Two University of Galway students took home top awards at the GradIreland Undergraduate of the Year Awards 2025. The awards recognise and celebrate Ireland’s most outstanding undergraduate students. This year, 16 University of Galway students were shortlisted for the finals. Second year Electronic and Computer Engineering student Sarah Jane Hughes from Redgap, Co Louth was presented with the Innovation Undergraduate of the Year Award, sponsored by Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard. A Stanford University Innovation Fellow and finalist for the Siemens Innovative Student Engineer of the Year Award, Sarah Jane Hughes developed AscertPro, an app revolutionising construction site inspections. Recognised with University of Galway’s IdeasLab President’s Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Sarah Jane is a dynamic leader committed to solving real-world challenges through innovation, collaboration, and sustainable solutions. Passionate about leveraging technology for impact, she has experience in engineering, consulting, and digital marketing and as part of the award she will have the opportunity to earn a Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing from the Digital Marketing Institute. Anna Connors, a fourth year Energy Systems Engineering student, received the Renewable Energy Undergraduate of the Year Award, sponsored by Bord Na Móna, earning a place on the Graduate Programme within renewable energy, personal and professional development. Originally from Ballinalee, Co. Longford, Anna completed an academic work placement at engineering consultancy company Buro Happold in Leeds, UK. In addition to her studies, Anna is passionate about sustainability, the environment and finding carbon neutral energy solutions for the current climate crisis. Marie Laffey, Head of the Career Development Centre at the University, said: “University of Galway is committed to fostering a culture of innovation and sustainability within our university community, and it’s fantastic to see our students leading the way. The prestigious GradIreland Undergraduate of the Year awards are a benchmark of excellence and are highly valued by employers. We are delighted to celebrate Sarah Jane’s and Anna’s success and look forward to seeing the positive difference they will make in their future careers.” Ends

University of Galway is celebrating a standout performance at the 2025 National Student Media Awards with students securing three major awards. The winners were led by first-year Bachelor of Arts Journalism student Vladyslav Piatin-Ponomarenko who secured Film Documentary of the Year for his personal and emotional short documentary, Imagine War – 75 Days of Survival in Mariupol, which documents his escape from Mariupol at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Students secured two other awards: Emma Van Oosterhout, a fourth-year BA Global Media student, was named “Collaborative Journalist of the Year”, and Áine Ní Shíocháin, a BA Cumarsáid student, received an award for excellence in Irish-language journalism. Tom Felle, Associate Professor of Journalism at University of Galway, said: “We are immensely proud of our students' achievements and these awards are a testament to their talent, resilience, and dedication. I would also like to acknowledge my colleagues across the Journalism and Media team for their hard work and support of our students throughout the year.” University of Galway students were shortlisted for eight awards in total, including a nomination for its hyperlocal news site, Galway Pulse, in the “News Site of the Year” category. Ends

University of Galway has presented Special Irish Recognition Awards to students who achieved a distinction in Higher Level Irish in their Junior Cycle examination. More than 160 students from 46 schools from Donegal, Clare, Mayo, Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon and Galway attended the awards event on campus to recognise and celebrate their achievements. These students are among the 3.3% of students across the country who achieved a distinction in the Higher Level T2 Irish paper, or the 3.8% of students who achieved a distinction in the Higher Level T1 paper in the 2024 Junior Cycle examinations by scoring between 90% and 100%. University of Galway Interim President Professor Peter McHugh said: “We are very proud of the Irish language here in Ollscoil na Gaillimhe and we are delighted to welcome these exceptional students, who achieved outstanding results in their Irish Junior Cycle examinations last year, here today to present them with these Special Irish Recognition Awards. It is our privilege to give these students the praise and recognition they deserve, and to celebrate their achievements with them at this special event. I would also like to acknowledge the dedication, encouragement and support of their families, teachers, and principals, both at home and in the classroom.”   The importance of thriving Irish-speaking communities in the Gaeltacht and beyond is recognised in University of Galway’s first Irish language strategy, A Strategy for the Irish Language 2021-2025, which was launched in July 2021. These communities were given due recognition each year over the past three years at the Junior Cycle awards event with the University fulfilling its role in leading higher education in the Irish language and showing Irish speakers respect, as is set out in the Strategy. Ends