Education Ireland

University College Dublin Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School – Irish Aid

The Government of Ireland, together with the University College Dublin Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School are pleased to announce the launch of their 2010 MBA and Masters Scholarship Programme. Up to 5 MBA and MSc Scholarships are available to qualified candidates to begin one year of full-time study in Ireland, beginning September 2010.

Irish Aid MBA Fellowship Programme

• Up to five (5) full tuition scholarships;
• Stipend for accommodation and living expenses.

Eligibility:

The Irish Aid MBA Fellowship Programme is open to Vietnamese citizens resident in Vietnam who are committed to returning to Vietnam after their MBA.

The UCD Smurfit School is one of Ireland's top ranked business schools, with a current ranking of #37 in the Economist Intelligence Unit's top 100 Global MBA Programmes, and has been included in the Financial Times Top 100 MBAs every year since 2000. Full details of the scholarship programme are available at www.ucd.ie/vietnam.

Trinity’s School of Business Ranked 21st in World Ranking

Trinity College’s School of Business was ranked 21st in the world among the top 100 Global Business Schools by Eduniversal when it released its report on the world’s top 1,000 business schools recently. The renowned ranking also places TCD’s School of Business as 1st in Ireland and 15th in Europe. This is the second annual ranking aimed at assisting students, companies and academics around the world identify the best business schools both locally and internationally.

Minister Conor Lenihan announces inaugural Science Foundation Ireland ‘Researcher of the Year’

Professor Luke O’Neill, Trinity College Dublin , recognised for pioneering work in immunology

Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr Conor Lenihan T.D., announced Professor Luke O’Neill of Trinity College Dublin (TCD ) as winner of Science Foundation Ireland’s inaugural SFI “Researcher of the Year” accolade. Minister Lenihan made the announcement in a keynote address to the SFI Science Summit, at a two-day conference in Athlone attended by over 300 of Ireland’s leading scientific researchers.

Luke O’Neill is Professor of Biochemistry based at Trinity College Dublin and, through his pioneering work in the areas of immunology and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, has emerged as a world leader in his field.

The University of Limerick creates world’s first best-practice web portal for pharma

The Tanaiste has unveiled the world’s first pharmaceutical best-practice portal for compound crystallisation which will operate out of the University of Limerick and is designed for use by the pharmaceutical industry and academic institutions.

The website has been developed through the Solid State Pharmaceutical Cluster (SSPC). The SSPC, which is led by the University of Limerick (UL), is a collaborative research group of Ireland’s leading pharmaceutical companies and third-level institutions, with Government funding being provided through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).

NUI Galway Spin-out Offers Molecular 'Fingerprinting' of Complex Substances

A spin-out company from NUI Galway, Analyze IQ Limited, is providing solutions for the more accurate analysis of complex mixtures such as illegal drugs, pharmaceuticals and contaminants.

With technology licensed from NUI Galway, Analyze IQ Limited offers an innovative software suite for the analysis of the composition of mixtures, based on molecular spectroscopy data. Molecular spectroscopic techniques can effectively 'fingerprint' materials. This is done by assessing the manner in which laser light is scattered by the molecular structure of the gas, liquid or solid being tested.

Software for Space Weather Satellite Developed by Solar Physics Group

A group of researchers from the School of Physics celebrated the launch of a new space weather satellite, Proba-2, which uses image analysing software developed at Trinity College Dublin during a special event, held in Trinity’s Science Gallery. The group, led by Dr Peter Gallagher, were joined at the launch event on November 2nd by the Belgian Ambassador and a representative from the Russian Federation embassy to see the European Space Agency’s (ESA) second satellite in its technology demonstration series enter orbit above northern Russia.

Political Science at Trinity in Top European Rankings

Political Science at Trinity College Dublin has been awarded a place in the Excellence Group for Political Science in this year’s CHE Centre for Higher Education Development in Germany Excellence Ranking. The CHE Excellence Ranking highlights the research strengths of European higher education institutes and awarded the Excellence Group status to TCD’s Department of Political Science at the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy because of its outstanding achievements in citations and publications.

Tánaiste opens Tyndall's new €48.7 million research building

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan TD, today (November 2nd 2009) officially opened the Government funded Tyndall National Institute’s new state-of-the-art research building, representing a remarkable addition to Ireland’s capabilities in nanoscale semiconductor research.

The Tánaiste also announced that Tyndall will host the Enterprise Ireland-funded Competence Centre for Applied Nanotechnology, an industry-led research initiative involving some of the world’s leading companies such as multinationals Intel, Seagate, Medtronic and Analog Devices and Irish companies Aerogen, Audit Diagnostics, Creganna and Proxy Biomedical which is also supported by IDA Ireland.

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Trinity Researchers Discover New Way to Kill Leukaemia Cells

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have identified a new way of killing leukaemia cells, including those resistant to current therapies. Their findings have just been published in the renowned international journal Cancer Research. The researchers describe how a new drug, pyrrolo-1,5-benzoxazepine-15 (PBOX-15), is able to kill chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) cells, including those from patients with poor prognosis. The research project was funded by the Irish Cancer Society.

PBOX-15 is one of a number of PBOX class of drugs which was developed by a team from Trinity College Dublin and the University of Siena. Researchers from the School of Medicine in collaboration with the School of Biochemistry and Immunology in Trinity College Dublin then tested the PBOX drugs in the laboratory and discovered that PBOX-15 is highly effective at killing CLL cancer cells, and at the same time spares normal cells.

CLL is the most common leukaemia in the western world. While some progress has been made in developing new treatments for this disease, resistance and recurrence of the disease mean that new approaches need to be found.

Trinity Researchers Identify New Gene that influences Human Intelligence

A new genetic variant that influences human intelligence has been discovered by researchers from the Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group (NRG) at Trinity College Dublin. The findings have just been recently published in the international journal, Archives of General Psychiatry.

The study which was an international collaboration with researchers from the Universities of Cardiff and Munich, was led by TCD researchers Dr Gary Donohoe, Dr Aiden Corvin, Dr Derek Morris, and Professor Michael Gill of the NRG and Department of Psychiatry, TCD and sponsored by Science Foundation Ireland, the Wellcome Trust and NARSAD.

The researchers identified the new genetic variant within a gene called NOS1. The authors found that carriers of this gene variant that has been previously associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia performed on average 5 verbal IQ points below non-carriers in patients with schizophrenia. Interestingly, the same difference of 5 verbal IQ points was also observed in controlled tests involving healthy participants. The researchers were then able to replicate these findings in large German samples of both patients with schizophrenia and further controlled experiments involving healthy participants. Similar findings were also observed for the cognitive ability of working memory, an aspect of cognition highly correlated with human intelligence.

Source: http://www.tcd.ie

New Database of Drug Metabolising Enzymes Relevant to Drug Development

Trinity College Researchers in collaboration with the US National Institutes of Health Chemical Genomics Center Create New Database of Drug-Metabolising Enzymes.

In their quest to find new and better drugs, researchers must weigh many factors, including the potentials of each compound to work effectively and to cause bad reactions. Among the most important factors to be considered are how a compound interacts with a family of liver enzymes, known as the cytochrome P450s (CYPs), that play an essential role in drug metabolism.

Scientists say chemical in turmeric can kill malignant throat cells in lab

The findings from researchers in University College Cork showed that molecules -- curcumin -- found in a curry spice have been shown to kill oesophageal cancer cells in the laboratory.

DCU has been invited to join the “European Master's in Translation" network

The MA in Translation Studies run by the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies, DCU, has been selected to join the “European Master’s in Translation ” (EMT) network. DCU’s programme is one of 34 Master’s level translation programmes across the EU that were successful in their bid to join the newly-formed network. The network will help promote the exchange of best practice between participating universities and, ultimately, enhance teaching standards and foster the creation of a truly European market for skilled translators.

UCC launches School of Asian Studies

UCC President, Dr Michael Murphy recently launched Ireland’s first School of Asian Studies. The launch was followed by round table discussions at the National University of Ireland with the Ambassadors of six Asian nations.

The launch involved the foundation of the Irish Institute of Korean Studies by the Korean Ambassador, Mr TaoYong Chu, along with the introduction of three new postgraduate courses in the School of Asian Studies by Professor David Cox, Head of the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences. The event was also marked by the launch of The Asian Studies Fellowship by Dr Tom Hardiman, Irish Governor for The Asian European Foundation.

Code of Practice and Guidelines for Irish Higher Education Institutions

A Code of Practice and Guidelines for the Provision of Education to International Students has recently been published by the Irish Higher Education Quality Network (IHEQN www.iheqn.ie). This Code of Practice is intended to guide Irish HEIs – Universities, Institutes of Technology, other publicly funded institutions and the leading private colleges - in setting their own education provision arrangements for international students against agreed sector wide benchmarks.