Irish Universities Promoting Science at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition

Once again, Irish Universities Promoting Science had an extremely busy stand in the World of Science and Technology at this year’s BT Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS.

Winning Science Rappers

David Jackson a first year UCC biochemistry student, with his rap video titled “Genesis Lab Rat Rap Irish Hip Hop” along with rap video “Spectrometry Rap” from Seán Hassett, Robin Flynn and Conor Conway, of Presentation College Headford Co. Galway are the winners of the 17 years and over category of Science Raps Challenge.

Engineers Week 2009

Engineers Week is a week long programme of nationwide events with the aim of celebrating the world of engineering in Ireland. The aim of the week is to create a positive and spark enthusiasm about the engineering profession to people of various ages and with little or no engineering background.

UCD celebrates National Science Week in Shaping our World

To celebrate National Science Week (8-15 November), UCD Science ran events attended by over 550 secondary school students from 50 schools in Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Monaghan and Sligo.

Science Week 2009

Science Week runs from Sunday 8 November until Sunday 15 November. Find out what is happening in your university.

Students step back in time to examine the Maths behind iPods, Googling, Social Networking and the Big Bang

Can 1+1 ever equal 0? How does the Google search engine work? What is the largest picture ever taken of the universe? These were just some of the questions answered by UCD lecturers to over 600 secondary school students during National Maths week on 13 October 2009.

Top Immunologist Wins Boyle Medal

Wednesday, October 7 – Luke O’Neill, Professor of Biochemistry, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, has won the prestigious RDS Irish Times Boyle Medal for Scientific Excellence for his pioneering work on the molecular understanding of innate immunity and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Should anybody in the reliably pestilent health care debate be casting about for a mascot organ to represent some of the biggest medical crises that we Americans face, allow me to nominate a nonobvious candidate: the pancreas.

There are some things it is better just not to think about. Like the 10,000 bacteria you inhale with each breath in the average office building. Or the 10 million bacteria in each glass of tap water.

Biomedical science workshop at DCU

“We had an amazing week”, was the feedback from students following their participation in a Biomedical Science workshop at the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute (BDI), DCU from Aug 5-7th.

Explore Science and Engineering Summer Camp

Secondary school students from all over Ireland took part in the University of Limerick "Explore Science & Engineering Summer Camp" during the month of June 2009. The focus was to explore all aspects of science, engineering and technology and to check out exciting career options available in the many different fields.

CAO points for places in most third-level science courses have surged after much stronger demand from students. However, the class of 2009 have deserted property-related courses in their droves, resulting in a massive slump in points.

First prize in EU for Kinsale Young Scientists

THE WINNERS of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2009 have secured a first prize at the EU Young Scientist Contest in Paris, France, it was announced on Wednesday 16 th September.

Eight A1s puts software millionaire on track for Harvard

A TEENAGE entrepreneur who hit the jackpot last year when he sold his software company for more than €3 million has made headlines again after scoring one of the highest Leaving Cert results in the country. John Collison from Monaleen in Limerick was one of 11 Leaving Cert students in the country who received eight A1s in the State exams.

First trace of colour found in fossil bird feathers

Birds, more than any other group of animals, are a celebration of colour. They have evolved to every extreme of the spectrum, from the hot pink of flamingos to the shimmering blue of a peacock’s neck. Yet, for decades, palaeontologists who study extinct birds have had to use their imaginations to see the colours in the fossils.

Folic acid - mandatory fortification may be unnecessary

Persistently present levels of unmetabolised folic acid found in the population indicate that introducing mandatory food fortification may result in an ‘overdosing’ effect. A study of blood donors, new mothers and babies, published in the open access journal BMC Public Health, has found that most already get enough folic acid from voluntarily fortified foods.

Irelands newest pharmaceutical devices company, Blue Box Sensors, spun out of NUI Maynooth

NUI Maynooth has today announced the latest spin out from the University. Based on patented technology by Prof John Lowry, head of Chemistry Dept, Blue Box Sensors Ltd will manufacture devices that can track levels of chemicals in the brain in real time over the course of weeks or even months.

Minister Lenihan announces flagship investment in systems biology R&D

“Today’s investment establishing Systems Biology Ireland is clear evidence of the Government’s ongoing commitment to further enhancing Ireland’s scientific base to aid our economic recovery,” said the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan TD at the announcement of a new research centre in systems biology.

NUI Galway is University of the Year for a second time

NUI Galway has been named 'University of the Year 2009' in the Sunday Times University Guide, securing the prestigious accolade for a second time.

TCD scientists discover a way to manipulate the magnetic properties of a molecule electrically

A discovery by TCD scientists of a way to manipulate the magnetic properties of a molecule electrically, known as the Electrostatic Spin Crossover Effect, has the potential of developing future important applications such as the construction of ultra-high-dense computer memories. 

UCD scientist secures lead role in expedition to explore impact of climate change on world's oceans

Guided by satellite communities and oceanographic data, The Tara, a thirty-six metre schooner fitted with the most advanced technologies for investigating planktonic life in the world’s oceans will set sail this weekend from Lorient in France for a three-year scientific expedition of the world’s oceans.

Where did all the flowers come from?

Throughout his life, Charles Darwin surrounded himself with flowers. When he was 10, he wrote down each time a peony bloomed in his father’s garden. When he bought a house to raise his own family, he turned the grounds into a botanical field station where he experimented on flowers until his death. But despite his intimate familiarity with flowers, Darwin once wrote that their evolution was “an abominable mystery.”

Primary school children discover the wonders of science

The Primary Science summer camps were once again held in UCC this July. Approximately one hundred children between eight and twelve years of age attended over a two week period.

Presentations from Science Speak 2009

View all the presentations from Science Speak 2009, including winner Julie O’Donovan

Science Speak 2009 - Drunken Flies and Brownian Motion Triumph at Science Speak

A humorous analogy of drunken flies trying to avoid a collection of dangerous obstacles formed the basis of the prize-winning presentation from University College Cork’s Julie O’Donovan at the ‘SCIENCE SPEAK’ competition

Science Speak 2009

This unique inter-varsity science communication event will take place this year in the Concert Hall, RDS on Monday 27th April at 7 PM, and will once more be a joint initiative organised by the RDS and The Irish Times in association with Irish Universities Promoting Science.

Engineers Week, incorporating Engineered - A Week Of Wonder

The tiered seating, the towering unicycle, the dexterous juggling, the enthralled audience – the circus came to town on Tuesday 10 th February 2009, albeit it pitched in a Brookfield lecture theatre, rather than the traditional Big Top!

Letting Scientists Off the Leash

An article from a blog describing what life is like for a scientist at a modern research university, and the more general consequences for science and creativity.

Transition Year Students Do It For Real At Computer Science Department, UCC!

The Computer Science Department’s first formal Work Experience Programme for Transition Year students was launched on Monday, February 9th, by Professor Pat Fitzpatrick, Head of College of Science, Engineering, and Food Science.

Emissions cut won’t bring quick relief, scientists say

Many people who worry about global warming hope that once emissions of heat-trapping gases decline, the problems they cause will quickly begin to abate. Now researchers are saying that such hope is ill-founded, at least with regard to carbon dioxide.

Fossils of largest snake give hint of hot earth

Some 60 million years ago, well after the demise of the dinosaurs, a giant relative of today’s boa constrictors, weighing more than a ton and measuring 42 feet long, hunted crocodiles in rain-washed tropical forests in northern South America, according to a new fossil discovery.

Kinsale boys named top young scientists

A project to develop a simple method for detecting infection in dairy cows has won top prize in the 2009 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

Anybody out there? Kilkenny students put ET under the microscope

CBS Kilkenny is one school where science is on the up. Twenty per cent of students took chemistry for the Leaving Cert compared to the national average of 14 per cent. Likewise, 22 per cent did physics compared to 14 per cent nationwide. Around half took biology, which is the overall average.

Astronomical photo competition organised by DCU

To celebrate the International Year of Astronomy 2009, DCU's School of Physical Sciences and the National Centre for Plasma Science and Technology are holding an astronomical digital photo competition “Eye on the Sky”.

Making science crystal clear

Science has a bad image. What many students learn in school about chemistry, physics and biology has already been forgotten by the time they get their Leaving Cert results. It hasn't been hip since Doc Brown invented time travel in Back to the Future.

New facility at TCD will benefit research on diseases

A new Flow Cytometry Facility was officially opened on Jan 26 in Trinity College’s Institute of Molecular Medicine, located at St. James’s Hospital.

Stepping into the future with UCD Science at the 2009 BT Young Scientist Exhibition

The RDS welcomed thousands of visiting students, teachers, parents and members of the general public to this year’s BT Young Scientist exhibition. Record numbers of students competed in 500 projects from 31 counties across Ireland.

Two Irish Universities sign medical agreement

The presidents of UCC and NUI Galway have signed a Co-operation Agreement with the Allianze College of Medical Sciences in Malaysia.

UL Chancellor repeats his call for review of third level

A year after the Government’s announcement of a strategic review of Higher Education, a steering group to conduct the review has not yet been formed.

Why animal testing offers the best chance for answers

THE ISSUE OF whether science should experiment on animals is in the news again. Many people, including many scientists, have mixed feelings about using animals in research and awkward ethical questions arise, but enormous advances in biological and biomedical research have resulted from experimentation on animals.

Young science writer

This year’s winner of the RDS McWilliams Young Science Writers' Competition was Aaron Elbel from St Brendan's College in Killarney.

Global Warming: Sink or Swim?

The impacts of future rises in sea level under global warming may have profound effects in the 21st century on about 40% of the world’s population.

Science for All 2009 Launched

Science for All 2009, the UCC Postgraduate Student Public Presentation Competition, was recently launched by Dr Michael Murphy, President UCC.

Each year the Institute of Physics in Ireland presents a Silver Medal for the Highest Level of Achievement in the Physics Leaving Certificate. This year, the Medal has been awarded to UCC student, Paul Fitzgerald, a former pupil of Christian Brothers College, Sidney Hill, Cork.

UCC has secured over €7 million in funding to upgrade 28 of its science laboratories. The sum of €5,040,000 including €849,000 has been received for equipment for the Kane Building under the Higher Education Authority's (HEA) Research Facilities Enhancement Scheme (RFES) 2008

Dr Sabin Tabirca of UCC's Computer Science Department was recently presented with the IT in Education award at the second Leaders Awards Ceremony of IT@Cork.

The popular Annual SEFS Public Lecture Series will begin its 2009 programme on Wednesday, January 14th with a lecture by Professor William Reville on "Darwin’s Legacy".