Over 170 students from across the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Engineering and Informatics, Business, Public Policy and Law, Science, and Arts, Social Sciences, and Celtic Studies will be conferred by NUI Galway today (Thursday, 17 June). The largest cohort of students to graduate will be ninety-eight Honours Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, and Bachelor of Obstetrics (MB, BCh, BAO) students. Also graduating will be fifty PhD students from across all disciplines. International students will also be well represented at the ceremony, with the University welcoming graduates from, among other countries, Malaysia and Kuwait, who along with students from across Ireland will receive Diplomas, Degrees, Masters, and PhDs. Speaking at the ceremony, President of NUI Galway, Dr James J. Browne, spoke of the growth in research in the University and how it is reflected in the numbers of Ph.D. students graduating: "Our research student numbers continue to grow, as do the numbers in our wide range of taught postgraduate programmes. We have significantly increased our number of Ph.D. graduates in recent years. From a base of about 50 doctorates per year at the turn of the millennium, we now confer almost 3 times that number annually. It is very encouraging to see the number of research degrees conferred across all Colleges at this conferring ceremony." President Browne added words of encouragement to graduates conferred at the ceremony: "Do not lose hope or courage in this current economic climate. You have what it takes to make a difference in our society. The opportunities you have to create your own environment and to shape your own futures are enormous". The next conferring to take place at NUI Galway will be the conferring of Honorary Degrees on Friday, 25 June. -Ends-

The Rohingya minority group in Western Burma has been victim of human rights violations amounting tocrimes against humanity, according to a report released today (Thursday, 16 June) by the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway. The report, entitled Crimes against Humanity in Western Burma: The Situation of the Rohingyas, was officially launched by Micheál Martin, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, at Iveagh House, Dublin. "For decades now, the Rohingya minority group has endured grave human rights violations in North Arakan State. Every day, more Rohingya men, women and children are leaving Burma, fleeing the human rights abuses in the hope of finding peace and security elsewhere," said Professor William Schabas, director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway. The Report is based on extensive open-source research and on a fact-finding mission to Burma, Thailand and Bangladesh conducted by experts in international criminal investigation. As well as interviewing organisations working in the region, investigators met with Rohingya victims in and around refugee camps in Bangladesh. The Rohingyas' plight has been overlooked for years and the root causes of their situation still remain under-examined. The Irish Centre for Human Rights' Report identifies and discusses some of these causes. The Report examines whether the apparent cases of enslavement, rape and sexual violence, deportation or forcible transfer of population, and persecution against the Rohingyas may constitute crimes against humanity. "Describing the violations as crimes against humanity raises the possibility that cases against those Burmese officials who are responsible could be referred to the International Criminal Court", Professor Schabas explained. The Report affirms that people committing, allowing, aiding and abetting these crimes must be held accountable. The international community has a responsibility to protect the Rohingyas, to respond to the allegations of crimes against humanity and ensure that violations and impunity do not persist for another generation, concludes the report Speaking at the launch of the Report, Minister Martin commended the work of the NUI Galway research team, stating that they have presented "compelling evidence suggesting that crimes against humanity have indeed been committed by the Burmese authorities against the Rohingya minority group". Noting the recommendation in the Report that the Security Council establish a Commission of Inquiry to determine whether there is a prima facie case that crimes against humanity have been committed, as well as similar recent comments by UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, Minister Martin said that he fully supported these calls for all such alleged crimes to be formally investigated. The Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway, is one of the world's leading university-based human rights research centres. The Centre, which marks its tenth anniversary this year, is dedicated to teaching, research and advocacy in the field of human rights. Report available at: www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights/projects/burma.html ENDS

The NUI Galway Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) team was announced All-Ireland Champions after a historic win for the University at the recent MBA Association of Ireland's Inter-Business School MBA Strategy Challenge. Organised by the MBA Association of Ireland, the business strategy competition is open to all MBA programmes across Ireland. The NUI Galway Executive MBA team was announced champions after competing against teams from DCU, UCD, University of Ulster and Waterford IT. The final-year Executive MBA students strategically analysed a Harvard Business Case over four hours and then presented their findings to a judging panel chaired by Professor Patrick McNamee of the University of Ulster and member of the MBA Association of Ireland. In their winning presentation, the NUI Galway team demonstrated analytical rigour, effective teamwork, strategic and operational insights in outlining the future strategy for HTC Corp., the case study for this competition. Commenting on the win, Dr Alma McCarthy, Executive MBA Programme Director at NUI Galway, said: "The NUI Galway Executive MBA curriculum has a very strong focus on strategy and prepares students to excel as business and strategy analysts. Winning the MBA Association of Ireland's Inter-Business School MBA Strategy Challenge reinforces the excellent teaching and learning standards available to NUI Galway MBA students". The leader of the NUI Galway Executive MBA team, Brian Molloy, added: "This is an immense and historic result for NUI Galway. The skill-set and toolkit necessary for us to deliver a winning strategic analysis in just four hours came from the two year MBA programme at NUI Galway. Whilst there was a team of five performing on the day, this win demonstrates the calibre and capacity to deliver that every graduate of the NUI Galway MBA programme possesses and that future students will acquire if they take on the challenge of the MBA. It must be very reassuring for employers in the West to know that the local University is producing such a talented pool of MBA graduates". The winning team included Niall Cunningham, Brian Molloy, Devin Mettler, Bríd Seoige and Declan Staunton from the Executive MBA programme. -Ends-

NUI Galway will host the Science and Technology in the European Periphery (STEP) conference commencing on Thursday, 17 June and running until 20 June. STEP is an international group of historians of science, medicine and technology and includes scholars from all over Europe. STEP meetings happen every two years with the purpose of exploring the historical character of science, medicine and technology in regions and societies on the periphery of Europe. STEP was founded in 1999 and Galway is the seventh European city to host the organisation. The group was previously hosted by Istanbul in 2008 and Menorca in 2006. The Galway meeting features 70 speakers from all over Europe, as well as the USA, Japan and Brazil. Some of the speakers will challenge traditional notions of the periphery of Europe, by examining the exchange of scientific information between Europe and the East Indies, and with the Spanish and Portuguese empires in the Americas. The opening session will focus on Ireland's scientific heritage, particularly the institutions of science and medicine that emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Subsequent sessions of the conference will focus on the popularisation of science and technology, the role of women in science, science and religion, the role of universities and of experts, and the dissemination of scientific knowledge. The plenary lecture entitled "Some Historiographical Reflections on the Circulation of Science" will be delivered by Professor Nicholas Jardine, University of Cambridge. Dr Aileen Fyfe, Department of History at NUI Galway, says: "In our current climate, with so much emphasis on innovation, knowledge and the smart economy, it's crucial that we better understand the social and political contexts of science and technology. History of science is still a small discipline in Ireland, so it s great to have a big conference like STEP coming to town. It will put Galway on the map as the centre for the study of history of science and technology in Ireland; and will highlight the importance of collaboration with our European neighbours". Dr Faidra Papanelopoulou, University of Athens, says: "STEP celebrates its 10th anniversary in Galway. Valuable contributions from participants around the globe explore the historical character of science, medicine and technology in regions and societies in and beyond Europe. The meeting in Galway focuses on a variety of interesting topics, offering a useful range of perspectives in the field". Further information on STEP is available at www.cc.uoa.gr/step. -Ends-

This week NUI Galway welcomes 40 educators from Jordan and Lebanon for a seven-day bespoke study tour. The study tour is part of a new EU TEMPUS funded project which aims to develop service learning and civic engagement partnerships in Jordan and Lebanon. The EU project entitled the 'Tawasol Project', commenced in January 2010 and will run over three years. The project brings together five universities in Jordan and the Lebanon with four European university partners including NUI Galway, University of Gothenburg in Sweden, University of Plovdiv in Bulgaria and University of Roehampton in London. Following on from the success of the NUI Galway Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI) in developing successful learning opportunities within community through service learning, the University was invited to collaborate with the other eight universities and create the Tawasol Project. While in Galway the group of educators will meet with over twenty members of the community who have been involve in service learning partnerships, including COPE Galway, the Gaf Youth Café and the Galway Traveller Movement. They will also meet over twenty NUI Galway lecturers and students who have developed innovative service learning partnerships. They will learn about how postgraduate IT students worked with the Gaf Youth café to help develop a youth centred website and up skilled staff in the use of new technologies. They will also meet with Philosophy students who examined through service leaning the ethical treatment of asylum seekers within the west of Ireland. Speaking at the first Tawasol Project meet in Amman, Jordan earlier this year, Lorraine McIlrath, CKI Coordinator, NUI Galway, said: "Working with universities in such a different cultural context makes our work in Ireland richer and more challenging as we are encouraged to look at the cultural implications of engaging student learning in communities within challenging circumstances. This project will bring together hundreds of students and academics in the next three years for intensive inter-cultural and civic engagement learning opportunities". On Tuesday, 15 June, the Tawasol Website will be launched by the NUI Galway's Deputy President and Registrar, Professor Jim Ward. The website, www.tawasol.org was designed and developed by a Galway based web design animation company, Starlight Solutions, who have used a system of social networking to bring the Tawasol Project members together through group sharing, interacting and engaging. -Ends-