Pictured at the statue of Estonian writer Eduard Wilde on William Street in Galway City is NUI Galway student Ann Browne from Lifford, Co. Donegal and Marie Conlon, Ballinode, Co. Sligo. The students are preparing to travel to Estonia as part of a team of student volunteers to work with a rural development project. Twenty NUI Galway students will travel to Tarfu County, Estonia on Sunday, May 21, 2007 to volunteer with a rural community development scheme. For two weeks, the students will work alongside volunteers from the local area to renovate a community centre, build playgrounds and create forest trails. This is the second consecutive year students from NUI Galway will volunteer in Estonia. The project is part of the President's Award which encourages young people between the ages of 15 and 25 years to set themselves a challenge. Training and support for the Estonia trip is being provided by NUI Galway's volunteering programme ALIVE. As part of the preparation and support structure, sessions are under way on team building, communication and health & safety. Lorraine Tansey, Volunteer Co-ordinator for NUI Galway's ALIVE programme, who is also volunteering for the Estonia project, commented, "ALIVE is all about creating an ethos of volunteering in local communities at home and abroad. Increasing numbers of students are using their summer holidays to volunteer. The trip to Estonia is just one of many examples". She continued, "We are prepared for some hard physical labour. The accommodation will involve bunking down in the community hall in our sleeping bags. Nonetheless, there is huge excitement and anticipation among the Irish team. We know along with the hard work will come the opportunity to get to know the local community in Estonia. We will also have a huge sense of satisfaction at the end of the two weeks." NUI Galway students interested in volunteering in Ireland or abroad can contact the ALIVE programme at studentvolunteering@nuigalway.ie. For more information about the President's award, visit www.p-award.net. ENDS

Nicholas Canny, Professor of History and Academic Director of the Moore Institute at NUI Galway has been elected to the prestigious American Philosophical Society, becoming only the third Irish member of this generation to become a member of this, the oldest learned society in North America. Professor Canny, who is also the University's current Vice President for Research, was accorded this honour in recognition of his achievements as an original and innovative historian and of his advocacy of the importance of scholarship in the Humanities to the University and to Citizenship. His election, among the maximum of eight international members chosen in 2007, sees him join Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney and Thomas Mitchell, former provost of Trinity College Dublin, as fellow members of the Society. NUI Galway President Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, in extending his congratulations to Prof. Canny, said that this was "indeed a signal honour, recognising, as it does an outstanding scholar, whose contribution to research in the humanities is immense. On behalf of the University, I would like to pay tribute to Prof. Canny, an esteemed and long-standing member of NUI Galway s faculty, as he receives this prestigious honour from his peers." The American Philosophical Society was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743 and since then has promoted useful knowledge in all branches of Science, the Arts, Social Science and the Humanities. Thomas Jefferson was one of its first Presidents, and that position is currently held by Baruch S. Blumberg, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1976. The Society currently has an enrolment of 804 resident and 156 foreign members, of whom close to 100 are Nobel Prize winners. The Society supports research through a program of grants, publishes scholarly books and journals and maintains a library singularly rich in material in the history of science and technology. ENDS

NUI Galway will hold an Information Evening for Adult Learners on Tuesday, 22 May 2007 where prospective students can find out all they need to know about part-time undergraduate and post-graduate study opportunities commencing in September 2007. The event will be held from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at Áras na Mac Léinn where course co-ordinators will outline the specific details and requirements on a range of part-time programmes, on a one-to-one basis. NUI Galway's Strategic Plan for Adult Education pledges to increase access for non-traditional students and to expand distance learning and educational outreach. Among the courses offered at Certificate, Diploma, Degree and Masters level include; Diplomas in French, Italian, German, Spanish and Irish BA in Training and Education BA in Family and Community Studies BSc. in Science and Technology Studies MSc in Software and Information Systems MSc in Technology Management Seamus O'Grady, Director of Adult & Continuing Education at the University says: "The profile of Adult & Continuing Education has changed greatly at NUI Galway over the past 10 years. The BA in Family and Community Studies is an example of such new programme developments. It is designed to enable participants to further develop and enhance their understanding, knowledge and skills relevant to Family and Community work practice and policy in Ireland or abroad." The BSc in Science and Technology Studies is a unique programme that offers a combination of traditional subjects to give students a thorough grounding in the theoretical foundations of Science and Engineering along with specialist modules so that students can focus on areas that are relevant to their careers. "The programme can also be completed on a modular basis to enable students study at a pace that suits them", explains course co-ordinator Niamh Nolan. "So, if you work or aim to work in manufacturing, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals or medical devices this is the programme for you." The innovative on-line MSc in Software and Information Systems is a tailor-made programme to advance and update a participant's knowledge of software and database design and development, developed in collaboration with Regis University, Denver, USA. The programme combines theory and practice, providing hands-on experience of software development methodologies and the application of information systems in industry. The Masters in Technology Management, offered by the Atlantic University Alliance (AUA), a collaborative agreement between University College Cork, University of Limerick and NUI Galway is equally enticing for those working in R&D or new product development or for candidates who perform a range of roles in one of Ireland's SMEs. Nuala McGuinn, Adult Education Development Officer, NUI Galway urges anyone considering part-time study to come along to the Information Evening as a first step to enhancing career prospects. "Any software is only as good as its next update and you can apply the same principle to your career. The closing date for application for many of our courses is earlier than you think and in some cases it's as early as June, so now is the time for students to do their research." For further details on all programmes visit the Adult Education website on: www.nuigalway.ie/adulteducation. ENDS

The Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) at NUI Galway will play a significant role in the Semantic Technologies Conference in San Jose, from 20 – 24 May 2007. DERI will provide several technology presentations to a mostly industrial audience at the conference which will focus on industry-ready semantic technology solutions. "DERI Galway's leading role in semantic solutions is confirmed again - not only in Europe, but also in the Silicon Valley. Our innovative solutions continue to generate considerable industrial interest," says Prof. Stefan Decker, director of DERI. The presentations by DERI include work by researcher Eyal Oren, who will speak about this work on ActiveRDF, which bridges the gap between the new data formats of the Semantic Web and the mainstream approach of object-oriented programming. ActiveRDF, an open-source innovation from DERI which has triggered world-wide interest, allows existing developers to use Semantic Web data within their familiar tools and development approaches. In particular, ActiveRDF integrates the popular Web development framework Ruby on Rails and "puts the Semantic Web on Rails." Mr Oren will also present DERI s ongoing work on Semantic Business Process Integration which improves business-to-business integration, a multi-billion dollar market. Sebastian Kruk, who specialises in e-learning research, will present a semantic digital library, JeromeDL, which can turn a humble reader of digital content into a knowledge contributor, knowledge that can be used by other users, not only of this particular digital library. He will explain why systems like JeromeDL, which adapt semantic web and social networking technologies to knowledge organization systems in digital libraries domain, are the corner stones of the future Internet. Mr Kruk will also present how JeromeDL can support future solutions in e-learning, web archiving and e-government. The DERI team will also present other technologies at the conference where they will show how knowledge can be shared and filtered using Semantic Web 2.0 technologies; how to develop ontologies in a collaborative way using MarcOnt Portal; as well as explaining the role semantics play in digital content repositories. DERI is currently the largest applied research organisation in the world developing the next generation of internet technology - the Semantic Web. Founded in 2003 with CSET (Centre for Science and Engineering Technology) funding from Science Foundation Ireland, it has since grown to over 100 people and has acquired significant additional research funding from sources such as the European Union Framework Programmes, Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland. Science Foundation Ireland s investment in DERI represents one of its largest investments in the software area, signalling the importance of the Semantic Web. SFI is greatly encouraged by the world class results such as this being produced by the DERI researchers. END

Ag searmanas speisialta san Ollscoil, bronnadh Cartlann Mhíchíl Chíosóig, cartlann ina bhfuil ábhar oifigiúil agus pearsanta a bhaineann le bunaitheoir CLG, Mícheál Cíosóg agus a theaghlach, ar Leabharlann Shéamais Uí Argadáin, OÉ Gaillimh. B'iarleabharlannaí de chuid OÉ Gaillimh, Patricia O'Connell nach maireann, neacht chéile le Mícheál Cíosóg, a thug an chartlann don Leabharlann. I measc na n-ábhar: Leabhar oifigiúil Chlub Iománaíochta Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath, ó bunaíodh é i 1883 – sonraí faoi bhallraíocht, miontuairiscí agus cuntais an chlub nua, a raibh Cíosóg ina Leas-Uachtarán air, agus socruithe do chluichí iománaíochta i bPáirc an Fhionnuisce ag tús 1883; Cuntas Mhíchíl Chíosóig ar a chuairt ar Chontae an Chláir, Meitheamh 1902; litir chuig a chlann mhac sa tréimhse chéanna; leabhar urnaithe a thug sé dá bhean Margaret i 1880; nótaí faoina ghinealas, agus nóta dá chlann ina measc; grianghraif de Mhícheál, Margaret agus a gclann. Labhair an Leabharlannaí Marie Reddan faoi thábhacht na cartlainne. "Cuirfidh Cartlann Chíosóig go mór le stóras OÉ Gaillimh maidir le hathbheochan chultúr na hÉireann ag deireadh an naoú céad déag. Is bailiúchán den scoth é seo agus cuirfidh sé go mór leis an ábhar atá againn ó Bhailiúchán Stiofáin Bhairéid (an chéad Chisteoir ar Chonradh na Gaeilge) agus bailiúchán de pháipéir nuachta na hOllscoile ó dheireadh an naoú céad déag, ina bhfuil The Celtic Times." Rugadh Mícheál Cíosóg (1847 – 1906) sa Charn taobh thoir de Bhoirinn. Mhúin sé i gCora Finne, Loch Cútra, Coláiste Cholmáin, Iúr Cinn Trá, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe agus i scoileanna eile i mBaile Átha Cliath, i gCill Chainnigh agus i gCill Dara, sular bhunaigh sé a scoil féin. I 1884, bhunaigh sé Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, chun iománaíocht agus peil Ghaelach a athbheochan agus chun an lúthchleasaíocht a fhorbairt. Bhí baint ag an gCíosógach le gluaiseacht athbheochana na Gaeilge freisin, agus scríobh sé go rialta do thréimhseacháin éagsúla. Bhunaigh sé The Celtic Times, páipéar seachtainiúil faoi chluichí dúchasacha agus faoi chultúr na hÉireann. Seachas an tairbhe a bheadh ann do thaighdeoirí maidir le heolas faoi fhórsaí cultúrtha sa tréimhse sin agus, go háirithe, imeachtaí roimh bhunú CLG i 1884, tugann cartlann Mhíchíl Chíosóig léargas níos fearr dúinn ar phearsantacht Chíosóig, an fear príobháideach teaghlaigh. Níl ábhar mar seo ó pheann Chíosóig féin le fáil in aon áit eile, ach in OÉ Gaillimh, agus bronnta orainn ag a theaghlach féin. Tá an Ollscoil fíorbhuíoch as an gcartlann seo a bhronn Patricia O'Connell ar Leabharlann Shéamais Uí Argadáin, áit ar chaith sí riar maith dá saol. Bhí trí leabhar scríofa ag Patricia féin faoi Choláistí Éireannacha ar an Mór-Roinn. Faraor, bhásaigh Patricia i mí na Nollag 2006. CRÍOCH