“The financial base of Irish universities is being undermined by decisions on fees and reductions in State funding, Dublin City University president Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski said yesterday. Speaking at a graduation ceremony, Prof von Prondzynski – a long-time critic of the Department of Education – said decision-makers did not appear to understand the role of universities in a modern country …” (more)
[Seán Flynn, Irish Times, 10 November]
“Third-level students are increasingly under stress due to financial worries and concern over their future, according to the Union of Students in Ireland (USI). The union has begun distributing free mental health information packs to students at third-level colleges throughout the State as part of this year’s Mental Health Awareness week which began yesterday …” (more)
[Charlie Taylor, Irish Times, 10 November]
“If you were one of the many people privileged to attend Prof Noam Chomsky’s presentations last week, either in UCD, Trinity or the RDS, you may still be savouring the experience of hearing him speak, admiring his intellectual courage, mulling over his ideas and marvelling at the intellectual magnitude of this man in the eighth decade of life …” (more)
[Marie Murray, Irish Times, 10 November]
“Recently I attended a workshop organised by the IDA that addressed the relationship between universities and industry, looking at how this could be harnessed for the future development of the Irish economy. The event allowed senior university officers to talk informally with senior business leaders in an open forum. But more importantly, it highlighted how Ireland’s opportunities to attract new investment were critically dependent on research and innovation …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, Irish Times, 10 November]
“A Trinity College Dublin biochemist, Prof Luke O’Neill, has won the inaugural Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) researcher of the year award. Prof O’Neill also won the RDS /Irish Times Boyle Medal for Scientific Excellence last month. Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation Conor Lenihan announced the award last night on the opening day of the annual SFI summit …” (more)
[Dick Ahlstrom, Irish Times, 10 November]
“Next week, the Union of Students in Ireland will celebrate its golden anniversary with a gala banquet attended by President McAleese. USI has, at various times in its history, been a platform for the likes of Joe Duffy and Eamonn Gilmore, but these days it must battle with student apathy …” (more)
[Gráinne Faller, Irish Times, 10 November]
“Cuts to third-level education will hamper economic recovery, a college head warned yesterday. Dublin City University president Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski slammed money-saving measures proposed by An Bord Snip Nua and claimed learning institutions were key to the country’s escape from recession …” (more)
[Jeananne Craig, Independent, 10 November]
“A perfect storm is beginning to form around Irish higher education, and conditions are such that the sector will be in very serious trouble over the coming year …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 10 November]
“University College Dublin spin-out company HeyStaks Technologies has won the inaugural, Europe-wide, UNICA Entrepreneurship Competition for Students and Young Researchers and a prize of €20,000. HeyStaks, which is a NovaUCD client company, has developed a social Web search platform which enables searchers to better organise and easily share information they find while browsing the internet …” (more)
[Charlie Taylor, Irish Times, 10 November]
“This week is Science Week in Ireland, with science events taking place all over the country. There are talks and demonstrations on every aspect of science you can think of, from a demonstration of animal magic at Killaloe in County Limerick to astronomy at the Crawford Observatory of University College Cork …” (more)
[Cormac O’Raifeartaigh, Antimatter, 9 November]
“The Union of Students in Ireland has unveiled a new campaign aimed at raising awareness of mental health among young people. Mental Health Awareness Week will run from November 9th until November 13th. As part of the campaign, USI will distribute a mental health awareness pack in third level colleges throughout the country …” (more)
[Ciara O'Brien, Irish Times, 9 November]
“Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr. Conor Lenihan T.D., has today announced Professor Luke O’Neill of Trinity College Dublin (TCD) as winner of Science Foundation Ireland’s inaugural SFI ‘Researcher of the Year’ accolade. Minister Lenihan made the announcement in a keynote address to the SFI Science Summit, at a two-day conference in Athlone attended by over 300 of Ireland’s leading scientific researchers …” (more)
[Conor Lenihan, Fianna Fail Blog, 9 November]
“The financial base of Irish universities is being undermined by decisions on fees and reductions in State funding, according to DCU president professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski. Speaking at a graduation ceremony held by the university today, the professor said efforts by Irish third-level institutions to promote the value of research had been undermined by the McCarthy report, which questioned the usefulness of spending in this area …” (more)
[Irish Times, 9 November]
“HeyStaks Technologies the University College Dublin spin-out company has won the inaugural, Europe-wide, UNICA Entrepreneurship Competition for Students and Young Researchers and a prize of €20,000. HeyStaks (www.heystaks.com), a NovaUCD client company, has developed a revolutionary social Web search platform which enables searchers to better organise and easily share the resources they find while searching and browsing the Web …” (more)
[Irish Press Releases, 9 November]
“Bank of Ireland has launched a new Seed and Early Stage Equity Fund supported by Enterprise Ireland and the University of Limerick that will focus on start-up companies and patent-pending projects in Irish universities …” (more)
[John Kennedy, Silicon Republic, 9 November]
“One in three college students in Ireland is experiencing mental health problems, according to a university report. The figures coincide with the launch of Mental Health Awareness Week at college campuses across the country this week …” (more)
[BreakingNews.ie, 9 November]
“Academics are often characterized (and caricatured) as pompous, confident that they are the smartest people in the room and eager to prove it. But arrogance and insecurity are sometimes flip sides of one coin, and the professoriate has seen a rash lately of scholars expressing dismay at their perceived marginalization – sociologists awaiting calls from the Obama administration, for instance, and political scientists reiterating calls for more grounding for their discipline in ‘the real world’ …” (more)
[Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed, 9 November]
“A stand-off between universities and their funding agency over academic autonomy has left hundreds of lecturing posts unfilled despite colleges being given an exemption from the ban on public service recruitment. Only three applications have been made to fill hundreds of academic vacancies in the seven universities since new arrangements for third level colleges took effect in July, according to figures obtained by the Irish Examiner …” (more)
[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 9 November]
“… There is a major need for a wider discussion on the nature and purpose of the public service in Ireland. But separate from that, there is a need to re-design our understanding of what universities are. They are not corporate entities or private for-profit organisations; but equally they must not be seen as government agencies with the sole role of applying the latest policies under central control …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 9 November]
“Irish universities still lag behind the world’s best, according to the latest international league table. No Irish third-level institution has broken into the top 200 worldwide in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 7 November]
