director of Rinn Medical Devices, University of Galway, and Dr Enda O’Connell, Director of ReelLIFE SCIENCE, University of Galway. Photos :Andrew Downes, XPOSURE
A Dundalk student has won first prize at the national ReelLIFE SCIENCE Awards after using a piano and a pet chicken to help explain how sound is made.
Third-year student Arden Oakes, representing Grow Music in Dundalk, took the top prize in the youth organisation category for a short film entitled How Do We Make Sound?
The award was presented at the University of Galway on Sunday, 8th November, as part of Science Week 2026 and the Galway Science and Technology Festival.
Arden’s film was among more than 200 entries submitted to this year’s competition, with around 1,000 young people from 78 schools and youth groups across Ireland taking part.
This is not Arden’s first success in the competition. In 2023, Arden also took first prize in the youth organisation category with a film called How the Ear Works, again representing Grow Music in Dundalk.
Making science fun and accessible
Now in its 14th year, ReelLIFE SCIENCE challenges young people to produce short educational films that explain scientific ideas in interesting and creative ways.
The competition encourages participants to explore science and technology while developing their communication, filmmaking and digital skills.
Arden’s winning entry tackled the question of how sound is made, using a combination of props, including a piano and a pet chicken, to help bring the subject to life.
The film secured first place in the youth organisation category, ahead of entries from young filmmakers in Leitrim and Cork.
Celebrating young science communicators
The winning films were selected by a judging panel that included scientist Dr Barry Fitzgerald, Midlands Science Chief Executive Jackie Gorman and 2026 Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition winner Aoibheann Daly from Tralee.
Jackie Gorman praised the standard of entries and the ability of young people to communicate scientific ideas.
I was really delighted to be a judge this year for ReelLIFE SCIENCE. It was really heartening to see the science explained so well and to see that, not only was the science so accurate and engaging, but the communication itself. We need lots of people all over Ireland to engage with Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, but we equally need people who are going to communicate the science well, so that as many people as possible understand that science is not just part of our economy but it’s a really valuable part of our society and our everyday lives.
Thousands of young people involved
ReelLIFE SCIENCE was established in 2013 by Dr Enda O’Connell and a team of scientists at the University of Galway.
Since then, more than 33,000 young people from 850 schools and youth groups have taken part, producing almost 4,000 short science films.
This year’s winners also included students from Roscommon and Galway who explored subjects ranging from headlice to diabetes.
For Grow Music in Dundalk, Arden’s achievement is recognition on a national stage for a creative approach that brings music and science together.
The winning videos can be watched on the ReelLIFE SCIENCE YouTube channel.
