Each year the 
RDS McWilliams Young Science Writer's perpetual trophy, hand crafted from Irish bog oak, is awarded to the overall winner of the Competition. The 2009 winner was nineteen-year-old Sam Hafford from Castleknock College, Co. Dublin (pictured right). Described by the panel of judges as being ‘exceptionally well-written’ Sam’s prize-winning essay ‘Beauty is in the Phi of the Beholder’, discusses the influence of the mathematical formula, phi (φ), in everything from architecture to physiology and explains why it inspired many of our greatest artists, philosophers and scientists from as early as the 3rd century.
Pictured (left) holding the perpetual trophy is the 2008 overall winner Aaron Elbel from St Brendan's College, Killarney, Co. Kerry. Aaron’s winning short story, ‘When Botanists Go Bad’, weaved fascinating aspects of plant science into a unique story about a botanist determined to hunt down and exterminate plant life. The panel of judges were unanimous in their praise and described it as “a wonderful piece of writing which was both original and informative”.
The 2007 winner was 
fifteen-year-old Laura Breslin from St Joseph’s Secondary School, Castlebar, Co. Mayo (pictured with Minister Mary Hanafin). Laura’s entry was a wonderfully written and well-researched report, entitled 'The Sound of Music', which illustrated the neuroscience behind musical appreciation. Her work was described by last year’s judging panel as being “original, informative and stimulating”. They were particularly delighted that Laura enabled readers to appreciate that there is a lot more to music than they might have assumed.
In 2006 fourteen year old James Bennett, (pictured with Minister 
Mary Hanafin) from CBS Secondary School Wexford, won the overall title. James’ beautifully written short story, entitled ‘Changing the Universe’, chronicled Galileo's much troubled relationship with the Vatican during the 1600s as he attempted to convince Pope Paul V that his pioneering and heretical theories about planetary science were correct. It was the originality of James’ essay that impressed the judges and enabled it to stave off the stiff competition from those in the older age brackets.
Details of all winning and highly commended entries from 2009 and 2008 are available, together with the full text of each entry.
