Three students from the Ursuline College in Sligo claimed one of the top four awards at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2009 held at the RDS in Dublin.

Students Rhona Togher, Eimear O'Carroll and Niamh Chapman won €1,200 and a BT Perpetual trophy for their project entitled "The Sound of Silence – an Investigation into Low Frequency Therapy for Tinnitus Sufferers" which was entered in the Senior Section of the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences category. The students were group runners up.

The project on tinnitus, which is a ringing noise in the ears that often follows being exposed to loud noises also won the Health Research Board Special prize.

The Sligo students discovered that certain low frequency sounds can relieve tinnitus and give patients significantly improved hearing.

"We downloaded a low frequency sound generator programme from the internet, bought a set of headphones, then played potentially therapeutic sounds to people over the headphones from a laptop computer.

"By measuring volunteers' hearing before and afterwards, we could compare results and see what sound frequencies brought the most improvement in different people," explained Niamh Chapman.

The team, all 6th year students, had won 1st place in the senior physcis section last year with a localisation of sound study.

This year's project had allowed the students to invent and use a new low frequency therapy that cured temporary tinnitus for example after being exposed to a loud sound such as concerts, i-pods etc.

They also set up a website that allows anyone worldwide to download and use, free of charge, their therapy. Within the space of one minute, temporary tinnitus can be eliminated and original hearing restored.

Due to the wide ranging potential of this project and the benefit it has to millions worldwide, as well as future research possibilities for hearing restoration, the judges were extremely impressed.

After a total of 15 judgings, the students were awarded group runner up making them joint second in the whole competition.

The students returned on Sunday morning to Strandhill airport where they were met with a welcoming committee of family and friends.

Commenting on the achievement, Health Research Board, CEO Enda Connolly said:

'The Health Research Board special prize celebrates research that has a real impact on improving people's health. The fact that the girls actually came up with a potential new treatment is a real achievement.

"Their project also shows that health research is not just about biology and medicine, but that subjects like physics and technology also have a lead role in health solutions.

"I hope the girls go on to great research careers in their own right and that they might inspire others to apply their research to improving people's health."

A total of seven students from the Ursuline College participated in the exhibition. They were accompanied by Physics teacher Mr. Anthony Carolan.

Two 5th year projects were also involved which included Stephanie Mulvaney's individual entry in the senior Chemical, Physical and Mathematical section. Stephanie was working on an investigation of thermometric properties of heated air.

This was a study of how light bends when moving through heated air. Stephanie impressed her judges, one of which was an expert on light phenomena.

The second team from 5th year included Maeve Tuohy, Riona Walsh and Laura McLoughlin. Their project entitled "Eye in the Sky" was an investigation into the % error in depth perception when looking at objects above as opposed to along the ground.

They found significant differences in people's ability to tell how far away objects were in the sky rather than along the ground. This detailed and well presented project earned the girls second place in the senior Chemistry, Physics and Mathematical section.