News Archive

NUI Galway online treatment programme for chronic pain sufferers extended due to interest A recent online treatment programme, set up by expert psychologists and physiotherapists, aims to help those who suffer from chronic pain. Recruitment has been extended until Friday, 29 April due to the number of inquiries received in recent weeks. The Centre for Pain Research at NUI Galway, with the support of the Health Research Board, is currently recruiting people with chronic pain (pain which has lasted for three months or more). The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) trial will provide eight online sessions to people in the comfort of their own home. At the moment, such supports are mainly available through specialised hospital-based pain management teams.  Chronic pain affects up to 35% of the Irish population and is increasingly recognised as a disease in its own right. Chronic pain is sometimes associated with psychological effects, which may include anxiety and changes in mood, as well as forgetfulness, and difficulties in focusing attention, planning tasks and making decisions. The ACT trial is based on emerging clinical science that demonstrates the usefulness of managing chronic pain through mindfulness and psychological wellbeing. The study is open to people all over Ireland and will take place over the coming months. GPs and physiotherapists around the country are being encouraged to refer suitable people with pain to the study. The free online sessions in the ACT programme will focus on values and goals that are individual to each person in the trial. Participants will be provided with instructions on a range of activity-pacing techniques to encourage more consistent levels of activity from day-to-day. In addition, mindfulness techniques and cognitive behavioural therapy will help identify both negative thinking patterns and the development of effective challenges.  Dr Christopher Dwyer, coordinator of the study at the Centre for Pain Research, NUI Galway, said: “We know that psychological therapies provided to people with chronic pain are beneficial, particularly for people at risk of long term disability. However, this type of service is often only accessible via specialised hospital-based pain management teams. In this trial, we will offer this type of service to people all over the country and at any stage of injury.” People who take part in the ACT trial will not need to attend any clinic or the University at any stage. All materials are tailored for those wishing to learn effective ways of managing their chronic pain. Participants can access physiotherapy and all medical services as usual while involved in the trial.  Study supervisor Dr Brian McGuire said “this is a promising new online pain management programme and we are hopeful it will be of benefit to people with chronic pain.” For further information contact Dr Christopher Dwyer at the Centre for Pain Research, NUI Galway at painresearch@nuigalway.ie or 091 495 391, or see the website http://www.nuigalway.ie/centre-for-pain-research/ before Friday, 29 April. GPs or physiotherapists who are interested in referring suitable patients to the trial can also use these contact details. -ENDS-

The venom from a false black widow spider known as the Steatoda nobilis is being researched for the first time at NUI Galway for its therapeutic potential for anti-cancer properties An NUI Galway scientist has begun research on venom variations from the false black widow spider and its therapeutic potential for anti-cancer properties. The venom will be tested on different lines of human cancerous cells. This is the first time that an Irish bug is being investigated for its potent bio-activity and the first time that venom from this particular spider is been investigated. Dr Michel Dugon, an Irish Research Council Fellow in Botany and an Adjunct Lecturer in Zoology at the School of Natural Sciences in NUI Galway, is carrying out the research on the rapid evolution of spider venom and its potential therapeutic applications. To date less than 100 species worldwide have been investigated for the therapeutic potential of their venom. Mr Dugon will use the venom from a local invasive spider, the false black widow, known as the Steatoda nobilis, which arrived in Ireland in 1997 and is well known in the British Isles as ‘the most venomous spider in the UK’. There is evidence of people having fairly serious effects from the bite of this spider, which result in symptoms similar to a wasp or bee sting, but until now the venom has never been studied. In his research Dr Dugon is using the false black widow spider as a model to determine: If there is some truth regarding the potency ot their venom. If the venom is in fact different between populations, which would explain why this spider has such a bad reputation in Ireland and the UK but not in its native range in Madeira and the Canary Islands. If the venom has potential anticancer properties. Initial tests have shown that the venom from this spider causes significant cell death when diluted with one part venom to one million part water. The venom will now be tested on different lines of human cancerous cells. In the case of spiders, virtually all of the 40,000 species known worldwide possess a pair of fangs and venom glands used to kill prey and deter predators. Venom is a complex cocktail containing hundreds of bioactive components, including potent toxins. Spider neurotoxins can shut down the central nervous system of their prey, leading to respiratory or cardiac arrest. Commenting on the new study, Dr Michel Dugon said: “These toxins, once rearranged, can become powerful tools for the treatment of diseases. It is already asserted that each species of spider possesses its own cocktail of toxins, giving unique properties to its venom. Worldwide, this represents at least 40,000 toxic blends that might hold treatments for diseases crippling millions of people. What if venom was not just species-specific but population-specific? Or maybe even individual-specific, just like our fingerprints? That would mean millions of bioactive combinations are there to be explored and a huge biodiverse pharmacy may be waiting to be harvested.” Dr Dugon added, “We thought that the venom from a Steatoda nobilis would be quite benign and rather unlikely to cause mass cell death in a biological assessment on healthy or cancerous cell lines, especially once the venom is diluted and sprayed on cells. To our great surprise, the venom from this spider causes significant cell death even when diluted with one part venom to one million part water. We are just amazed that a solution containing 0.0001% of crude venom still manages to cause serial death in our cell lines. What causes it? We hope to find out soon.” Michel Dugon has opened the ‘Venom Systems and Proteomics Lab’ in the Ryan Institute at NUI Galway with the aim of identifying venomous animals that are a potential source of novel bioactive compounds. He currently works in collaboration with Dr Ronan Sulpice (Botany), Dr Peter Crowley (Chemistry), the team of Professor Afshin Samali (Biochemistry) and the team of Professor Lokesh Joshi (VP of Research) at NUI Galway. ENDS

Distinguished Lecture will be delivered by Professor Emeritus Nicholas Canny and chaired by Dr Máire Geoghegan-Quinn The Annual Distinguished Lecture 2016, hosted by the School of Law at NUI Galway, will be delivered by Professor Emeritus, Nicholas Canny, in the Aula Maxima, NUI Galway on Friday, 15 April at 8pm. The title of his lecture will be “English Law in Early Modern Ireland: Promoting or Impeding Anglicization?’ and will be chaired by the former EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Dr Máire Geoghegan-Quinn. In the past, the annual lecture has been delivered by: Professor Christopher McCrudden of Oxford University; Baroness Brenda Hale of the UK Supreme Court with Ms Justice Catherine McGuinness of the Irish Supreme Court; Judge John T. Noonan of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; Professor Neil Walker of Edinburgh University and Mr. Justice Nial Fennelly of the Irish Supreme Court. Last year it was delivered by Sir Declan Morgan, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, and the event was chaired by Chief Justice of Ireland, Susan Denham. Professor Donncha O’Connell, Head of NUI Galway’s School of Law, said: “Nicholas Canny is an internationally renowned scholar and Máire Geoghegan-Quinn is a public figure of real distinction. We hope that this event will be an opportunity for our students and alumni to hear from two outstanding individuals. This is the first time that the lecture has been delivered by someone from outside the discipline of Law and it affords an opportunity for perspective-taking with historical insight that will be both rich and stimulating.” The lecture is held annually to mark the end of the academic year and to bid farewell to final year law students and provide an opportunity for them to be introduced to members of the NUI Galway Law School alumni community as they embark on the next stage of their careers. -Ends-

NUI Galway will host the second Twitter Mixed Days conference from 19-20 April. The conference is intended to foster collaboration and to build community and will take place in the University’s J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics. The increasing availability of massive datasets from the Twitter platform is revolutionising the scientific study of a variety of phenomena in fields as diverse as Sociology, Computer Science, Business, Law, Crisis Management, Psychology and others. Yet, while many important advances have taken place in these different communities, the dialog between researchers using Twitter data across disciplines is only beginning. The purpose of Twitter for Research conference is to bring together leading researchers in order to lay the foundation for ongoing relationships and to build a lasting multidisciplinary research community.  A ‘Workshop on Extracting Business Value from Twitter Data’ will take place on Tuesday, 19 April. Designed to arm participants with the knowledge to extract real business value from the Twitter platform and the data it produces, Joe Rice from Twitter will deliver the keynote talk. Additional workshops on the day will include: Twitter for Beginners by Dr Clément Levallois, Emlyon Business School; How to use Twitter to Generate Leads by Ineke Oates, Virtual Office Worx; Customer Behaviour with Message Analysis by Dr Maciej Dabrowski, Altocloud; and Extracting Intelligence from Twitter Data, which will be delivered by DrTheo Lynn, DCU. To register for the workshops visit https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/workshop-on-extracting-business-value-from-twitter-data-tickets-21561019590. Wednesday, 20 April sees the Twitter for Research conference taking place. The multi-disciplinary conference is open to all researchers interested in using Twitter data or studying the platform itself. Participants from sociology, business, computer science, law, politics, and crisis management are particularly welcome. To register for the conference visit https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/twitter-for-research-tickets-19409213480 Dr Eoin Whelan, conference organiser and lecturer in Business Information Systems at NUI Galway, said: “We are very excited to be hosting the second Twitter Mixed Days conference. With 320 million active users generating 100,000 tweets per minute, the Twitter platform holds enormous potential for both researchers wishing to reveal the often hidden workings of our societies, and for industry practitioners intent on adding real value to their organisations. The conference takes place over two days and brings together researchers and practitioners from multiple fields and countries. In my own research I have used large twitter datasets to explain how exposure to diverse and contrarian viewpoints results in more creative ideas, and it is in this spirit which the conference takes place.” For further information contact Dr Eoin Whelan at eoin.whelan@nuigalway.ie. -Ends-

PotterFest Galway, Ireland’s only convention celebrating J.K. Rowling’s much loved Harry Potter series, returns to NUI Galway on 12-13 March. The aim of the event is to provide fans of the Harry Potter series with a memorable and magical experience over the course of the weekend. The two-day convention, organised by NUI Galway’s Harry Potter Society, will include events for Potter fans of all ages, including a Hogwarts House Sorting Ceremony, Hogwarts classes, and the chance to play the most popular sport in the wizarding world, Quidditch. Other events include a family fun day, cosplay events, arts and crafts workshops, a petting zoo, and a bouncing castle. Special guests at PotterFest 2016 will include: actor Hugh Mitchell, who Potter fans will recognise as Colin Creevey in ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’; Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien of Team Starkid; and Will Naameh, who runs The Potter Trail in Edinburgh. All guests will take part in panels across the weekend, and will be available for photo opportunities with visitors. On Friday, 11 March, NUI Galway’s Harry Potter Society will be hosting a Yule Ball in the Aula Maxima to celebrate the beginning of the convention, and to bring to a close the Tri-wizard Tournament that has been taking place throughout the year. Tickets for the Yule Ball are €25 and the event is strictly over 18s. Pre-registration tickets for PotterFest Galway, and tickets for the Yule Ball, are available at www.socsbox.nuigalway.ie. Full weekend tickets are €30. Day tickets can also be purchased with Saturday tickets costing €20, and Sunday tickets costing €15. Tickets will also be available at the door across the weekend. For more information, please contact Rebecca Davitt at potterfestgalway@gmail.com, or visit www.potterfestgalway.org. -Ends-

‘Bricks and clicks for Europe: building a successful digital campus’ NUI Galway is delighted to announce it will host the European University Association (EUA) Annual Conference 2016 “Bricks and clicks for Europe: building a successful digital campus” from 7 to 8 April 2016. This is the first time that the EUA conference has been held in Ireland and President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, will deliver the opening address. With 850 members across 47 countries, EUA is the largest organisation representing universities in Europe. 17 million students are enrolled at EUA member universities. As the voice of Europe’s universities EUA supports and takes forward the interests of the European higher education sector as a whole. The EUA Annual Conference will explore how Europe’s universities are developing comprehensive “bricks and clicks” strategies and how they are tackling the challenges involved in becoming more interactive and interconnected.  Of specific interest to the Irish higher education sector will be sessions on ‘University mergers in Europe’ and ‘Galway as a Digital University’. Universities in Europe are currently engaged in large-scale transformation in an attempt to address social, cultural and technological changes. The conference will address these changes, especially the advent of digitalization and why it is important for European universities. In welcoming the conference, NUI Galway President, Dr Jim Browne, said: “I am delighted that the EUA annual conference is being held for the first time in Ireland this year, and I’m particularly pleased that NUI Galway will host our colleagues from the university sector right across Europe. From our position on the edge of Europe, Galway has a unique view of the global education agenda. NUI Galway will provide a unique platform for informed discussion and stimulating exchange on the changing paradigms in higher education and research and I very much look forward to welcoming more than 300 leaders in European higher education to Galway for this important conference.” High-level university leaders and practitioners from across Europe will share their experiences of major change processes, such as the introduction of open access, open innovation and research and the incorporation of new technologies in university teaching. The conference will also seek to explore how these transformations are affecting institutional development, in particular in terms of HR and campus management as well as community relations. Conference speakers include Entrepreneur in Residence at NUI Galway, student Edel Browne, Regina Moran, CEO of Fujitsu UK and Ireland and Lord David Puttnam, Chair, Atticus Education, and former Chancellor, Open University UK as well as many other leaders of European universities and representatives from the European Commission. The conference will provide a Europe-wide discussion for higher education stakeholders to exchange experiences, share good practices, discuss future strategies and thus anticipate tomorrow’s educational needs. For more information or to view the conference programme, please visit the conference  website. Ends Mórchomhdháil Oideachais in OÉ Gaillimh do Cheannairí Ollscoileanna as gach cearn den Eoraip  ‘Bricks and clicks for Europe: building a successful digital campus’ Is cúis áthais do OÉ Gaillimh a fhógairt go mbeidh Comhdháil Bhliantúil Chumann Eorpach na nOllscoileanna (EUA) 2016, dar teideal ‘Bricks and clicks for Europe: building a successful digital campus’,  á reáchtáil san Ollscoil an 7 agus an 8 Aibreán 2016. Seo an chéad uair a bheidh comhdháil an EUA ar siúl in Éirinn agus is é Uachtarán na hÉireann, Micheál D. Ó hUigínn a thabharfaidh aitheasc na hoscailte. Tá 850 ball as 47 tír san EUA, arb í an eagraíocht is mó í a dhéanann ionadaíocht ar ollscoileanna san Eoraip. Tá 17 milliún mac léinn cláraithe in ollscoileanna ar baill iad den EUA. Tugann an EUA guth d’ollscoileanna na hEorpa agus cuireann sé leas earnáil ardoideachais na hEorpa i gcoitinne chun cinn. Ag Comhdháil Bhliantúil an EUA féachfar ar an gcaoi a bhfuil ollscoileanna na hEorpa ag forbairt straitéisí cuimsitheacha ‘brící agus cliceanna’ agus ar an gcaoi a bhfuil siad ag tabhairt faoi na dúshláin a bhaineann le héirí níos idirghníomhaí agus le níos mó ceangail a chothú eatarthu.  Cuirfidh earnáil an ardoideachais in Éirinn spéis go háirithe sna seisiúin dar teideal ‘University mergers in Europe’ agus ‘Galway as a Digital University’. Tá athrú ó bhonn á dhéanamh ar ollscoileanna san Eoraip faoi láthair d'fhonn dul i ngleic le hathruithe sóisialta, cultúrtha agus teicneolaíochta. Pléifear na hathruithe sin sa chomhdháil seo, agus díreofar go háirithe ar theacht an digitithe agus ar an gcúis a bhfuil tábhacht leis an digitiú d’ollscoileanna na hEorpa. Agus é ag fáiltiú roimh an gcomhdháil, dúirt Uachtarán OÉ Gaillimh, an Dr Jim Browne: ‘Tá ríméad orm go bhfuil comhdháil bhliantúil an EUA á reáchtáil in Éirinn den chéad uair i mbliana, agus tá mé thar a bheith sásta gur in OÉ Gaillimh a bheifear ag fáiltiú roimh ár gcomhghleacaithe ó earnáil na n-ollscoileanna fud fad na hEorpa. Tá léargas ar leith ag Gaillimh ar an gclár oibre oideachais domhanda, ón áit a bhfuilimid suite ar imeall na hEorpa. Cuirfidh OÉ Gaillimh ardán ar leith ar fáil le plé stuama a dhéanamh agus le smaointe spreagúla a roinnt maidir leis na múnlaí ardoideachais agus taighde atá ag athrú. Tá mé ag dúil go mór le fáilte a chur roimh níos mó ná 300 ceannaire as earnáil ardoideachais na hEorpa chuig an gcomhdháil thábhachtach seo.’ Roinnfidh ceannairí agus cleachtóirí ó ollscoileanna ardleibhéil ar fud na hEorpa a dtaithí ar mhórphróisis athraithe, mar shampla, tús a bheith á chur le rochtain oscailte agus le nuálaíocht agus taighde oscailte, agus teicneolaíochtaí nua a bheith á dtabhairt isteach sa teagasc ar an ollscoil. Déanfar iarracht sa chomhdháil freisin plé a dhéanamh ar an tionchar atá ag na claochluithe seo ar fhorbairt na n-institiúidí, go háirithe ó thaobh bainistiú Acmhainní Daonna agus campais de agus ó thaobh an chaidrimh leis an bpobal chomh maith. I measc chainteoirí na comhdhála beidh Fiontraí Cónaitheach OÉ Gaillimh, an mac léinn Edel Browne, Regina Moran, Príomhfheidhmeannach Fujitsu sa Ríocht Aontaithe agus in Éirinn agus an Tiarna David Puttnam, Cathaoirleach, Atticus Education agus iar-Sheansailéir Open University UK, mar aon le go leor ceannairí eile ó Ollscoileanna san Eoraip agus ionadaithe ón gCoimisiún Eorpach. Tabharfaidh an chomhdháil deis plé do pháirtithe leasmhara ón ardoideachas ar bhonn uile-Eorpach chun a dtaithí a roinnt, dea-chleachtais a mhalartú, agus straitéisí a bheidh acu amach anseo a phlé chun go mbeidh siad ábalta freastal ar na riachtanais oideachais a bheidh ann amach anseo. Chun tuilleadh eolais a fháil nó chun féachaint ar chlár na comhdhála, téigh chuig láithreán gréasáin na comhdhála. Críoch

Register in advance for a chance to win a GoPro Camera NUI Galway’s annual Spring Undergraduate Open Day will be held on Saturday, 16 April from 10am to 3pm. The Open Day is an opportunity for students and parents to experience first-hand all that NUI Galway has to offer. There is a packed programme of events lined up for the day including subject talks, taster sessions, hands-on science workshops and interactive sessions with IT systems and robotics. There will be over 80 subject-specific stands in the main exhibition area in the Bailey Allen Hall, where lecturers and current students will be available to answer questions on courses, CAO points, employability, and career progression routes. The ‘Parents Programme’ will provide parents with information on important issues such as fees and funding, careers, accommodation, career destinations and the range of support services for students. Highlight talks throughout the day will include: Scholarship schemes including Creative Arts Performance Points, CAO Sports Performance Points, Sports Scholarships and Excellence Scholarships The new Bachelor of Commerce (Global Experience) The new BA Children’s Studies Arts – the new BA Joint Honours Shannon College of Hotel Management – International Hotel Management Career talks – “Where are the jobs? What are my employment prospects after University?” Students registering in advance to attend the Open Day are invited to enter a competition using the hashtag #experiencenuigalway on any social media outlet indicating why they should win a GoPro camera to capture their NUI Galway Open Day experience. The winner will be given a special GoPro tutorial and invited to record their visit to the campus. Niamh Connolly, Marketing Officer at NUI Galway, said: “Attending Open Day is the perfect opportunity to get a real feel for university life at NUI Galway, talk to lecturers and current students, and get all the information you need to make that important decision. We are encouraging anyone with an interest in studying at NUI Galway to come along as the Open Day is a unique opportunity to experience what the University has to offer and decide whether NUI Galway feels right for you.” Tours of the campus will feature the state-of-the-art sports complex and gym, the Engineering Building and tours of student accommodation. Guided walking tours of the main campus and campus accommodation will also take place throughout the afternoon. To plan your visit advance, receive an Open Day programme, and be in with a chance of winning a GoPro camera, visit www.nuigalway.ie/opendays or visit@nuigalway.ie. -Ends- Cláraigh anois do Lá Oscailte Fochéime an Earraigh in OÉ Gaillimh  Cláraigh roimh ré agus beidh deis agat Ceamara GoPro a bhuachan Dé Máirt, 29 Márta 2016: Beidh Lá Oscailte Fochéime an Earraigh ar siúl in OÉ Gaillimh Dé Sathairn, an 16 Aibreán ó 10am go 3pm. Is deis atá sa Lá Oscailte do mhic léinn agus do thuismitheoirí taithí phearsanta a fháil ar gach a bhfuil ar tairiscint in OÉ Gaillimh. Tá clár lán le himeachtaí eagraithe don lá lena n-áirítear cainteanna faoi na hábhair, seisiúin eolais, ceardlanna eolaíochta praiticiúla agus seisiúin idirghníomhacha le córais IT agus róbataic. Beidh os cionn 80 seastán a bhaineann le hábhair ar leith sa phríomh-halla taispeántais i Halla Bailey Allen, áit a mbeidh léachtóirí agus mic léinn reatha ar fáil chun ceisteanna a fhreagairt ar chúrsaí, pointí CAO, infhostaitheacht, agus dul chun cinn gairme. Cuirfidh ‘Clár na dTuismitheoirí’ eolas ar fáil do thuismitheoirí ar cheisteanna tábhachtacha cosúil le táillí agus maoiniú, gairmeacha, lóistín, poist agus an réimse seirbhísí tacaíochta atá ar fáil do mhic léinn. I measc na gcainteanna spéisiúla a bheidh ar siúl ar an lá tá: Scéimeanna scoláireachta lena n-áirítear Pointí Breise do na hEalaíona Cruthaitheacha, Pointí Breise CAO do Spórt, Scoláireachtaí Spóirt agus Scoláireachtaí Sárchaighdeáin An Baitsiléir nua le Tráchtáil (Eispéireas Domhanda) An BA nua le Staidéar Leanaí Na Dána – an BA nua Comhonóracha Coláiste Ósta na Sionna – Bainistíocht Idirnáisiúnta Óstáin Cainteanna faoi ghairmeacha – “Where are the jobs? What are my employment prospects after University?” Tá deis ag mic léinn a chláraíonn roimh an Lá Oscailte iarratas a dhéanamh ar chomórtas tríd an haischlib #experiencenuigalway a úsáid ar aon cheann de na meáin shóisialta agus a rá cén fáth ar cheart dóibh ceamara GoPro a bhuachan chun a gcuid féin de Lá Oscailte OÉ Gaillimh a chur i bhfoirm grianghraf. Cuirfear rang teagaisc speisialta GoPro ar fáil don bhuaiteoir agus tabharfar cuireadh dó/di a c(h)uairt ar an gcampas a thaifeadadh. Dúirt Niamh Connolly, Oifigeach Margaíochta in OÉ Gaillimh: “Is deis iontach atá sa Lá Oscailte tuiscint mhaith a fháil ar shaol na hollscoile in OÉ Gaillimh, labhairt le léachtóirí agus le mic léinn reatha, agus an t-eolas ar fad a theastaíonn uait a fháil chun an cinneadh tábhachtach sin a dhéanamh. Molaimid do dhuine ar bith ar spéis leo staidéar in OÉ Gaillimh teacht chuig an Lá Oscailte mar gur deis ar leith atá ann eolas a chur ar a bhfuil ar fáil san Ollscoil agus a fháil amach duit féin an bhfeileann OÉ Gaillimh duitse.” Ar thurais den champas, taispeánfar an t-ionad spóirt le giomnáisiam den scoth, an Foirgneamh Innealtóireachta agus lóistín na mac léinn. Tabharfar na cuairteoirí ar shiúl na gcos freisin tráthnóna timpeall an phríomhchampais agus thart ar lóistín na mac léinn. D’fhonn do chuairt a phleanáil roimh ré, clár den Lá Oscailte a fháil, agus a bheith sa mhála mór chun ceamara GoPro a bhuachan, tabhair cuairt ar www.nuigalway.ie/opendays or visit@nuigalway.ie. -Críoch-

NUI Galway’s School of Law will host a conference on Law, Revolution and Sovereignty: Reflections on the Legal Legacy of the 1916 Rising and the Declaration of Independence. The conference will take place at the Aula Maxima at NUI Galway on 9-10 April.  The conference, part of NUI Galway’s commemorative programme for the centenary of the 1916 Rising, will consider the legacy of Irish independence and sovereignty in the domain of law and legal thought.  The conference will address: The distinctive character of the legal order that developed post-independence The impact of revolutionary ideals in the Irish legal and constitutional system Constitutional experimentation and evolution in independent Ireland Concepts of nationalism and popular sovereignty and their impact in the area of social and penal policy The conference will be opened by Dr Maurice Manning, Chancellor of the National University of Ireland, and Mr Justice John MacMenamin of the Supreme Court of Ireland.  Emily Logan, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, will close the proceedings. Professor Donncha O’Connell, Head of NUI Galway’s School of Law, said: “The School is delighted to host this conference. It provides an opportunity for staff, alumni and students, and members of the public, to join a distinguished panel of speakers in considering how Ireland has used a century of political independence to fashion its legal order and engagement with the wider world.” To view the full conference programme and speakers visit www.conference.ie. To register for the conference email m.portuondo1@nuigalway.ie. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points will be available for legal professionals who register and attend the conference. -Ends- 

NUI Galway announced the recipients of the 2016 Sports Awards at a ceremony last week. The awards recognise sporting performance, leadership and participation, as well as those that contribute to the running and development of the NUI Galway Sports Clubs. Among the individual award winners were Irish Hockey International Naomi Carroll, who has been capped 72 time for her country and has scored 21 international goals and Soccer player Jenny Byrne, an underage and University Games International who this month  captained the NUI Galway ladies soccer team to All-Ireland Colleges Glory. Promising Triple jumper Conall Mahon, who is both the indoor and outdoor Intervarsity’s champion, was also among the awardees. Conall will be going for four in a row in the outdoor event later this year. Katie Mc Eneff took the individual award for rowing after winning two All-Ireland titles at the national championships, one of which was in a course record. The Judo club were represented by Darren Friel, who followed up his wonderful medal haul of two gold medals at the Irish intervarsity’s with an impressive Silver and Bronze at the National Championship. Eoghan Staunton represents one of the new world sports, Ultimate Frisbee. Eoghan not only coaches our ladies team but was a member of the Irish team to compete in Dubai at the World Championships. Gaelic sports are represented by members of the Hurling Club and the Camogie Club. Chloe Morey, a current member of the Clare Senior camogie team and a leading member of the NUI Galway camogie team, won a Camogie All Star. Niall O’Brien is a current member of the Westmeath Senior Hurling team and has been one of NUI Galway top scorers over the last four years. The Tom Tuohy Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rowing this year went to the Intermediate Fours of Jack Bennett, Daniel Buckle, Kevin Neville, Aidan Kinneen and cox Sandra Kelly. Mike Heskin, NUI Galway’s Director of Sport and Physical Activity, said: “The ongoing success of our students and alumni is a great source of pride for the University and the clubs and coaches that have helped them along the way. NUI Galway has a long tradition in high performance on the national and international stage, it is particularly pleasing to see the high level of success now been achieved by our women across the entire spectrum of sport.” The ‘Most Improved Sports Club Recognition’ was awarded to the NUI Galway Surf Club who have shown great strides in building their club with international surfing trips, providing  lifeguard instruction courses, surf camps, yoga classes and a jam-packed social event’s calendar to take full advantage of the unique location of NUI Galway to Ireland’s prime surfing spots. The ‘Special Achievement Award’ recognises, over a period of time, the excellence of a club or an individual. This year there were two recipients of the award. For Archery, Darren Wallace who has been one of the University’s outstanding representatives. Over the last year Darren has been an outdoor and indoor national champion and represented his country at World and European Games level, as well as the World University Games. For Judo the award goes to Eoin Mac Crossain. Eoin was a member of the winning men’s intervarsity team in 2014.  In the summer of 2014 Eoin was diagnosed with cancer and spent six months in hospital but still captained the men’s team to take Gold in the Intervarsity men’s team event in February 2015. Receiving the all clear in the summer of 2015, Eoin returned to light training with the club January 2016. He was a member men’s team at this year’s Intervarsity’s, and helped the club secure bronze in this event. The ‘Club Captain’s award’ was presented to Elizabeth Mc Keever of Women Rugby. As a player, administrator and mentor Elizabeth has lead her club to three landmark victories over the last year. Under her Captaincy NUI Galway’s Women Rugby won the Irish Universities Rugby Union (IURU) Intervarsities, the Connacht Women's Rugby League and recently the Women's College Rugby league Final, making this session the most successful ever for the club. 2016 Sports Award Winners: Individual Awards Athletics: Conall Mahon from Irvinestown, Co. Fermanagh Camogie: Chloe Morley from Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare Hockey: Naomi Carroll from Cratloe, Co. Clare Hurling: Niall O’Brien from Ballinagore, Co. Westmeath Judo: Darren Friel from Carrabaun, Co. Mayo Ladies Soccer: Jennifer Byrne from Athlone, Co. Westmeath Rowing: Katie McEneff from Galway City Ultimate Frisbee: Eoghan Staunton from Taylors Hill, Galway City Club Captains Award: Elizabeth McKeever from Butlersbridge, Co. Cavan Special Achievement Award: Joint winners – Darren Wallace from Portlaoise, Co. Laois and Eoin Mac Crossain from Muff, Co. Donegal Team Winners Team Award: Ladies Soccer Team Team Award: Mystics Basketball Team Team Award: Men’s Basketball Team Team Award: Women’s Rugby Team Team Award: Women’s B Squash Team Most Improved Club: Surf Club Recreation Participation Award: Couch to 5K Team Tom Tuohy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rowing: Men’s Intermediate Fours -Ends-

NUI Galway researchers working on development of technology for self-driving vehicles present to high-level European Transportation Research Advisory Committee Researchers from NUI Galway presented their work on the development of technology for autonomous vehicles at the recent meeting of the European Road Transport Research Advisory Committee (ERTRAC), which was hosted by Valeo Vision Systems in Tuam, County Galway. ERTRAC engages with key stakeholders in road transportation across Europe to develop a common Europe-wide vision for road transportation, and includes in its membership national transportation policy makers and regulators, research and innovation agencies, and major transport industry representatives. Dr Edward Jones and Dr Martin Glavin from the Connaught Automotive Research (CAR) Group at NUI Galway presented research being conducted on the development of highly advanced intelligent automotive systems. This work focuses in particular on signal and image processing technology for applications such as automatically detecting pedestrians and other vehicles using cameras and other sensors. The objective of technology like this is to provide ‘advance warning’ of hazards on the road and give the driver or the vehicle more time to avoid a collision. Technology like this is already making its way into several production cars, and will be an important part of autonomous vehicles that will be capable of driving themselves without human intervention. The NUI Galway CAR Group has a very successful partnership with Valeo for almost 17 years, and has worked on numerous research projects during that time that were aligned with Valeo’s technical and commercial objectives. Since then the CAR Group’s researchers have benefitted enormously by working with an industry partner. At the ERTRAC meeting, Aengus Parsons, Director of Research at NUI Galway spoke about the rich research activity across the University, noting in particular NUI Galway’s significant recent success in attracting non-exchequer funding under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research Programme. Aengus Parsons, Director of Research at NUI Galway, commented: “The long-standing collaboration between NUI Galway’s CAR Group and Valeo is a testament to the commitment of both parties in fostering a research programme that combines the University’s expertise in signal and image processing with the needs of industry. It highlights the relevance and value of NUI Galway’s research in contributing to the commercial and economic development in the Galway region and further afield.” Further information on the CAR Group may be found at http://car.nuigalway.ie For more information about NUI Galway’s Research Office visit: http://www.nuigalway.ie/research-office/ ENDS

NUI Galway to host major exhibition ‘A University in War and Revolution 1913-1919’ which offers a glimpse into the lives of many individuals from the University caught up in the historic events of the era NUI Galway will host a major exhibition entitled ‘A University in War and Revolution 1913-1919’ which will be officially opened by Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, Professor Emeritus at NUI Galway on Monday, 4th April. The exhibition examines life in University College Galway (UCG), as it was then known, during a period of great social, cultural and political change. Exhibition materials drawn from the NUI Galway archives show that the emerging Ireland was reflected in the increasing numbers of students taking Irish, in the growing popularity of Gaelic games, and in the establishment of a University Corps of Volunteers. The outbreak of World War 1 in August 1914 came as a shock to many, and it had a tremendous impact on the University, as it had on Ireland in general. In the medium term, the war led to rebellion and political transformation, but more immediately there was a rush to enlist in the British army, which was encouraged by the University authorities. About 140 UCG students, staff and graduates fought in the war, of whom fifteen were killed. Their expectations and experiences are conveyed in the exhibition through poignant images and in obituaries published in the student magazines of the day. The exhibition offers a glimpse into the lives of many individuals caught up in the historic events of the era, people like Mary Donovan O’Sullivan and Brigid Lyons, who took very different positions politically. Mary Donovan O’Sullivan, the Professor of History at UCG was still in her 20s in 1916. She had been an active feminist in the Connaught Women’s Franchise League, but in 1915, she married Lieutenant Jeremiah O’Sullivan, a UCG engineering graduate. As chairperson of the Galway Women’s Recruitment Committee, she was a strong supporter of the war effort. Early in 1916, she denounced the campus republicans, urging, “There [is] no doubt that a number of young men here [in UCG] would be better employed at the front.” Among the republicans Donovan O’Sullivan was criticising, was Brigid Lyons, a second-year Arts student from Roscommon who had taken a lead in establishing the Galway branch of Cumann na mBan. Lyons was at home on her Easter holidays when word of the Rising reached her. She travelled to Dublin with her uncle, Joseph McGuinness, a prominent Longford republican, joining the Four Courts Garrison, where her commanding officer, Frank Fahy, was a UCG graduate himself. The exhibition will open on Monday, 4th April at 5.30pm in the Hardiman Research Building at NUI Galway. Members of the public are invited to visit the exhibition which will run in the Hardiman Research Building until mid-November 2016. For further information on the exhibition visit: www.nuigalway.ie/anationrising ENDS

NUI Galway’s Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Society will hold its second Climate Congress highlighting national and international approaches, adaptation and mitigation. This year the theme will focus on climate change and Ireland and will take place on Tuesday, 5 April in Áras na Mac Léinn from 11.30am-5pm. Speakers will include: Professor Peadar Kirby, Professor Emeritus of International Politics and Public Policy, University of Limerick; Emer Cosgrove, Climate Leader with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project; and James Nix, Director of Brussels-based non-profit Green Budget Europe. The speakers will discuss the direct causes and consequences of climate change for Ireland, and potential solutions. In addition, this year’s event will feature some new voices in the field with the Ignite Talks competition where postgraduate and early stage researchers will showcase their research. The event is free to attend with lunch provided, but registration in advance is requested at http://tinyurl.com/jhlhvpb. -Ends-

NUI Galway will host ‘1916: The Irish Rising at 100 Years’ conference in Columbia University to discuss the formative role of America in shaping the Easter Rising NUI Galway will host a conference entitled ‘1916: The Irish Rising at 100 Years’. It is the only 1916 event being held outside of Ireland by an Irish university and will take place at Columbia University’s prestigious Heyman Center for the Humanities on Friday, 1st of April. Four speakers from NUI Galway will discuss aspects of the relationship between Ireland, America, and 1916, telling the story of the Easter Rising, its context and cultural impact, and the formative role of America and New York in particular in shaping the Rising. The Galway speakers will be joined by three academics from Columbia University and three scholars from Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Penn State University. From NUI Galway, 1916 Scholar-in-Residence Dr Conor McNamara will look at the relationship between America and the Irish. The most significant figure in the events leading to the Rising, Thomas Clarke, emigrated to New York in 1880. He worked closely there with Clan na Gael leader John Devoy, the journalist and editor of the New York Herald, the Irish Nation and Gaelic American. Clarke returned to Ireland in 1907, re-organised the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and was executed following the Easter Rising. Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, a major leader in the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), was exiled in 1871 (along with Devoy), and spent most of the rest of his life in New York, where he edited the United Irishman newspaper. He died in Staten Island and the return of his body to Ireland for burial in 1915 was the occasion of Patrick Pearse’s milestone funeral oration. Pearse himself recognised the centrality of assistance from the US in the independence struggle and as a means to raise funds. In New York he delivered an important Emmet memorial speech in March 1914. Historian Dr Mary Harris from NUI Galway will look at the role of the key leaders in the Rising, Padraic Pearse and Eoin MacNeill, who moved from cultural to political activism. Pearse was inducted into the Irish Republican Brotherhood, initially to boost his attempts to raise funds in America for St. Enda’s School and he went on to play a significant role in planning the Easter Rising, leaving MacNeill in the dark. Dr Harris will discuss their perspectives on the Irish language, literature, and revolt, the consequences of which MacNeill lived to deal with after Pearse’s execution. NUI Galway Historian, Dr John Cunningham, will discuss the crucial role of Irish labour in this transformative historical moment. James Connolly spent 1903 to 1910 in the US, and lessons he learned there informed the Dublin Lockout of 1913, while others drew on the British and American trade union organisation to advance their cause. Literary scholar Dr Adrian Paterson from NUI Galway will talk about the reaction to the Rising in the work of W.B. Yeats. ‘Easter 1916’ became his most famous poetic response but he made a series of other contributions: ballads about the sixteen men, later made into multimedia hand-printed broadsides, and an astonishing combination of east and west, a Japanese Noh play set in the west of Ireland, The Dreaming of the Bones, featuring a rebel who flees after his role in the Rising to the desolate places of the west coast. For further details on this event visit: http://heymancenter.org/events/1916-the-irish-rising-at-100-years/ ENDS

Recruitment opportunities for Ireland’s future techpreneurs Bank of Ireland has been announced as a sponsor of TechInnovate, a new technology entrepreneurship fellowship at NUI Galway. TechInnovate is a unique specialised technology innovation programme at the University, where teams identify real needs in a certain domain and invent/implement solutions. The programme is a 10 month full-time stipend-supported fellowship. The full-time programme combines teams of high-calibre Fellows from either an engineering, business or design graduate background that aims to align unmet domain needs with a market opportunity. Team members are chosen to contribute their skills, knowledge and expertise as part of a multidisciplinary Fellowship team. Now recruiting, TechInnovate’s focus is on enabling technology innovators and innovations, by producing more technology entrepreneurs in local startups, as well as more intrapreneurs in established technology companies in the West of Ireland. High-calibre Fellows are recruited to form 2-3 person interdisciplinary teams and participate in an intensive 10-month programme that goes from concept to product. The programme has been inspired by BioInnovate, a successful medical device technology fellowship that is modelled on the prestigious and internationally-recognised Stanford BioDesign programme. In parallel to the fellowship programme, the second aspect of TechInnovate involves a series of ten day-long industry training workshops that are offered to industry partners, and that mirrors the TechInnovation process undergone by the full-time Fellows. The aim of this stream is to instill intrapreneurial thinking among staff from participating corporates. Tracy Keogh, Galway Community Manager at Bank of Ireland, said: “In the West of Ireland, we need more people thinking entrepreneurially and intrapreneurially, and TechInnovate will provide an injection of these people into the tech ecosystem in the region.” Dr John Breslin, Director of TechInnovate, and senior lecturer at NUI Galway, said: “TechInnovate aims to enable technology innovators and innovations, and will help to derisk startups through a comprehensive needs finding-centred process in different application domains.” TechInnovate is a joint initiative from the College of Engineering and Informatics and the College of Business, Public Policy and Law at NUI Galway, and is supported by Bank of Ireland, Blackstone LaunchPad at NUI Galway, the Galway University Foundation, NUI Galway, and the Western Development Commission. Interested fellowship candidates can apply for the TechInnovate fellowship at www.techinnovate.org before Friday, 8 April 2016. Candidates in the areas of engineering, information technology, design, law, and business must have completed an undergraduate degree in their area and should hold a postgraduate qualification or have equivalent professional experience. ENDS

NUI Galway will host a public forum to discuss the current challenges and future of mental health in Ireland on Thursday, 24 March in the O’Flaherty Theatre on the Arts Concourse at 7pm. Special guests will include Niall Breslin, better known as ‘Bressie’, and Dr Paul D’Alton, Clinical Psychologist and former president of The Psychological Society of Ireland and will be chaired by Dr Jonathan Egan from the School of Psychology at NUI Galway. Both Bressie and Dr D’Alton have spoken frequently on the topic of mental health, and have played an important role in challenging and changing attitudes towards mental health issues in Ireland. Dr D’Alton through his work as a Clinical Psychologist, equality campaigner and advocate of mental health reform, and Bressie through his openness and honesty about his own battle with anxiety and depression and through his website www.alustforlife.com. In an impassioned address to the Joint Committee on Health and Children about mental health and wellbeing at a meeting of the Oireachtas, Bressie and Dr D’Alton described mental ill-health as the great epidemic of this generation, and emphasised the necessity of a whole society response to the alarming increase in self-harm and consistently high rates of suicide in Ireland. Together they challenged the government and the people of Ireland to ask if we were doing enough.  Hannah Durand, NUI Galway PhD candidate in Psychology and member of the University’s Psychological Society and Psi Chi Chapter, said: “We are very excited to be able to facilitate this essential discussion around the future of mental health in Ireland. This is an important step towards changing for the better how Irish society responds to and takes care of all people with mental health issues.” Places are limited and early booking is advised. To register visit https://mentalhealthinireland.eventbrite.com. This event is facilitated by the University’s School of Psychology at NUI Galway, and students from NUI Galway’s Psychological Society and Psi Chi Chapter.  -Ends-

NetFort Technologies is one of 65 companies the Business Innovation Centre at NUI Galway has supported in their development phase over the last number of years NUI Galway client company, NetFort Technologies, a developer of the network security monitoring solution LANGuardian, announced it has now secured over 200 global customers worldwide. NetFort Technologies flagship LANGuardian product is a single software solution that monitors network traffic, users and security. It passively captures the traffic flowing through an organisation’s network switch, analyses it using deep packet inspection techniques, and stores the results in a database. A web-based user interface provides access to the traffic data in the database. As it works on traffic data, there is no client software to install, no interaction with the devices on the network, and no impact on network performance. Headquartered at the Business Innovation Centre in NUI Galway, with offices in London, the US and Australia, NetFort Technologies is an ambitious company that has grown exponentially with global customers that include the US Navy, US Department of Treasury, Honda Motor Company, Washington Gas, Norwest Venture Partners and McGraw Hill Financial. Founded by John Brosnan and Morgan Doyle the company continues to thrive in the security monitoring market. Mr Brosnan has extensive security and networking experience having worked as a Principal Engineer for several years with Digital Equipment Corporation in Ireland, the UK and the US. He has also worked on a number of high speed network interconnect projects in the past, specialising in low-level kernel programming. Commenting on the companies achievements, John Brosnan said: “The Business Innovation Centre at NUI Galway has provided many positives to our company, in particular the fantastic networking opportunities with other companies and being able to share information with each other. An additional benefit of being located within the vibrant community of NUI Galway is the many visitors who come to the University on an annual basis and provide us with access to a networking community that would otherwise be difficult to reach.” Mr Brosnan added, “One of the many difficulties a business faces during its start-up phase is around how it can best continue to move forward and grow. NetFort Technologies focuses primarily on its existing customers to inform them about the best methods of moving forward. By visiting our customers and listening to them, we are able to combine their opinions and thoughts with our own detailed analyst reports to foster a strong internal innovation that continues to keep us at the forefront of our industry.” Fiona Neary, Business Development Manager at NUI Galway’s Business Innovation Centre said: “It is always such a pleasure to work with and support a company like NetFort Technologies. Seeing them deliver a scalable, exportable, superior product is impressive, while at the same time John and his team are so willing to give their expertise back to the community. This is another example of a great West of Ireland company in Galway who has achieved global success.” The company now has 20 employees working in the areas of Research and Development, Support, Sales, and a number of technology partners. The focus for the future is continuing the development of the technology and growth through partnerships. For further information about NetFort Technologies visit: https://www.netfort.com/ ENDS

By adding just two DNA bases to its genome NUI Galway scientists have discovered that Black Fever, the second most deadly parasitic disease, can become resistant to drug treatment Scientists from NUI Galway and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK have shown how the parasite responsible for the neglected tropical disease Black Fever (visceral leishmaniasis) can become resistant to drug treatment, published today in the life sciences and biomedicine journal eLife. Studying the whole genomes (every single letter of the organism’s DNA code) of more than 200 samples of Leishmania donovani parasites revealed that the addition of just two bases of DNA to a gene known as LdAQP1 stops the parasite from absorbing antimonial drugs. While antimonials (a group of compounds used for the treatment of leishmaniasis) are no longer the first-line treatment for the disease, the discovery does show that whole-genome sequencing of Leishmania  donovani parasites could be used to study and track the emergence of resistance to frontline drugs – alerting health workers to potential outbreaks of resistance. Black Fever is the second most deadly parasitic disease after malaria, affecting nearly 300,000 people every year and killing up to 50,000. The parasite is mainly found in the Indian subcontinent, where up to 80 per cent of the disease occurs. To best understand how the parasite evolves and track the spread of drug resistance, researchers need a way to survey and monitor the parasite’s population structure. Unfortunately standard techniques to do this have proved fruitless because the strains of L. donovani parasite are so genetically similar. Dr Tim Downing, one of the paper’s first authors from NUI Galway and the Sanger Institute said: “We discovered that many of the parasites that were resistant to antimonial drug treatment had just two additional DNA bases in the gene LdAQP1, which produces an aquaglyceroporin protein. This insertion produces a scrambled version of this protein that can no longer move small molecules – including antimonials – across its cell membrane. These strains of L. donovani are likely to be resistant because they cannot take in the drugs.” Dr James Cotton, senior author of the study from the Sanger Institute said: “If you want to control visceral leishmaniasis, you need to understand what is going on at the geographic epicentre of the disease, and you need to be able to see changes at the level of individual DNA bases in the parasites’ genomes. Until now studies have been limited to looking at small regions of the parasite’s DNA or at what happens in the laboratory. To truly understand what is happening in the real world, we analysed the whole genomes of more than 200 samples from parasites captured in India, Nepal and Bangladesh over almost a decade.” Exploring the genetic landscape of L. donovani at such depth and breadth yielded new insights into the parasites’ ability to develop drug resistance, and its evolutionary history. In particular, the researchers found that the insertion of just two extra bases of DNA at this single LdAQP1 (aquaglyceroporin) gene in a genome with over 8,000 genes helped the parasite to overcome antimonial drugs. Black Fever – “kala azar” in Hindi – is the second largest life-threatening parasitic disease after malaria. Spread through the bites of sandflies, the parasites enter the internal organs such as the liver, spleen and bone marrow, making them inflamed and swollen. The infection produces fever, weight loss, fatigue and anaemia and is fatal if left untreated. Professor Jean-Claude Dujardin of the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp and the University of Antwerp, senior author of the study and leader of the consortium that ran the study said: “This study perfectly illustrates the relevance of collaboration between large sequencing centres like the Sanger Institute and clinicians and scientists involved in the battle against the most neglected diseases. Thanks to the acquired knowledge, it will be our turn now to beat Black Fever 2-0 by providing local health authorities with performance monitoring tools, and guiding research and development for new and more efficient anti-parasitic drugs.” Analysis of the genomes by the researchers revealed that the parasites responsible for the current epidemic first appeared in the Indian subcontinent in the 19th Century, matching the first historical records of Black Fever epidemics. In addition, the current genetic diversity of the parasite traces back to the 1960s, around the time that the widespread use of DDT to eradicate malaria in India came to an end. To read the full paper in eLife visit: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12613 ENDS

NUI Galway’s Italian department will host an evening of talks celebrating the culture of Italian food, and the people who make it in the West of Ireland on Thursday 7 April. ‘Italian Food Culture Meets the Atlantic Way’ will take place in IT125, IT Building at 6pm, followed by a food and wine reception provided by the Italian restaurateurs of Galway. Questions considered during the talk include: What is it that makes Italian food culture so popular in its many adaptations around the globe? What form does it take here, in the West of Ireland? Experts, such as the Italian Institute of Culture in Dublin, and Slow Food Galway, will be on hand to address these questions. Also offering their expertise will be the local Italian restaurateurs, including popular venues such as Mona Lisa, Il Vicolo, Basilico, and La Collina, and wine and cheese importer Grapecircus. The restaurateurs will contribute with their experiences, stories and ideas, showing us the significance of making Italian food in Galway. Professor Paolo Bartoloni, Head of Italian at NUI Galway, said: “This event responds to our intention to foster and consolidate the synergy between the tertiary sector and the world of business and creativity in Galway and its region, providing a full, engaging, and authentic encounter with the various aspects of Italian culture, and the ways it is experienced and lived in the West of Ireland.” The event is free to attend but, for catering purposes, attendees are requested to register on https://italianfoodatlanticway.eventbrite.com For further information please contact andrea.ciribuco@nuigalway.ie. -Ends-

Academics and employers name the world’s top universities in 42 disciplines NUI Galway has come out strong in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2016, scoring in 35 subjects and achieving a ranking in 11 subjects, an improvement from 9 in 2015. NUI Galway now features amongst the world's elite institutions in 11 of the 42 subjects featured in this year's QS World University Rankings by Subject. In the 11 subject areas, Medicine at NUI Galway has made it into the Top 200 and is now ranked third in the country. NUI Galway also makes the Top 200 in English Language & Literature, History and Earth & Marine Sciences. Seven more subject areas are ranked in the top 200-350 range. Domestically, NUI Galway performed well and is ranked second in Ireland in Earth & Marine Sciences and third nationally in English & Language Literature, History and Medicine. Subject Rankings: Earth & Marine Sciences (151-200), second in Ireland English Language and Literature (151-200) third in Ireland History (151-200), third in Ireland Medicine (151-200), third in Ireland Mathematics (301-350), third in Ireland Computer Science & Info Systems (201-250) Engineering - Electrical (251-300) Biological Sciences (201-250) Chemistry (251-300) Education (201-250) Environmental Sciences (251-300) Dr Jim Browne, President of NUI Galway spoke of the significance of NUI Galway’s improvement in its ranking performance in 11 subject areas. “Across the globe our graduates attach great value to the fact that their alma mater features strongly in global rankings. This recognition enhances the employability of our graduates, by highlighting our academic reputation in specific subject areas. This is especially true of graduate recruitment across Asia and the US where Rankings are a relevant feature of job applications. The QS World University Rankings is one of the best regarded evaluations of higher education in the world. NUI Galway is consistently improving its position on this global platform which is testament to the developments in teaching and research that have taken place at our University in recent years. Just last week THE rankings placed us in the Top 200 ‘Best Universities in Europe 2016’ which is an affirmation of our focused approach to developing our international reputation in a select set of teaching and research areas. This sustained performance in a range of ranking metrics reaffirms that our position globally is on the rise.” The sixth edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject, released today on TopUniversities.com, features a record-breaking 42 disciplines making it the largest ever ranking of its kind. The expert opinion of 76,798 academics and 44,426 employers informed the results, alongside the analysis of 28.5 million research papers and over 113 million citations sourced from the Scopus/Elsevier bibliometric database. American universities dominate in terms of the number of subjects in which they lead, just as they do in all the global institutional rankings. Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) continue to dominate, leading in 24 subjects between them. Each takes twelve leading positions. More information on the QS World University Rankings is available at www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings. ENDS Dul chun cinn déanta ag OÉ Gaillimh i Ranguithe Ábhair QS Ainmníonn acadóirí agus fostóirí na hollscoileanna is fearr ar domhan i 42 disciplín  D'éirigh thar barr le OÉ Gaillimh i Ranguithe Ollscoile QS World an Domhain de réir Ábhair 2016, ag baint scór amach in 35 ábhar agus ranguithe in 11 ábhar, sin ardú ó naoi gcinn in 2015. Tá OÉ Gaillimh luaite ar na hinstitiúidí is fearr in 11 de na 42 ábhar atá faoi chaibidil i Ranguithe Ollscoile QS an Domhain de réir Ábhair: Sna 11 réimse ábhair, bhain Leigheas in OÉ Gaillimh áit amach sa 200 is fearr ar domhan agus tá sé sa tríú háit sa tír anois. Bhain OÉ Gaillimh amach áit sa 200 is fearr i dTeanga agus i Litríocht an Bhéarla, Stair agus Eolaíochtaí Domhain agus Muirí. Bhain seacht réimse ábhair eile áit amach sa 200-350 is fearr. I gcomparáid leis na hollscoileanna eile in Éirinn, rinne OÉ Gaillimh go maith. Tháinig sí sa dara háit in Eolaíochtaí Domhain agus Muirí agus sa tríú háit i dTeanga & i Litríocht an Bhéarla, Stair agus Leigheas. Ranguithe Ábhair: Eolaíochtaí Domhain & Muirí (151-200), an dara háit in Éirinn Teanga agus Litríocht an Bhéarla (151-200) tríú háit in Éirinn Stair (151-200), tríú háit in Éirinn Leigheas (151-200) tríú háit in Éirinn Matamaitic (301-350), tríú háit in Éirinn Eolaíocht Ríomhaireachta & Córais Faisnéise (201-250) Innealtóireacht - Leictreach (251-300) Na Bitheolaíochtaí (201-250) Ceimic (251-300) Oideachas (201-250) Eolaíochtaí Comhshaoil (251-300) Labhair an Dr Jim Browne, Uachtarán OÉ Gaillimh faoin dul chun cinn atá déanta ag OÉ Gaillimh sna ranguithe in 11 réimse ábhair. “Bíonn an-mheas ag ár gcéimithe ar fud an domhain ar a n-alma mater ag déanamh go maith sna ranguithe domhanda.  Tugann an t-aitheantas seo deiseanna fostaíochta níos fearr dár gcéimithe mar gheall ar an gcáil acadúil a bhaineann an Ollscoil amach i réimsí ábhair áirithe.  Tá sé seo fíor go mór mór i gcás earcaíocht na mac léinn san Áise agus i Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá mar go mbíonn an-bhéim ar na Ranguithe in iarratais ar phoist. Tá Ranguithe Ollscoile QS an Domhain ar cheann de na measúnuithe ardoideachais is mó a bhfuil meas air ar domhan.  Tá OÉ Gaillimh ag déanamh dul chun cinn i gcónaí ar an ardán domhanda seo rud a léiríonn na forbairtí teagaisc agus taighde atá déanta ag an Ollscoil le blianta beaga anuas. Níl sé ach seachtain ó bhain an Ollscoil amach áit sa 200 ollscoil is fearr san Eoraip in 2016 i Ranguithe Ollscoile an Domhain de chuid Times Higher Education rud a léiríonn an chaoi a bhfuilimid ag iarraidh ár gcáil idirnáisiúnta a fhorbairt i réimsí an teagaisc agus an taighde.  Deimhníonn an dul chun cinn seo i meadarachtaí mar seo go bhfuil ár staid dhomhanda ag feabhsú leis.” Is é seo an séú heagrán de Ranguithe Ollscoile QS World an Domhain de réir Ábhair, a foilsíodh inniu ar TopUniversities.com, tá 42 disciplín ann den chéad uair riamh, an rangú is mó riamh dá leithéid. Cuireadh tuairim saineolaíoch 76,798 duine acadúil agus 44,426 fostóir san áireamh sna torthaí mar aon le hanailís ar 28.5 milliún páipéar taighde agus breis is 113 milliún tagairt as bunachar sonraí bibliméadrachta Scopus/Elsevier. Is iad ollscoileanna Mheiriceá atá chun cinn ó thaobh líon na n-ábhar a bhfuil siad chun tosaigh iontu, agus is iad atá chun cinn sna ranguithe institiúide ar fad ar domhan. Is iad Harvard agus an Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) atá chun cinn agus iad chun tosaigh in 24 ábhar eatarthu. Tá gach aon ollscoil chun cinn in dhá áit déag. CRÍOCH

NUI Galway is delighted to announce the appointment of Aengus Parsons as Director of Research. The newly established post underpins NUI Galway's commitment to further strengthening its position as a research-led university with global reach. As Director of Research Mr Parsons will play a leading role in the strategic management of research activity, aligned with the University’s ambition to develop internationally-recognised research excellence in a range of priority areas and to supporting the delivery of NUI Galway’s Strategic Plan in becoming a Top 200 ranked research-led university by 2020. Commenting on the appointment, President of NUI Galway, Dr Jim Browne said: “Research and research-led teaching is central to our mission at NUI Galway. With the appointment of Aengus Parsons as Director of Research, we will further build our research capability, enabling us to achieve the ambitious goals we have set ourselves. I’m delighted to welcome Aengus to NUI Galway and I look forward to working with him to ensure the continued development of NUI Galway’s research profile and outputs.” Crucial to the support of NUI Galway’s Research and Innovation strategy is the attraction and retention of emerging research leaders across the University’s key research priority areas, building on significant international successes to date. The priority research areas include: Biomedical Science and Engineering; Marine, Energy and Environmental Science; Data Analytics and Informatics; Physical and Computational Sciences; Applied Public Policy and Social Sciences, Digital Humanities and Drama and Theatre Studies. NUI Galway has significantly grown its research activity and output over the last ten years. The identification of priority research areas and subsequent investments in these areas have enabled the University to develop a critical mass of expertise which has led to significant success in securing competitive research grants, nationally and internationally. Currently home to two national Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres, in Medical Device Technologies and Data Analytics, NUI Galway has had to date the highest Irish university success rate in the European Horizon 2020 research funding programme. Congratulating Aengus Parsons on his appointment, the Vice President for Research at NUI Galway, Professor Lokesh Joshi said: “The University has set out a bold and ambitious target to support research excellence. We are very pleased to announce that Aengus Parsons has joined the leadership team to strengthen our research performance and develop its reputation. We welcome Aengus and under his stewardship, we look forward to ensuring that our strengths and achievements in research will continue to grow and prosper.” Originally from Spiddal in Co. Galway, Aengus Parsons joins NUI Galway following 10 years with the Marine Institute, where, most recently, he held the role of Director of Marine Environment and Food Safety Services. He led a team of scientific and support staff in the delivery to Government of technical and advisory services, backed up by multi-disciplinary research. Previously, as the Research Programme Manager at the Marine Institute, his focus was on implementation of the national marine research strategy and management of the national marine research funding programme. He brings to NUI Galway a broad knowledge of the research policy and funding landscape. Prior to this, Aengus worked for 10 years as a marine consultant, undertaking work for both public and private sector clients, and also spent time in an international research environment. Aengus undertook his undergraduate studies in Science in GMIT and postgraduate studies in Environmental Science at Trinity College Dublin. Speaking of his appointment, Aengus Parsons said: “I am delighted to be given the opportunity to play a leading role in the development of high-performance research activity within NUI Galway. Our ambition is to produce research that is recognised as excellent, transformative, and relevant to societal and economic needs, while continuing to attract and retain the highest-calibre of emerging researchers in the University’s priority research areas.” Mr Parsons added, "I am especially looking forward to working with the University’s researchers to enable them to produce research outcomes at the highest level on both the international and national stage. With the commitment and leadership shown by the University, I am confident that NUI Galway will consolidate its position as one of the leading research centres on the island of Ireland and become a central player in both Irish and international research.” ENDS

#Blitzit2016 is part of national ‘Get Going… Get Rowing’ programme which gives students opportunity to engage in a new sport Over 140 secondary school students and 18 volunteers from Galway City attended the first Connacht #Blitzit2016 Challenge which took place at NUI Galway recently. #Blitzit2016 Challenge, a curriculum within the  Get Going… Get Rowing programme, saw students competing in a series of physical challenges, culminating in an epic indoor rowing challenge covering a total of 90,000m to symbolise the distance from Galway to Rio.  The Get Going… Get Rowing programme in Connacht gives secondary school pupils the opportunity to actively engage with a new sport on NUI Galway’s campus or within the students’ own schools. The programme is run by Rowing Ireland who received funding from The Irish Sports Council (ISC) Women in Sport initiative in 2014. In November 2014, Rowing Ireland joined forces with NUI Galway to to jointly fund the Get Going… Get Rowing programme in Connacht. Mike Heskin, recently appointed Director of Sport and Physical Activity at NUI Galway, said: “NUI Galway, as one of the major rowing universities in Ireland, are delighted to be involved with Rowing Ireland in this very exciting project. As 2016 will be a very exciting year for rowing with Ireland been represented by two crews in Rio, I hope events such as this will inspire those taking part to have aspirations to be the best they can be and possibly compete in an Olympic game in the future. ” The NUI Galway Schools’ Challenge commenced with a flurry of activity where groups of 25 students in five separate groups rotated from one activity to the next at high speed and finishing out the challenge by completing 40 minutess of racing on indoor rowing machines. This was then followed by a series of talks on nutrition, mindful movements and the positive effects of physical activity on academic results.  The Get Going… Get Rowing programme also offers schools a training course called TrY rowing to Transition Year students and provides coaching sessions within these schools upon completion of the course. To date, over 50 TrY students have become coaches and the programme provided ergometer, indoor rowing machines, to schools who have completed the TrY rowing and who have fully engaged with the programme. For further details on the Get Going... Get Rowing programme contact Connacht Development Officer, Jen Cunningham at jen.cunningham@rowingireland.ie or 087 7660818. -Ends-

Major exhibition exploring W.B. Yeats’ connections with the West in The Model, Sligo A major NUI Galway exhibition celebrating the many connections W.B. Yeats had with the west of Ireland opens at The Model in Sligo next week. NUI Galway, in association with Yeats2015, will present ‘Yeats & the West’, an exhibition exploring Yeats’s life, work, legacy and deep connections to the west of Ireland in Sligo from 24 March to continue throughout the spring. Alongside the exhibition, every Thursday NUI Galway and The Model will present an exciting series of public talks, tours, and schools events. Highlights of the Yeats & the West exhibition include original artworks by Jack B. Yeats and his father John Butler Yeats, and a wealth of visual material from artists like Norah McGuinness and photographers from Fergus Bourke to Nicolas Fève, alongside rarely seen images, manuscripts, and books from archive collections in NUI Galway such as the Lady Gregory Collection, the Abbey Theatre Digital Archive, and the Lyric Theatre Belfast. The exhibition is part of NUI Galway’s contribution to Ireland’s decade of commemorations and the worldwide Yeats2015 series of cultural events marking his 150th birthday. President of NUI Galway, Dr Jim Browne explained: “As a civic university we enjoy a strong relationship with our region. Sligo and the north-west are especially important to us as witnessed by our longstanding relationship with St Angela’s College and our recently opened Sligo Medical Academy. With Yeats & the West we have developed a 6-week programme of public talks, tours and schools events around this popular exhibition so that we can engage with our alumni, with prospective students and the general public in the north-west. We are delighted to partner with The Model in this initiative and I hope that many visitors will get a chance to enjoy the exhibition and connect with NUI Galway over the coming weeks.” William Butler Yeats, poet, playwright, politician, and Nobel prize-winner for literature always looked west. For Yeats the west was the wellspring of songs, stories, folklore, artwork, drama, crafts; the foundation of the Irish imagination. It was also the landscape of his poetry and plays. Significant events of his life took place here; collaborations that formed his work were forged here. ‘Yeats & the West’ tells this remarkable story and considers what the west meant to him. “I think people sometimes forget that Yeats was not just a poet: he was a cultural revolutionary. To put it differently you might say he was a collaborator, an entrepreneur, an artist and a man who made things happen,” said Dr Adrian Paterson, of NUI Galway and curator of the exhibition. “The west was the landscape of Yeats’s poetry. It was also a wellspring of songs, stories, folklore, artwork, drama, crafts. The talks we are presenting look at his life and loves, his poetry, his influences. But they also feature his collaborations, and the songs and plays and artwork and the politics of those around him that shaped modern Ireland. It’s a western revolution.” “There’s a western tradition of art and making that continues right up to the present day, which is why we’re so pleased scholars like Margaret Mills Harper, Adrian Frazier, and Hilary Pyle, will be speaking not only about W.B. Yeats and his poetry but also the wider cultural sphere, including his own family of makers,” added Dr Adrian Paterson. Yeats & the West is an exhibition of collaborations. The exhibition highlights the gifted artists of Yeats’s own family, in books from the Cuala Press and images of the Dun Emer embroideries from St. Brendan’s Cathedral Loughrea. A complete collection of the Cuala Press Broadsides designed by Jack B. Yeats and recently acquired by The Model will also be on show. The Broadsides feature colloquial poetry and song as well as original, hand coloured illustrations by Jack Yeats. The exhibition also features material from the Arthur Shields Collection, a spectacular resource of letters, photographs, and first editions. The Model’s Acting Director, Emer McGarry, said “The Model is delighted to partner with NUI Galway on this fascinating exhibition. Yeats & the West not only illuminates the influence of western culture on the Yeats Family, but also shines a light on the network of ideas and artistic endeavours that existed between the family and the wider Yeats circle. We are particularly excited to present the accompanying academic lecture series to audiences in the Northwest throughout the duration of the show.” Yeats & the West tells a story of going west to find those places, real and imaginative, that change our sense of where and who we are. The Yeats & the West exhibition runs from 24 March at The Model in Sligo. The exhibition is presented in association with NUI Galway, and supported by the University’s Moore Institute and James Hardiman Library, as well as the National Library of Ireland, St Brendan’s Cathedral Loughrea, Yeats Thoor Ballylee Society, and Yeats2015. In parallel with the public programme of events NUI Galway has a school liaison initiative with targeted workshops for Leaving Certificate and Transition Year students. If your school would like further information or to visit the exhibition contact Grainne Dunne at schoolvisits@nuigalway.ie For further information please visit yeatsandthewest.org and themodel.ie. ENDS

An NUI Galway study discovers how the protein USP9X contributes to the duplication of genetic information and protects from the development of cancer A young team of researchers led by Professor Corrado Santocanale from the Centre for Chromosome Biology at NUI Galway, in collaboration with the prestigious IFOM Research Institute in Milan, Italy, have discovered that a protein named USP9X contributes to the efficient duplication of the DNA in cells. The study has been published in the international journal Cancer Research. The main feature of all cancer cells is uncontrolled growth and duplication. Many drugs used in treating cancer prevent DNA replication thereby stopping the cancer cell from dividing. At the same time, in normal cells, the coordination of the multiple processes that allow DNA replication to be extremely accurate, is key for maintaining genome stability and preventing cancer. At the molecular level, the research scientists found that USP9X binds to a key replication protein and prevents it from being destroyed. The study found that when the function of USP9X is compromised, the machinery (a large number of proteins and enzymes that work together) that duplicates the DNA becomes unstable. And for this reason, the cells accumulate DNA damage and are more sensitive to genotoxic stress (the property of chemical agents that damages the genetic information within a cell causing mutations, which may lead to cancer) including anti-cancer drugs that act by impairing DNA synthesis. USP9X is a well-known player in the cancer arena and previous research has indicated its involvement in multiple cancer-relevant signaling and survival pathways. Intriguingly, and in a context dependent manner, USP9X can be considered either as a factor that protects from the development of the disease or, when the disease is already established, as a potential point of intervention for novel anti-cancer drugs. CLASPIN, a protein that is important during the process of the duplication of the DNA, must be tightly regulated during the cell cycle to prevent the accumulation of DNA damage. In this study, the NUI Galway and IFOM research team used a sophisticated technology to detect molecular associations and identified USP9X as a novel CLASPIN binding protein. Professor Corrado Santocanale from the School of Natural Sciences at NUI Galway, and lead author of the study said: “We found that USP9X regulated the expression and stability of CLASPIN when cells duplicate their DNA. Our PhD student, Edel McGarry carried out most of the laboratory experiments and found USP9X depletion profoundly impairs the progression of DNA replication forks, causing unscheduled termination events with a frequency similar to CLASPIN depletion, resulting in excessive DNA damage.” Professor Corrado added, “Importantly, restoration of CLASPIN expression in USP9X-depleted cells partially suppressed the accumulation of DNA damage. Furthermore, USP9X depletion compromised the normal signals that occur in the cells when they are exposed to DNA replication inhibitors or UV radiation, promoting hypersensitivity to drug-induced replication stress. Taken together, our results reveal a novel role for USP9X in the maintenance of genomic stability during DNA replication, and provide potential mechanistic insights into its tumor suppressor role in certain malignancies.” To read the full Cancer Research paper visit: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2016/03/02/0008-5472.CAN-15-2890.abstract ENDS

NUI Galway’s Centre for Irish Studies will host a series of interviews with public figures exploring the contemporary relevance of the ideas and ideals that led to the formation of the Irish state. Questions addressed during the interviews will include: What is a republic? Is Ireland a republic? Is the Republic of Ireland the kind of republic imagined by those involved in the Irish revolution and proclaimed in 1916? What is the role of religion, art, literature, and politics in creating an Irish civic society of the kind envisaged in that proclamation? The interviews will be conducted by playwright Vincent Woods, presenter of Arts Tonight on RTÉ Radio and will feature public figures who have committed their working lives to realising their own vision of an Irish republic. The first interview will take place on Wednesday, 6 April with socialist and republican activist and community worker Bernadette McAliskey, the youngest woman ever in the British House of Commons on her election in 1969. Other interviews in the series include: Wednesday, 13 April with Thomas Kilroy Wednesday, 20 April with Fr Peter McVerry Wednesday, 27 April with Robert Ballagh The interviews will take place in the Ó hEocha Theatre, Arts Millennium Building, NUI Galway from 6.30-8pm All of these events are open to the public and free to attend. -Ends-

• Irish children report a lack of family and peer support • Cyberbullying increasing with age in Ireland • Drinking behaviours and tobacco use improving among Ireland’s young people A new pan-European World Health Organisation (WHO) survey of schoolchildren reveals that the proportion of 15-year-olds who first smoked at the age of 13 has fallen significantly since 2010. The main findings of the ‘International Health Behaviour in School-aged Children’ (HBSC) 2014 study was launched today in Brussels, with The Health Promotion Research Centre at NUI Galway carrying out the Irish survey. The WHO report entitled Growing up unequal: gender and socioeconomic differences in young people’s health and well-beingcovers 42 countries and regions across Europe and North America who participated in the study, collaborating with the WHO Regional Office for Europe. Findings in the report are based on almost 220,000 school students. Cross national comparisons are made for young people aged 11, 13 and 15 years. The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, which is updated every four years, reveals that the proportion of 15-year-old Europeans who reported having a first cigarette at the age of 13 or younger fell from 24% to 17% between 2009/2010 when the last survey was conducted and 2013/2014. The reduction reported among girls (22% to 13%) was larger than that among boys (26% to 22%), and the data shows no consistent association with family affluence, suggesting that smoking behaviour is only partially determined by socioeconomic factors. This positive news on smoking is tempered by other aspects of the report, which goes on to warn that while 80% of the schoolchildren report generally high rates of life satisfaction, differences between genders and socioeconomic status are adversely affecting many young people’s health, well-being and lifestyle choices at a critical stage in their development. The Irish Study The Irish survey was carried out by the Health Promotion Research Centre at NUI Galway and it was the fifth round of data collection in Ireland. The overall study aims to gain new insight into, and increase our understanding of young people’s health and wellbeing, health behaviours and their social context. As well as serving as a monitoring and a knowledge-generating function, one of the key objectives of HBSC has been to inform policy and practice, with the Irish section of the study being funded by the Department of Health. The latest HBSC report, which presents data from the 2013/2014 surveys, has a special focus on the effects of gender and socioeconomic differences on the way that young people grow and develop. The cross-national survey covers diverse aspects of adolescent health and social behaviour, including self-assessment of mental health; obesity and body image; dietary habits; engagement in physical activity; support from families and peers; tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use; and bullying. Dr Saoirse Nic Gabhainn from the Health Promotion Research Centre at NUI Galway, and the Principal Investigator of the Irish HBSC study, commented on the Irish findings within the report: “This study provides valuable insight into the health and wellbeing of children in Ireland. It also provides us with the opportunity to compare the health and health behaviours of Irish children with children from other countries. We have seen improvements in some health enhancing behaviours such as daily fruit consumption and reductions in risk taking behaviours such as alcohol consumption and tobacco use over time. However, there are also some areas of concern. For example, compared to other countries, Irish children report lower levels of feeling high family and peer support when compared to other countries. Cyberbullying increases with age in Ireland, more so than in other countries. Also of concern was the large gender difference between the proportion of girls and boys meeting physical activity recommendations.” Key Irish findings when compared to other participating countries: On health and health behaviours: Life satisfaction: Irish 15-year olds ranked within the bottom 10 countries for the proportion of children reporting high life satisfaction. Daily fruit consumption: Irish children ranked within the top 12 countries for the proportion of children reporting daily fruit consumption. Watch Television (2+ hours on weekdays): Irish children ranked within the bottom 10 countries for the proportion of children reporting two or more hours of TV viewing on weekdays. Meeting physical activity recommendations of at least one hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) daily: When compared to other countries, Ireland has large gender differences for the proportion of boys and girls meeting physical activity recommendations. A larger proportion of boys report meeting the recommendations than girls. Risk- taking behaviour: Initiation of risk behaviours: In Ireland, there is a socio economic gradient in the proportion of children reporting initiation of cannabis use and first drunkenness. This pattern was not found for 15-year olds who report smoking at the age of 13 or younger. Drinking behaviours and tobacco use are improving in Ireland and when compared to other countries. Social interaction with family and peers: Perceived family support: Of the participating countries, Ireland ranked within the bottom four countries for the proportion of children reporting high family support. Perceived peer support: Of the participating countries, Irish 13 and 15 year olds ranked within the bottom one-third of countries for the proportion reporting high peer support. Daily electronic media contact with friends: Ireland ranked within the top 10 countries for the proportion of children who report daily electronic media contact with friends. Bullied others at school at least twice in the past couple of months: Ireland ranked within the bottom 10 countries for the proportion of children who report bullying others at school. Cyberbullying: have been cyberbullied by messages at least two or three times a month: Compared to other countries, there is a strong age effect in Ireland, with a higher proportion of older children reporting having been cyberbullied than younger children. Data collected for the study are based on surveys completed by thousands of adolescents, thereby ensuring that their voices and concerns can be taken fully into account when the WHO frames its European strategies, policies and actions for improving child and adolescent health and well-being. The study feeds into a growing body of evidence calling for more effective and targeted interventions by governments and policy-makers to tackle the effects of social, health and gender inequalities among young people in Europe. To access a full copy of Growing up unequal: gender and socioeconomic differences in young people’s health and well-being, visit: http://www.euro.who.int/en/hbsc-report-2016  ENDS  

NUI Galway’s second Undergraduate Research Conference, ‘The Brain Café’, will take place on Wednesday, 23 March, giving undergraduate students an opportunity to showcase their high calibre research in a supportive academic environment. Through this multidisciplinary platform, students get to share their research with peers, academic staff and the wider public. Professor Lokesh Joshi, Vice-President for Research at NUI Galway, said: “Through NUI Galway’s commitment to excellence in research we have taken on the ambitious call to action that is to build the language, skills and love of research within our undergraduate student community. If we want to promote our undergraduates’ career, we must involve them as early and as much as possible in research, and we see up-and-coming undergraduates participating in creating the best research.” The world café style of presenting (moving from table to table) proved very popular in the highly successful inaugural conference last year. This format breaks down the traditional barriers associated with presenting research and makes it more accessible to students. It eliminates the anxiety often linked to the regular style of conference presentation and public speaking.  “Our students are hungry to showcase their work in this nationally unique conference. We are most impressed by the collegial atmosphere of science students listening and engaging with business student presentations and law students weighing in their thoughts with psychology projects. The cross-pollination leads to creative approaches and solutions,” said Conference Coordinator Lorraine Tansey, Institute for Lifecourse and Society. The conference will take place in between 11am and 2pm in the Lower Aula, Quadrangle Building on Wednesday, 23 March and is open to the public. Registration is encouraged at www.nuigalway.ie/undergrad-research to secure a place. -Ends-   

Over 200 people attended the first ever national Student Talks Conference which took place in Dublin last week. Student Talks is a student led initiative which won the NUI Galway Students’ Union Enterprise Award in 2014 to give students and other early career professionals the opportunity to share their passions and show their commitment to their careers in designated time slots. Student Talks, founded by Dr Brian Slattery, who now works in the School of Psychology at NUI Galway, first started with a one hour mini-conference with students of NUI Galway presenting to an audience of students and staff. This year, in a major development, Student Talks went national with support from student unions across the country The national event was a truly multidisciplinary affair, with talks on a multitude of topics including health, technology, careers, history, and entrepreneurship. Competing for the Student Talks 2016 Award 18 speakers gave a six minute talk with Sarah Tallon of Dublin City University taking home the first prize. The short talks were complemented by invited speakers including: Lynn Ruane, Trinity College Student’s Union President and Seanad candidate; Dr Brendan Rooney, Cyberpsychology Researcher; Tracy Keogh, Bank of Ireland StartLabHQ Community Manager; Alex Musgrave, Dog Day Media founder; Dr Áine Mangaoang, Postdoctoral Researcher in music at the University of Liverpool; and Brian Kennan, Google Director of People Operations. Institutes all over Ireland were also represented, giving attendees an opportunity to network with people from other disciplines and backgrounds. Student Talks aims to support people in the early stages of their career and have partnered with a number of startups. This year, Howling Hamster, a Galway-based games company, and Suas, a youth and education focused organisation, exhibited at the event, while Lemonade, a graphic design company, designed a once-off digital art print to form part of the Student Talks 2016 Award. Galway video production company Slipjig Media, Student Talks’ media partners, were present to document the day, and will be creating videos of all the talks to be made available shortly. Student Talks founder, Dr Brian Slattery, said: “I would like to thank all the speakers and attendees for making the event a success. It is difficult to demonstrate your burgeoning expertise at an early stage in your career, this doesn’t happen till much later on, but so much exceptional and exciting work goes on by students and early career people and it is important to recognise this work and showcase what talent we have in Ireland. Student Talks is a great stepping stone for people starting out. Student Talks is a unique and important event and we hope to develop it into a large scale annual event that becomes a pillar of the early career calendar.” More information on Student Talks can be found on studenttalks.ie, with regular updates on Student Talks shared on Facebook at facebook.com/StudentTalks1 and Twitter @Student_Talks. -END- 

Michelle Moran from Foxford, Co. Mayo has been awarded the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Excellence in Human Resources Award. Michelle is a final year student of the Bachelor of Commerce in Human Resources at NUI Galway. For over eight years, GSK has sponsored the annual Excellence in Human Resources Award at NUI Galway. Every year the top performing students in the Human Resources stream of the Bachelor of Commerce programme are invited to compete for this prestigious prize which includes a financial award and a three-month internship in the Human Resources department of GSK. Many of the previous prize-winners have been retained by GSK which has proven to be an excellent start to their professional career. Dr Deirdre Curran, who manages the award for NUI Galway, said: “This internship represents a wonderful opportunity for our high performing students. A team of GSK managers and NUI Galway staff put all of the candidates through a rigorous assessment process which proves an invaluable learning experience to all of the students regardless of the outcome.” Brian O’Driscoll, Head of Leadership and Talent Development at GSK believes that this award marks a valued partnership between GSK and NUI Galway. “Through this Award we are able to source excellent talent into our HR Department and for many of them this marks the start of an on-going and successful employment relationship.” -Ends-

NUI Galway is ranked in The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for ‘Best Universities in Europe 2016’ NUI Galway is ranked in the Top 200 of The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for ‘Best Universities in Europe 2016’, ranking within the 131-140 range. Twenty-two different countries in Europe were represented in the Top 200 ranking, with NUI Galway ranking third out of six Irish universities that contributed to Ireland’s convincing performance in the list of the Top 200 Universities in Europe in 2016. The ranking is based on the data and methodology used to compile the THE World University Rankings 2015-16. Institutions are measured on their teaching environment, research environment, citations (research influence), industry income and international outlook. The Republic of Ireland is described by THE World University Rankings as punching above its weight and a strong performer along with Denmark and Switzerland, given all three countries are smaller nation sizes per head of population. When assessed on the number of universities in the top 200 in relation to GDP per capita, which reflects spending power, the UK and Germany ranked the highest. The continuous improvement has been attributed to a concerted approach by the University in developing world-class teaching, research and citations in specific fields, NUI Galway President Dr Jim Browne explained: “This is a major achievement for NUI Galway and reflects a consistent upward trend in these very competitive European rankings. This sustained improvement in NUI Galway’s THE World University Rankings is an affirmation of our very focused approach to developing our international reputation in a select set of teaching and research areas, and reaffirms that our position globally is on the rise. It is a great tribute to the efforts of many colleagues at a time of financial pressure in the Irish higher education sector that NUI Galway continues to perform well and enhance our standing in these international metrics.” The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are the only global performance tables that judge research-intensive universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. THE use 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments. To view The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for ‘Best Universities in Europe 2016 visit: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/best-universities-in-europe-2016 ENDS OÉ Gaillimh ar cheann den 200 Ollscoil is fearr san Eoraip 2016 OÉ Gaillimh sa 134ú háit sna hOllscoileanna is Fearr san Eoraip 2016 i Ranguithe Ollscoile an Domhain de chuid Times Higher Education Tá OÉ Gaillimh i measc an 200 ollscoil is fearr san Eoraip in 2016 i Ranguithe Ollscoile an Domhain de chuid Times Higher Education (THE). Bhain sí áit amach sa réimse 131-140. Bhain ollscoileanna as dhá thír is fiche san Eoraip áit amach sna Ranguithe don 200 ollscoil is fearr, agus tháinig OÉ Gaillimh sa tríú háit as sé ollscoil in Éirinn a rinne thar barr sa liosta den 200 Ollscoil is fearr san Eoraip in 2016. Tá an rangú bunaithe ar na sonraí agus ar an modheolaíocht a úsáideadh chun Ranguithe Ollscoile an Domhain 2015-16 de chuid THE a chur le chéile. Meastar institiúidí bunaithe ar a dtimpeallacht teagaisc, timpeallacht taighde, tagairtí (tionchar taighde), ioncam ó thionscal agus dearcadh idirnáisiúnta. Rinne Ranguithe Ollscoile an Domhain de chuid THE cur síos ar Phoblacht na hÉireann mar thír a bhí ag déanamh éachtaí thar a hacmhainn cosúil leis an Danmhairg agus an Eilvéis, ó tharla go bhfuil na trí thír beag ó thaobh daonra de. Is iad an Ríocht Aontaithe agus an Ghearmáin is fearr a rinne sa 200 ollscoil is fearr nuair a cuireadh olltáirgeacht intíre in aghaidh an duine san áireamh, rud a léiríonn cumhacht caithimh. Mhínigh Uachtarán OÉ Gaillimh, an Dr Jim Browne, go ndearnadh an dul chun cinn seo mar gheall ar chur chuige comhaontaithe na hOllscoile teagasc, taighde agus tagairtí den scoth a fhorbairt i réimsí sonraithe: “Is éacht ollmhór é seo do OÉ Gaillimh agus léiríonn sé ardú seasta sna ranguithe Eorpacha seo atá thar a bheith iomaíoch. Is dearbhú é an t-ardú seasta ar sheasamh OÉ Gaillimh i Ranguithe Ollscoile an Domhain de chuid THE ar an gcur chuige thar a bheith dírithe atá againn i leith ár gcáil idirnáisiúnta a fhorbairt i réimsí áirithe teagaisc agus taighde agus léiríonn sé go bhfuil ár stádas domhanda ag dul ó neart go neart. Is léargas iontach ar iarrachtaí ár gcomhghleacaithe ar fad agus brú airgeadais orainn in earnáil an ardoideachais in Éirinn go bhfuil OÉ Gaillimh fós ag déanamh go maith agus ag cur lenár seasamh sna meadarachtaí idirnáisiúnta seo.” Is iad Ranguithe Ollscoile an Domhain de chuid Times Higher Education an t-aon tábla feidhmíochta domhanda a thomhaiseann ollscoileanna a chuireann béim ar thaighde ó thaobh a gcroímhisin ar fad: teagasc, taighde, aistriú eolais agus dearcadh idirnáisiúnta. Úsáideann THE 13 tháscaire feidhmíochta a cuireadh le chéile go cúramach chun an chomparáid is cuimsithí agus is cothroime a dhéanamh a mbeadh iontaoibh ag mic léinn, lucht acadúil, ceannairí ollscoile, tionscal agus rialtais astu. Chun na hOllscoileanna is Fearr san Eoraip 2016 i Ranguithe Ollscoile an Domhain de chuid Times Higher Education (THE) a fheiceáil téigh chuig: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/best-universities-in-europe-2016 CRÍOCH  

Montclair State University Professor to give public lecture on: Fairies, Rebels, Mothers: Lady Gregory and 1916 NUI Galway will host the 2016 Monsignor Pádraig De Brún Lecture entitled Fairies, Rebels, Mothers: Lady Gregory and 1916, to be given by Professor Lucy McDiarmid, Marie Frazee-Baldassarre Professor of English at Montclair State University in the US on Tuesday, 22 March. The biennial public lecture is held in honour of Monsignor de Brún who served as University President from 1945 until 1959. The memorial lectures have been running since the 1960’s with Professor Stephen Hawking giving a lecture in 1994 on “Life in the Universe”. Professor McDiarmid’s lecture will focus on the career of Lady Gregory, whose writings and life are so closely connected with County Galway. Professor Lucy McDiarmid is the author and editor of seven books, including At Home in the Revolution: what women said and did in 1916 and The Irish Art of Controversy. Her work on the cultural history of Irish modernism, published in her numerous books, essays and edited volumes, has led to a deeper understanding of one of Ireland's greatest literary periods. Professor McDiarmid’s groundbreaking edition of Lady Gregory's selected writings (edited with Maureen Waters) did a great deal to draw critical attention to Lady Gregory’s work and Professor McDiarmid’s De Brún Lecture will focus on many aspects of Lady Gregory’s achievements. Professor McDiarmid will also discuss the formative moment of 1916 in this commemorative year, which relates to her recent publication, At Home in the Revolution: what women said and did in 1916. The public lecture will be followed by a questions and answers session moderated by Professor Daniel Carey, Director of the Moore Institute at NUI Galway. The Monsignor De Brún Lecture will take place on Tuesday, 22 March at 7.30pm in the Aula Maxima (Lower). To book a place at this free public lecture, please register at www.conference.ie. Advance booking is essential. ENDS