Three students from Kinsale were last night named theoverall winners of Google's Science Fair Grand Prize as well as winners of the 15-16 age category at this prestigious global science competition.

Ciara Judge, Emer Hickey and Sophie Healy-Thow, who won the BT Young Scientist & Technology Award in 2013, were selected from 18 finalists for their project entitled Combating the Global Food Crisis: Diazotoph bacteria as a cereal crop growth promoter. The project investigated the use of diazotroph bacteria as a cereal crop germination and growth aid.

The Kinsale team undertook an extensive study on crops of wheat, oats and barley and statistical analysis of their results indicated that naturally occurring Rhizobium strains of the diazotroph bacteria family accelerated germination by up to 50% and, in the case of barley, increased yields by 74%.

The Google Science Fair is intended to encourage the next generation of scientists and engineers. The overall grand prize includes a 10-day National Geographic Expedition to the Galapagos Islands, a visit to the Virgin Galactic Spaceport in New Mexico, and US$50,000 in scholarship funding.