Young people – Transition Year

Our Transition Year work experience programme “Exploring Materials” runs annually with several intakes across our sites in TCD, UCC, UL and RCSI.

This experience links school students with AMBER researchers as well as with industry.

AMBER typically  run x2 Dublin-based TY learning experiences (Autumn & Spring), along with additional experiences in UCC and UL, depending on demand and capacity.

The Autumn date for 2025/26 TY students will be 21-24 October 2025 (TBC). Applications for 2025/26 will open in August via our online form. We’ll post the link for this on our website & social media channels.

Transition Year Experience April 2025

Transition Year Experience October 2024

TCD Physics300 All-Island Pitch Tar Citizen Science Challenge

A National Pitch Tar Drop shared learning day took place in AMBER, Trinity College Dublin on 27th March 2025  hosted by the School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin and AMBER. Over 100 secondary school students who participated in the All Island Pitch Tar Drop Experiment attended the event showcasing scientific posters demonstrating the observations and outcomes of their own pitch tar experiments in the schools. The day included talks from: Professor Louise Bradley, Chair of Physics 300 and scientific experiment displays and interactions. Coordinated by AMBER’s Education and Public Engagement Manager Mairead Holden.

Images Credit: Kseniia Mamaeva

About the Pitch Tar Drop

The Pitch Tar Drop demonstration in the School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin began in October 1944, beginning what is now an 80 year continuously running demonstration. While appearing solid at room temperature, the pitch tar flows very slowly with a drop falling from the end of the funnel approximately once in a decade. The most recent drop fell unobserved in 2024. It will be another decade before the demonstration will drip again so the School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin as part of their 2024 Tercentenary Celebrations and in Association with AMBER Centre and the Institute of Physics are hosting an All-Island Pitch Tar Drop Event.

Schools across Ireland will participate in the experiment in which they have been provided with a kit that uses a specially developed pitch tar, which has a lower viscosity than the Trinity demonstration, so we won’t have to wait 10 years. In this national experiment students will see seemingly solid materials flow, be able to measure the formation of the drop, calculate the viscosity and perhaps even capture that special moment when the drop falls. The participants will be part of history!

Hosted by Louise Bradley, physicist and Professor in TCD, the launch took place on Wednesday 27th November 2024. Stefan Hutzler who in 2013 alongside Shane Bergin captured a drop falling in Trinity College Dublin, becoming the first to record this rare moment. The time-lapse video  attracted global media attention at the time with Discover Magazine naming the Trinity Pitch Drop in their top 100 science stories of 2013 and a feature article in Nature News the 3rd most-read piece on their website in 2013. In recognition of its global fame the pitch tar demonstration had been on display in the Eavan Boland Library since 2014 but returned to its permanent home in the School of Physics in time for the tercentenary.

Full details available on the official webpage here

AMBER ‘Future of Science’ Youth Forum 

Young people bring fresh perspectives and innovative thinking that can challenge traditional methods in materials science, driving creative solutions and interdisciplinary approaches. As the future scientists, engineers, and users of materials, their priorities—such as sustainability, can shape research in ways that align with long-term societal needs, ensuring progress that is both forward-thinking and impactful. The AMBER ‘Future of Science’ youth forum facilitates young people to input to AMBER’s research activities by expressing their views on materials science and its role in their lives. The forum comprises secondary students aged 16-18 from across Ireland, who have previously taken part in AMBER’s Transition Year programme. The forum operates through themed online workshops, during which, youth forum members are provided with prompts inviting reflective discussion on various topics related to AMBER’s research programme. During workshops, the forum also contributes to development of scientific literacy campaigns related to specific AMBER projects.