In cooperation with Queen’s University Belfast and Essex University, the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway will host an international tripartite video-conference dedicated to the life and work of Professor Kevin Boyle. Professor Boyle was a renowned international human rights lawyer. The conference will take place on Saturday, 11 June, in the Moore Institute, NUI Galway. The conference is jointly organised by the three universities where Professor Boyle spent his career. A tribute to his work, the conference will focus on key themes in human rights with which he was most engaged. According to Professor William Schabas, Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway, “the conference will bring together three of the world’s leading human rights institutions and some of world’s leading human rights lawyers who were both friends and colleagues of Professor Kevin Boyle.” Professor Boyle began his career at Queen’s University Belfast where he was deeply engaged in the civil rights movement. In the late 1970s he joined NUI Galway where he launched the Irish Centre for Human Rights. The last two decades of his life were spent at the University of Essex, where he directed its Human Rights Centre. In addition to his enormous academic contribution, Professor Boyle was active with important international NGOs such as Article 19, of which he was the founding director. He served as a special advisor to Mary Robinson when she was High Commissioner for Human Rights. Professor Boyle appeared frequently before the European Court of Human Rights, winning important cases that dealt with a broad range of issues, including freedom of expression, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and torture. Keynote speakers at the conference will include Professor William Schabas, Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway and Professor Sir Nigel Rodley, Professor of Law and Chair of the Human Rights Centre, University of Essex. For further information on the conference contact Nathan Derejko at the NUI Galway Irish Centre for Human Rights on nathanderejko@gmail.com. -Ends-

Applications are being accepted immediately for 30 fully-funded PhD scholarships at NUI Galway. The Hardiman Research Scholarships are four-year structured PhD scholarships, and include full fees and an annual stipend of € 16,000. The deadline for applications is 19 June. The scholarships are focused on five key areas of research in which NUI Galway offers world-leading expertise: Biomedical Science and Engineering Galway is one of four global hubs for Medical Technologies. NUI Galway is Ireland’s leading university for Biomedical Science and Engineering, and home to the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science (NCBES). Major research clusters include REMEDI, Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cancer Biology and Therapeutics, Glycosciences and Biomedical Engineering, focused on Biomechanics and Functional Biomaterials. Informatics, Physical, and Computational Sciences The University supports research in mathematics, core physical sciences, and Information Technology leading to new technologies and contributing to the knowledge-based economy in Ireland. DERI, the Digital Enterprise Research Institute, is the world’s largest institute for semantic web research and is a SFI Centre for Excellence in Science and Technology. Environment, Marine, and Energy This research area covers environmental change and modelling, atmospheric studies, biodiversity and bioinformatics, marine science and law, and sustainable energy. At NUI Galway, researchers in the Ryan Institute work to assess the harmful environmental impacts associated with global and regional climate change. Applied Social Sciences and Public Policy Focused around the Centre for Innovation and Structural Change (CISC) and the Life Course Institute, NUI Galway is committed to improving understanding of innovation and social entrepreneurial strategies. Humanities in Context NUI Galway research examines areas such as disease, ageing and challenges to the environment from archaeological, literary or historical perspectives. The Moore Institute fosters the culture of research in this field at NUI Galway. NUI Galway President, Dr James J. Browne, said: “Our primary strategic aim is to attract the best students to NUI Galway and to support their development as innovative individuals who will contribute globally to economic, cultural and social development. The alignment of the scholarships to particular areas of research reflects our University’s growing international reputation in these fields of enquiry.” The Hardiman Research Scholarships offer opportunities for suitably qualified individuals to pursue a structured postgraduate degree by research. Structured PhD programmes, while retaining the focus on the advancement of knowledge through original research of traditional programmes, also provide professional development modules in subject-specific and transferable skills. Named in honour of James Hardiman, who was appointed the University’s first Librarian in 1849, the scholarship programme aims to produce highly focused PhD graduates from a pool of national and international candidates. Dean of Graduate Studies at NUI Galway Pat Morgan, said: “Throughout his life, James Hardiman displayed a tremendous breadth of interest, expertise and scholarship that has led to the naming of the award in his honour. His life and works will hopefully provide a source of inspiration to all those upcoming researchers who will be awarded the accolade of Hardiman Research Scholars”. Applications and more information are available to download at www.nuigalway.ie/hardiman-scholarships, with closing date for applications on 19 June and interviews taking place the week after. -ends-

NUI Galway has marked the 150th anniversary of the creation of Italy with an interdisciplinary one-day workshop focused on specific themes of debate. In 1861, with the creation of the Italian Kingdom, Italy became for the first time in her history a unified nation. The one-day workshop at NUI Galway, held on Friday, 27 May, was called ’Debating the Italian Nation - Historical and Cultural Perspectives’. NUI Galway staff from the disciplines of History and Italian were joined by prestigious overseas scholars to discuss the significance of the idea of the nation for contemporary Italian history, society, and culture. According to NUI Galway’s Professor Paolo Bartoloni, Head of Discipline, Italian Studies: “The 2011 anniversary is an occasion to reflect upon this important event in history and its significance from different perspectives. Our intention is to pay respect to an idea, but also to read that idea against and in relation to the mediation of time, memory, history and culture. The history of unified Italy is a history of struggles, of significant achievements, of great individual and popular successes, starting from the Wars of Independence, to the Resistance, to the economic boom. And yet it remains a history intercalated by divisions: the division between the rich and poor Italy, the Italy of the north and the Italy of the south. Professor Bartoloni added: “One of the most enduring historical catch-phrases to describe Italy is ’The Divided Italy’. This is a problematic division, a division that calls into question the very notion of unity. It is not by accident that time and time again attempts have been made to address and remove this division, an while it is imperative that economic, and power relation divisions, such as those still characterizing men and women relations, must be relentlessly tackled, it is also necessary that cultural differences be maintained.” Some 150 people study Italian at NUI Galway, including the BA in Italian and the BComm in Italian. The University is offering an evening Diploma in Italian in September 2011. -Ends-

NUI Galway is giving its graduates an opportunity to attend a unique graduate support event on Tuesday, 14 June from 9.30am to 1pm in the Careers Seminar Room, Arts/Science Building. The NUI Galway Graduate Job Search Boot Camp is a free event, organised by the Career Development Centre, and will focus on effective CVs, interview skills and using social media in the job search process. Interactive workshops will challenge participants to review their current approach to their job search and to apply the learning gained to enhance their job prospects. “We look forward to working again with our recent graduates and strongly encourage those who are looking for new ways to market themselves to come along and get their career back on track”, said John Hannon, Head of the Career Development Centre, NUI Galway. Places are limited to ensure individual attention and graduates are encouraged to book a place via the Careers website as soon as possible. To register or for the full programme, visit www.nuigalway.ie/careers. -Ends-

The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) has elected three of NUI Galway’s top academics for admission in recognition of their academic achievement. NUI Galway’s Professor Peter McHugh, Professor Colin O’Dowd and Professor Donal O’Regan were among twenty-three scholars in total from around Ireland who joined the ranks of Ernest Walton, Erwin Schrodinger, Seamus Heaney and Mary Robinson by becoming Members of the Royal Irish Academy. Membership is awarded to persons who have attained distinction in education and research. The NUI Galway professors work in the fields of Biomedical Engineering, Climate Physics and Mathematics. NUI Galway President, Dr James J. Browne, commented: “Research and academic excellence are the cornerstones of all that we do here at NUI Galway. My colleagues’ attainment of what is the highest academic honour in Ireland is testament to the calibre of our staff and research.” Professor Peter McHugh Peter McHugh is the Established Professor of Biomedical Engineering at NUI Galway. He is an internationally recognised expert in biomechanics, and works closely with clinicians and industry in order to develop mathematical models of human tissue and medical implants in an effort to understand their precise behaviour and to facilitate the design of new treatments and clinical procedures. Professor McHugh is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland and a recipient of the Silver Medal of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. His research is widely published and highly cited in high impact international journals. Professor Colin O’Dowd Colin O’Dowd is Personal Professor in the School of Physics and Director of the Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies at the Ryan Institute, NUI Galway. He is internationally recognised for his innovations, publications and international leadership in the fields of atmospheric aerosol formation, transformation and climate effects. Professor O’Dowd has been joint-chief editor of the premier atmospheric science journal (JGR-Atmospheres), and has been awarded Fellowship of the Institute of Physics, Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, International Smoluchowski Award, and a DSc by the University of Manchester. Professor Donal O’Regan Donal O’Regan is a Personal Professor of Mathematics at NUI Galway. He is internationally recognised as an expert in the field of Nonlinear Analysis, and he has made valuable contributions to fixed-point theory for single and multivalued maps, critical-point theory, operator equations and inclusions, degree theory and oscillation theory. Professor O’Regan has published extensively in prestigious, high impact factor ISI journals, and his many books and papers are highly cited. He also serves on editorial boards for many international journals. The Royal Irish Academy, which was founded in 1785 and has now 455 members, is the principal learned society in Ireland. Those elected to membership are entitled to use the designation ’MRIA’ after their name. -Ends-