To celebrate the reopening of the newly refurbished student centre at NUI Galway, Áras na Mac Léinn, student societies have joined forces for the first ever Soc's Music Week. Kicking off on Monday, 16 November, the week will include a wide spectrum of events from all musical genres and includes concerts, dance performances and workshops with guest musicians. Soc's Music Week will commence with an international food fair and live bands in the newly refurbished Bailey Allen hall from 5pm on Monday, 16 November. Later that evening, at 7pm, a special collaborative concert will involve the NUI Galway Orchestra, Traditional Society and Choral Society. Other events during Soc's Music Week will include a charity busking day on Thursday, 19 November, in aid of the Western Alzheimer's Association. According to Ríona Hughes, Societies Officer at NUI Galway: "This is an opportunity to showcase the many talented musicians we have here on campus. For the general public, we invite you to join us during this week which promises to have something for everyone, whatever your musical tastes". Other features of the week will include a performance with Ancient Music Ireland and viewings of classic musicals in association with the Film Society. On Thursday, 19 November, the Rotaract Society will hold the annual Socs in the City fashion show, to raise money for Aware. The week will draw out the stars of NUI Galway with the NUI G's Got Talent Final, a competition which has been hotly contested during the heats. The general public are invited to all events, many of which are free. For a full listing visit www.socs.nuigalway.ie or call 091 49 2852. -Ends-

(Leagan Gaeilge) To mark the 125th anniversary of the GAA, the James Hardiman Library at NUI Galway will stage an exhibition that focuses on the University's involvement in GAA sports from the early twentieth century through to modern times. The exhibition opening will coincide with the official launch of the GAA commissioned book "The GAA: A People's History" in the Bailey Allen Hall, NUI Galway on Wednesday, 11 November by GAA President, Criostóir Ó Cuana. The exhibition will include a range of photographs of University football, hurling and camogie teams. The photographs include those of trophy winning teams in Sigerson, Fitzgibbon and Ashbourne Cup tournaments. The NUI Galway library holds the archive of Michael Cusack, the founder of the GAA, and selections from this important collection will feature in the exhibition. The James Hardiman Library also provides digital access to around 2000 images taken by American collector George Pickow during his visit to Ireland in 1952-53. Images of GAA games from the Ritchie-Pickow archive will be on display. John Cox, University Librarian at NUI Galway, commented: "We are very excited to present this exhibition, highlighting as it does some of the University's rich archival material. We are also very grateful to current students and graduates of NUI Galway who have kindly donated memorabilia for display from their playing days". The GAA exhibition will be staged in the foyer of the James Hardiman Library from 12 November until 18 December. The library exhibition will be open to the public until 10pm weekdays and until 5.30pm at weekends. Taispeántas OÉ Gaillimh ag Ceiliúradh 125 Bliain ó bunaíodh CLG (View in English) Mar chomóradh ar 125 bliain a bheith caite ó bunaíodh CLG, beidh taispeántas i Leabharlann Shéamais Uí Argadáin ina ndíreofar ar an mbaint a bhí ag an Ollscoil le spóirt CLG ó thús an fichiú haois i leith. Osclóidh an taispeántas nuair a sheolfaidh Uachtarán CLG, Criostóir Ó Cuana, an leabhar The GAA: A People's History, ar choimisiúnaigh CLG é, go hoifigiúil i Halla Bailey Allen, OÉ Gaillimh Dé Céadaoin, an 11 Samhain.. Beidh réimse grianghraf sa taispeántas d'fhoirne peile, iomána agus camógaíochta na hOllscoile. I measc na ngrianghraf sin tá grianghraif d'fhoirne buacacha thurnaimintí Chorn Sigerson, Chorn Fitzgibbon agus Chorn Ashbourne. Tá cartlann Mhichíl Uí Chíosóig, bunaitheoir CLG, i leabharlann OÉ Gaillimh, agus beidh samplaí a roghnaíodh as an gcartlann thábhachtach seo sa taispeántas. Tá fáil go digiteach i Leabharlann Shéamais Uí Argadáin chomh maith ar thart ar 2000 íomhá a thóg an bailitheoir Meiriceánach George Pickow le linn a chuairte ar Éirinn i 1952-53. Beidh íomhánna ó chluichí CLG ó chartlann Ritchie-Pickow sa taispeántas chomh maith. Bhí an méid seo a leanas le rá ag John Cox, Leabharlannaí na hOllscoile in OÉ Gaillimh: "Táimid an-tógtha leis an taispeántas seo. Tarraingeoidh sé aird ar an sárábhar cartlainne atá san Ollscoil. Táimid buíoch chomh maith de na mic léinn reatha agus de chéimithe OÉ Gaillimh a thug cuimhneacháin óna dtréimhse imeartha féin dúinn". Beidh an taispeántas ar bun i bhforhalla Leabharlann Shéamais Uí Argadáin ón 12 Samhain go dtí an 18 Nollaig. Beidh cead isteach ag an bpobal ag an taispeántas sa Leabharlann go dtí 10pm i rith na seachtaine agus go dtí 5.30pm ag deireadh na seachtaine. -Críoch-

A spin-out company from NUI Galway, Analyze IQ Limited, is providing solutions for the more accurate analysis of complex mixtures such as illegal drugs, pharmaceuticals and contaminants. With technology licensed from NUI Galway, Analyze IQ Limited offers an innovative software suite for the analysis of the composition of mixtures, based on molecular spectroscopy data. Molecular spectroscopic techniques can effectively 'fingerprint' materials. This is done by assessing the manner in which laser light is scattered by the molecular structure of the gas, liquid or solid being tested. The company's products have applications in fields as diverse as manufacturing inspection, law enforcement, emergency services and the pharmaceutical industry. Analyze IQ sells its software suite directly to end users and through partnerships with manufacturers of spectroscopy instruments. The company has recently signed a partnership deal with Florida-based Ocean Optics, which is now marketing and selling the Analyze IQ software suite. Ocean Optics is a diversified photonics technology firm and a global leader in optical sensing with locations in the US, Europe and Asia. Analyze IQ has further partnerships in the pipeline. Analyze IQ Limited was established in 2008 as a spin-out company from NUI Galway. The company's technology is the result of a five-year research collaboration between analytical chemists with expertise in spectroscopic techniques and software engineers with expertise in data mining and machine learning. The research phase received substantial support from Enterprise Ireland. The founders of the Analyze IQ include Dr Michael Madden, who led the development of the technology within NUI Galway, while a lecturer in the College of Engineering and Informatics. According to Dr Madden, CEO of Analyze IQ: "The software suite has been designed to address the need for accurate analysis of spectroscopic data from mixtures of materials. For a wide range of real-world applications, it is essential to be able to work with mixtures to quickly and accurately assess the composition of their main components. Taking law enforcement as an example, it is extremely valuable in a drug seizure to be able to assess the composition of the drugs and cutting agents, as it provides is useful intelligence that indicates from where in the 'supply chain' the drugs have come". Testing has shown that the novel analysing techniques licensed to Analyze IQ are more accurate than standard chemometric-based methods, particularly when analysing complex mixtures. -ends-

The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall will be commemorated at 6.30pm on Monday, 9 November, at NUI Galway. Lecturers from NUI Galway will speak about their personal experience of the event and discuss its historical and political significance for Germany and Europe during a panel discussion. The event takes place on campus in the Siobhán McKenna Theatre, Arts Millennium Building. Panel participants will include NUI Galway's Dr Róisín Healy, History; Dr Henrike Rau, Political Science and Sociology (originally from East Germany); and Professor Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa, German (originally from West Germany). The discussion will be chaired by lecturer in German, Rosaleen O'Neill, and will be followed by a reception. During the day, students of German at NUI Galway will erect a polystyrene version of the Berlin Wall in the Foyer of the Arts Millennium Building. All are invited to write a comment on it, before its fall is re-enacted around 6.15pm. According to Professor Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa, Head of German at NUI Galway: "On 9 November, 1989, a peaceful revolution in the German Democratic Republic swept away the Berlin Wall. This scandalous monument, that had divided the city into two halves since 1961, symbolised the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. Its fall changed the face of Europe more than anything else since the end of the Second World War, resulting in the reunification of a divided Germany and the integration of Eastern European countries into the European Union". NUI Galway will also host an exhibition produced by students of German which will feature rare original exhibits from the former GDR and include a wealth of original sources and a video installation. The exhibition will provide insights into life in the former German Democratic Republic and reflect upon the economic and ideological changes after the fall of the Wall. The bilingual exhibition Bruchzonen/Breaking Points will open at 5pm on Monday, 16 November 2009, in room 204 of the Arts Millennium Building at NUI Galway. Also on Monday, 16 November, at 6.30pm in the Fottrell Theatre, Arts Millennium Building, the documentary film My DDR T-Shirt by Ian Hawkins will be screened. The director will be present and will answer questions from the audience. The events are sponsored by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and the German Embassy, Dublin. All events are free and open to the public. For further information email h.schmidthannisa@nuigalway.ie or phone 091 492239. -ends-

"Open Innovation – a new model for Research & Development" will be the topic of discussion at a special lecture at 6pm on Thursday, 12 November, in Áras Moyola, NUI Galway. NUI Galway s Centre for Innovation and Structural Change (CISC), as part of the InterTradeIreland All-island Innovation Programme, will host the forthcoming lecture by international expert Professor Henry Chesbrough, the Executive Director of the Centre for Innovation at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkley. Professor Chesbrough has a unique background as both a practitioner and researcher, having spent 10 years in senior product planning and strategic marketing positions in Silicon Valley. Chesbrough's book, Open Innovation, which articulates a new paradigm for organising and managing R&D, was named a Best Business Book by Strategy & Business magazine. Professor Chesbrough, says: "Useful knowledge is no longer concentrated in a few large organisations – business leaders must adopt a new, 'open' model of innovation". The concept of open innovation advocates that companies can no longer keep their own innovations secret. The key to success is creating an open platform around innovations so customers, employees and even competitors can build upon them. Only then will there be created an ongoing, evolving community of users, doers and creators. The open innovation concept goes against the traditional view of companies protecting their intellectual property and undertaking all of the R&D and market development of new products or services themselves. Professor Chesbrough, adds: "Today, in many industries, the logic that supports an internal and centralised approach to R&D has become obsolete. In the past, internal R&D was a valuable strategic asset, even a formidable barrier to entry by competitors in many markets. Today, the leading industrial enterprises of the past have been encountering remarkably strong competition from many upstarts". Dr James Cunningham, Director, CISC, NUI Galway, explains: "The new logic of open innovation embraces external ideas and knowledge in conjunction with internal R&D. In short, firms that can harness outside ideas to advance their own businesses, while leveraging their internal ideas outside their current operations, are likely to thrive in this new era of open innovation. Companies like Proctor & Gamble are embracing this open innovation approach". InterTradeIreland Strategy & Policy Director Aidan Gough said: "The theme of open innovation has a strong resonance with our own work in IInterTradeIreland. Through our programmes and initiatives InterTradeIreland is facilitating the development of an open innovation system between the two jurisdictions on this island to deliver not only a more efficient use of the two jurisdictions' knowledge resources, but also a more effective one as well". Professor Chesbrough's key note lecture at NUI Galway is part of the InterTradeIreland All-island Innovation Programme. The Programme, a partnership between InterTradeIreland, NUI Galway, University College Dublin and Queens University Belfast, aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland. Those interested in attending should contact valerie.parker@nuigalway.ie and online at www.nuigalway.ie/cisc. Attendance is open to all and the event is free to attend. -ends-