Galway Arts Festival and NUI Galway this morning announced details of a new partnership. The University will support the 34th Galway Arts Festival through development of the Festival’s Volunteer Programme and Selected, a new artist development strand of the Festival for emerging artists and producers. Galway Arts Festival takes place from July 11-24 and features an international programme of artists from Africa, America, Asia, Australia and Europe with a strong focus on Irish work and home-grown productions. NUI Galway has provided a breeding ground for the development of artistic talent in successive generations of students. Flagship programmes in Theatre, Performance and Creative Writing at undergraduate level, together with Masters Programmes in Drama and Theatre Studies and Writings, have established NUI Galway’s reputation in the Creative Arts field. Now, through this partnership NUI Galway and Galway Arts Festival are coming together to form a partnership that supports the development of the Performance Arts of the region. The SELECTED strand will see five NUI Galway students and graduates join five other artists in this unique initiative which will allow them full access to every aspect of the Festival. This ’two-week academy’ will offer students the opportunity to see how a Festival of this magnitude is put together while also attending shows, post-show talks and getting a hands-on experience from performers and organisers. Commenting on the new partnership, NUI Galway President James J. Browne said, “NUI Galway is delighted to be involved with this well-established, international Festival. The Volunteering aspect of the partnership re-enforces our place at the forefront of pioneering models for civic engagement. The SELECTED strand will provide our Theatre and Performance students an excellent opportunity to develop their careers.” Festival CEO John Crumlish added, “NUI Galway have been at the forefront of developing volunteerism at 3rd level in Ireland through its Community Knowledge Initiative and the partnership with the longstanding Festival programme will introduce a new generation of volunteers to the Festival experience while also helping shape that experience for the future. Volunteerism plays a key role in Galway Arts Festival and has been hugely important in the success of the event and provides volunteers with the opportunity to engage with many aspects of staging a large Festival, from involvement with the Macnas Festival Parade, the Festival Big Top, and the Festival’s online television channel, GAFTV. These elements are very varied and provide hugely positive experiences for those who partake.” Both Paul Fahy and John Crumlish recalled their initial experience with the Festival as volunteers in the late 1980s and the Festival continues to play a leading advocacy role in the advancement of careers in the arts. 2011 is also the European Year of the Volunteer. Commenting on the Selected Programme, Galway Arts Festival’s Artistic Director Paul Fahy said, “Selected is a really exciting development for the Festival in partnership with NUI Galway. Selected will allow participants immerse themselves in all aspects of Galway Arts Festival and will benefit NUI Galway’s MA in Drama and Theatre Studies and BA Connect in Theatre and Performance in addition to a number of individual artists living and working in Galway. Selected will offer participants free access to key elements of the Festival Programme facilitated by a wide variety of international and Irish arts professionals.” Lorraine Tansey, Student Volunteer Coordinator for NUI Galway’s volunteer programme, ALIVE says the new partnership will enhance the University’s excellent volunteering reputation, “The Arts Festival is an incredible volunteer opportunity for NUI Galway students who are seeking to give their energy and enthusiasm while gaining valuable experience and skills from engaging with the city’s creative, fun and vibrant community.” The James Hardiman Library at NUI Galway is home to the Galway Arts Festival Archive. The archive contains an excellent collection of materials from the Galway Arts Festivals since 1980. NUI Galway’s impressive archival collection was enhanced in the last year with the addition of two collections which will provide a rich source of research material. The archive of director, writer and actor John Huston’s papers and recordings and the Thomas Kilroy Archive. The James Hardiman Library is home to a range of other theatre, literary, historical and political archives. Collections include the archives of the Druid and Lyric Theatres and of Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe; the literary papers of John McGahern; and original documents relating to the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Northern Ireland ’Troubles’. Applicants interested in applying for the Volunteer Programme can contact Susan McKenna, Galway Arts Festival Volunteer Programme Manager volunteers@galwayartsfestival.com. -Ends-

SEEN, NUI Galway’s student enterprise support service, has launched a hot-desk facility for the summer of 2011. SEEN provides NUI Galway students who want to progress their business ideas the benefit of networking with like-minded students and on-campus support and resources.  The hot-desk facility is being managed by the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) and SEEN. SEEN is a student run network which encourages entrepreneurship among the student populace. Since January 2011, SEEN has worked with students to bring their business and social concepts and ideas to a commercial reality.  Paddy Melia from the SEEN team adds, “We are delighted at the possibilities of this new facility. This space will act as a springboard for students with ideas and demonstrates how NUI Galway is leading the way in developing a culture for ’studentpreneurs’ on campus.”  SEEN have also launched their website, www.seen.ie, which is a first point of contact for students. The site provides NUI Galway students with the latest news, opportunities, and connections as well as details on how to access the hot-desk facility.  The website and hot-desk facility demonstrate NUI Galway’s commitment to entrepreneurship and enterprising students on campus. With the announcement of this additional support available to students, Professor Chris Curtin, Vice-President for Innovation & Performance says, "We are preparing the students of NUI Galway to drive forward the society and economy of the future."

NUI Galway today conferred over 200 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. The largest cohort of students to graduate were 97 Honours Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, and Bachelor of Obstetrics (MB, BCh, BAO) students. Also graduating were 54 PhD students from across all disciplines. International students were 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, said: “On behalf of NUI Galway, I congratulate each of today’s graduates. It is very encouraging to see the number of research and graduate degrees which we are conferring today. These graduate numbers continue to grow and we have doubled the number of PhD degrees awarded each year since the start of the decade.” 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 tomorrow, Friday, 24 June. -Ends-

NUI Galway’s contribution to Galway’s Bike Week Festival was a huge success with many opting to cycle to work as part of the University’s Cycle to Campus Day. Galway s Bike Week Festival runs from 18 to 26, June 2011. This year, the week was launched in Galway with a mass cycle, a bike village and many other events around the city. As part of NUI Galway s contribution to the Festival, the Green Campus Committee organised a University-wide Cycle to Campus Day today (Wednesday, 22 June, 2011). The Cycle to Campus Day aims to encourage staff and students to cycle to campus and to reward those who do so regularly. All members of the NUI Galway community were welcome to participate - whether dedicated commuters or first-time cyclists. "The Cycle to Campus event is another sign of the growing popularity of bicycling in NUI Galway", says Pierre Ludwick of the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI). Over half of all researchers in DERI regularly cycle to work, and Kevin O Sullivan, a Design Engineer with the Buildings Office at the University is working on a project to install additional secure and covered bike parking, to the direct benefit of this group. The University is boosting bicycling even further with a number of improvements, including the development of a Travel Plan and the provision of new bike parking spaces. Additional covered bicycle racks have been installed in several places around campus, as part of on-going improvements to cycle facilities. "We look forward to making it even easier and safer to ride a bike to work for all employees", says Greg Power, Planning and Projects Officer at NUI Galway. "Cycling has many benefits for staff and students - we now need to keep the momentum and culture change with more and better incentives to cycling ". The Cycle to Work Scheme has also been hugely popular on campus, and is open to all employees, with over 300 staff availing of the scheme since 2009. This scheme encourages more people to cycle to and from work, by gaining a tax saving on procuring a bicycle where it is used by the employee mainly for qualifying journeys. 

The CAO s latest figures for third level applications show that NUI Galway’s popularity amongst Leaving Certificate students as their first choice for University continues to grow for the third consecutive year. The University has seen a further almost 10 per cent increase in the number of students selecting NUI Galway as their first choice institution through the change of mind and late application process. NUI Galway is now in the top two Universities for growth in first preference applications through both application processes. Over the past three years, first preference applications for undergraduate degrees at NUI Galway have increased significantly as the University’s popularity continues to soar. The most popular courses for students to date are Biomedical Science and as Galway is one of four global hubs for Biomedicine and has the largest concentration of Biomedical device companies in the country, career prospects for NUI Galway s Biomedical Science graduates are excellent. At present, NUI Galway is the only Irish University offering a denominated degree in Marine Science and it now has the highest concentration of marine scientists of any institution in Ireland. This degree also offers training on board national training vessels in the third year of study. This is a course that has excellent career prospects for graduates. The University s new BA CONNECT degrees, especially the Theatre and Performance, Creative Writing, Human Rights, Film Studies options, are hugely popular. Science and Engineering courses have also seen a jump in popularity this year with NUI Galway out performing the national trend in both, but especially in Engineering where the opening of a new Engineering Building in September is a big draw for CAO applicants. Medicine at NUI Galway is always very popular and an additional 18 places have being allocated this year. Director of Marketing & Communications at NUI Galway, Caroline Loughnane has this advice for students: “Always follow your interests. Consider an Arts degree that connects specialist learning with practical opportunities, like the new BA CONNECT courses with specialist learning in Film Studies, Human Rights, Creative Writing, Theatre & Performance, Children’s Studies, Latin American Studies, Global Women’s Studies, or Irish Studies. If you have an interest in Engineering, we are about to open the largest School of Engineering in the country, the building itself is a ’living laboratory’ and an architectural gem.” -Ends-