Staff Bios

2020

‌Below are the bios of the Academic staff promoted in Round 2 of the Academic Promotions scheme 2020 

 

     

Dr Marie Coggins, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Physics

Marie is a native of Sligo, she completed her PhD at NUI Galway under the supervision of Prof. Gerard Jennings (Experimental Physics). Following her PhD she worked in the Pharmaceutical sector as an Occupational Hygiene Professional, before commencing a lecturing post in the School of Physics in 2003. Marie has held the role of Programme Director of the professional accredited postgraduate and undergraduate programmes in Occupational and Environmental Health & Safety. She leads the NUI Galway Exposure Science research team, where her research focuses on characterizing the magnitude of human exposure and exposure pathways for a range of pollutants across multiple microenvironments as well as evaluating the impact of human exposure or exposure interventions on health. This research continues to inform the development of both Environmental and Energy policy. She is an Irish representative and board member on the International Energy Agency’s, Technology collaboration Programme - Annex 5, Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC).  Since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic she has been a member of the NSAI Expert committee on requirements and methods of testing for community face coverings and currently serves on the National Expert Group on the Role of Ventilation in Reducing Transmission of COVID-19. Initially established as a subgroup of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), this group now works with the Irish Governments Senior Official’s Group to further inform sectoral guidance and public information regarding ventilation.

 

     

Dr Maeve Duffy, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Engineering

Maeve is originally from Bundoran, Co. Donegal. She completed the BE in Electronic Engineering at NUI Galway, followed by a PhD (on modelling of planar magnetic components) under the supervision of Prof Ger Hurley. She then spent over 4 years researching at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, where she collaborated on several European and industry funded projects on microfabricated magnetic components. She returned to a lecturing position in NUI Galway in 2001 and has continued to develop her research in power electronics and biomedical applications, most of which is industry focused, in the Power Electronics Research Centre. She is Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics and publishes widely in high impact journals and international conferences. She has been programme director for the BE and ME in Electrical & Electronic Engineering since 2007. Maeve leads the electrical design team of the Galway Energy Efficient Car (the GEEC) student project, which has had continued success at the annual international Shell Eco-marathon competition.  

 

    

Dr Maura Farrell, Associate Professor, School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies

Maura is a native of Galway and was educated at NUI Galway (BA in Geography and History, Higher Diploma in Education and PhD in Geography).  Maura’s teaching reflects her research specialism, which revolves around Rural and Agricultural Geography and her interests focus around processes of social, cultural and economic change for rural inhabitants.  Dr Farrell is currently the Principal Investigator on the Irish National Rural Network Project and the more recent Horizon 2020, RURALIZATION Project.  Maura is a widely published academic and extremely active outside university life, having been appointed to committees and organisation’s both nationally and internationally.  These include appointments at Irish Ministerial level to Rural and Agricultural Committees and by DG-AGRI at the EU Commission to Evaluation and Reflection groups for the LEADER Programme and the EU’s Long Term Rural Vision 2040. 

 

     

Dr Conor Hayes, Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science

Conor grew up in Co. Wexford. He carried out his PhD work at the Machine Learning Lab at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 2004. This was followed by 3 years of post-doctoral research at the Bruno Kessler Institute in Trento, Italy.  He  joined NUI Galway in 2007 as a postdoctoral fellow at the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI). In 2012, Conor was appointed to lecturer above the bar in the College of Engineering and Informatics. From 2015 to 2018, he was the programme director for the MSc/Diploma in Computer Science in Data Analytics.  In 2018 he oversaw  funding acquisition for the development of a new  online MSc in Computer Science in Artificial Intelligence. In 2019, Conor was appointed as an academic director on the Student Digital Pathways Project.Conor is a Principle Investigator in the Insight Centre for Data Analytics at NUIG's Data Science Institute. He has published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals, books and conferences in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Data analytics. He is a programme committee member for several leading conferences in these topics such as IJCAI,  WWW, RecSys, ICWSM. In 2020, Conor was part of the team that secured funding for the EU project Pandem-2, which will develop a Europe wide monitoring and management system for infectious diseases.

 

 

    

Dr Manuela Heinz, Senior Lecturer, School of Education

Manuela is originally from Dresden, Germany. She was educated at Dresden University (MA English and Spanish and Second-level teaching qualification), University of Zaragoza (Hispanic Studies), Edinburgh University (MSc International Politics), and NUI Galway (PhD Education and Dip. Psychology of Counselling). In her various roles as School Placement Director, Programme Director of the Professional Master of Education and Chair of the Teaching and Learning Committee she has been committed to developing caring education professionals and researchers who support, challenge and inspire children and young people and foster social justice and intercultural understanding in educational settings and wider society. Manuela led funded research and teaching projects (IRC, HEA, Erasmus+, Ubuntu) in the areas of teacher education, teacher diversity, equity, intercultural and global citizenship education. She has published widely in leading research journals and is a member of the editorial board of European Journal of Teacher Education. She has served on working groups and steering committees with a wide range of education partners including the Teaching Council, the Department of Education, the Ubuntu Network for Sustainable Development, and Comhairle na nÓg. She currently represents the Irish University Association on the National Teacher Supply Data Working Group and has recently been appointed as Head of Discipline of Education.

 

   

Professor Padraic Kenna, Personal Professor, School of Law

Padraic is a graduate of the University of Warwick (Law and Sociology) and NUI Galway (PhD). Lecturing in Irish land law, housing law and policy and international commercial property law, he is an international expert on housing rights. Prior to joining the University, Padraic developed significant expertise in housing rights advocacy, and in the development and management of social housing, both in the UK and Ireland. At NUI Galway, he established the Centre for Housing Law, Rights and Policy, attracting funding from the European Commission, Open Society Foundations, The Housing Agency and the Irish Council for Social Housing. Through extensive research, reports, journal articles and books, Padraic combines research with housing rights advocacy at national and European level. In 2019, his draft Bill requiring proportionality assessments in all mortgage possession cases, aiming to keep people in their homes, was enacted into law. Recently, he published a set of Briefings on how EU housing rights can be recognised, respected and promoted within the EU economic governance framework. His Research Report on the new ‘’Cost Rental Model” in Ireland as a Service of General Economic Interest, was launched by the Minister for Housing in May 2021. Currently, Padraic is developing an online course in European Housing Studies, with Universities and agencies across Europe, funded by Erasmus Plus.

 

    

Dr Rónán Kennedy, Senior Lecturer, School of Law

Rónán Kennedy is a native of County Kerry and was educated at NUI Galway, the King’s Inns, New York University, and University College London, where he took his PhD on the use of information and communications technology for environmental regulation under the supervision of Professor Jane Holder. He has published extensively on environmental law, information technology law, and other topics, and is co-author of two textbooks. He was Executive Legal Officer to the Chief Justice of Ireland, Mr Justice Ronan Keane, from 2000 to 2004. He was a member of the Advisory Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2016 to 2019. In 2020, he was a Science Foundation Ireland Public Service Fellow in the Library and Research Service of the Oireachtas, researching the use of information and communications technology in legal services, and was a member of AI4People’s committees on the legal services and energy markets.

 

    

Dr Colin Lawton, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences

Colin is originally from Lisburn in Northern Ireland but completed his BA and later his PhD in Zoology in Trinity College Dublin. Colin’s PhD research investigated the ecology of the invasive grey squirrel in Ireland, and he has continued his research on animal ecology and conservation since he joined Zoology in NUI Galway in 2001. His research has focused on a variety of vertebrate species, including squirrels, pine marten, mice, eel and reptiles and his work has been published in several international journals including Science.  Much of his work engages the public in scientific projects through Citizen Science.  Colin has held leadership positions as Head of Zoology, Vice Dean for Internationalisation in the College of Science and Deputy Chair of the Exam Appeals Committee.  He is currently the Head of the Biodiversity and Bioresources Cluster in the Ryan Institute. Colin is passionate about teaching students in the field, and has led undergraduate classes on a final year field course based in Morocco.

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Professor Patrick McGarry, Personal Professor, School of Engineering

Patrick McGarry was appointed as Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering in 2006 and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2017. He has published over 100 papers in leading peer reviewed journals in the areas of solid mechanics, biomechanics, and advanced computational simulation. He has received several major funding awards from Science Foundation Ireland and EU-H2020.  He has supervised 21 PhD students and seven post-doctoral researchers. His research has been awarded ten major international prizes, in addition to three European Commission Innovation Radar awards for research impact. He has performed collaborative research with ten industry partners and six internationally leading clinical institutes in the fields of vascular, cardiac and orthopaedic biomechanics and medical device analysis. In 2015 he was awarded the NUIG President’s Award for Research Excellence. He has delivered 14 invited/keynote lectures at leading international conferences. In 2017 he was appointed as Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Graz and as Faculty Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. He held a visiting faculty position at the University of Cambridge in 2018.

 

    

Professor Laura McLoughlin, Personal Professor, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Laura is a native of Italy and was educated at the Università “La Sapienza” in Rome (Laurea in Lingue e Letterature Moderne), before taking a PhD in Italian Studies at NUI Galway under the supervision of Prof. Catherine O’Brien. She has published widely in the field of Applied Linguistics, concentrating mainly on language teaching methodology, e-learning, new technologies and subtitling in language teaching and translators’ training. She has lectured in Italy, Poland, UK, Kazakhstan and collaborated with many leading universities in Europe and beyond. She is the joint- funder and currently joint-Director of the Centre for Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism (CALM). She has received considerable national and international funding for language-related projects from the EU, National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, IRC, NAIRTL and won the European Language Label in 2008, 2009 and 2013.

 

    

Dr Lorraine Morgan, Associate Professor, School of Business and Economics

Lorraine is a native of Nenagh, Co. Tipperary and was educated at University of Limerick (BA (Hons) and University College Cork (MSc).  She earned her PhD from University College Cork under the supervision of Professor Patrick Finnegan and Professor Joseph Feller. Lorraine joined NUI Galway’s School of Business and Economics as a Senior Research Fellow in 2010 and took up a lecturing position with the School in 2017.  Currently she is Programme Director for the BSc in Business Information Systems, Associate Head of Graduate Students in the School and Cluster Leader (Agile and Open Innovation) in the Whitaker Institute.  She has published extensively in leading journals on the subject of open source software, open innovation and crowdsourcing. Lorraine is also a Funded Investigator with Lero, the Irish Software Innovation Centre where she has led many projects around open innovation. In 2019, she was one of the recipients for the NUI Galway President's Award for Research Excellence and received the President’s award for Teaching Excellence in 2021.

 

    

Professor Dearbháile Morris, Personal Professor, School of Medicine

Dearbháile is a native of Galway and was educated at DCU (B.Sc. in Biotechnology) and NUI Galway (Ph.D. in Bacteriology). She is Head of the Discipline of Bacteriology and Director of the Centre for One Health at NUI Galway. She established the Antimicrobial Resistance and Microbial Ecology Group in 2010 and works closely with national and international research groups and other agencies focusing on antimicrobial resistance mechanisms and epidemiology, food and water borne pathogens, emerging contaminants, the wider societal impact of infection and One Health. She has secured over €10 million in research income and is leading NUI Galway’s participation in the One Health European Joint Programme. She has published widely in high impact journals and has been invited to deliver addresses at several national and international meetings. She is dedicated to excellence in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research and received the President’s award for research excellence in 2020.

 

    

Dr Colm O'Riordan, Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science

Colm is a native of Cork and was educated at UCC (BSc in Computer Science, M.Sc. in Computer Science (Information Retrieval) and a PhD in Computer Science (Evolutionary game theory).  His research interests include information retrieval, evolutionary computation and evolutionary game theory.  He has published over 150 peer reviewed papers in these related fields.

 

    

Dr Shivaun Quinlivan, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Law

Shivaun Quinlivan has extensive experience and a strong track record of research and advocacy in equality law, employment law and inclusive education.  Shivaun co-leads two inclusive learning projects at NUI Galway: an undergraduate project funded by the NUI Galway Student Project Fund, and a postgraduate project funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.  She has published extensively on the right to equality and inclusive education, see in particular De Beco, G., Quinlivan S., & Lord, J., (Eds)(2019) The Right to Inclusive Education in International Human Rights Law (Cambridge University Press).  In 2020, Shivaun was awarded a President's Award for Societal Impact for her work as an expert advisor to the States of Guernsey, which led to the adoption of legislative proposals for new multi-ground equality legislation.  Shivaun holds a BA and LLB from NUI Galway, an LLM from King’s College London, a BL (Barrister at Law) from The Honourable Society of King’s Inns and a PhD from Trinity College Dublin.

 

    

Dr Aideen Ryan, Associate Professor, School of Medicine

Aideen is a native of Galway and was educated at NUI Galway before moving to University College Cork where she completed her PhD in the area of Cancer Immune Evasion. Following postdoctoral fellowships at NUI Galway in Cancer and Regenerative Medicine Institute, Aideen secured independent fellowships and a starting grant to start her research group in Tumour Immunology. Aideen was appointed a Galway University Foundation Lecturer in 2017. Aideen has published extensively in leading journals in the area of stromal cells in anti-tumour immunity and serves on the executive council of both the Irish Association of Cancer Research and Irish Society of Immunology. Aideen serves as Associate Editor and reviewer on international research journals. Aideen has secured national and international research funding. Aideen’s research discoveries on immunity in cancer, are recognised by keynote invitations and international research excellence awards and keynote invitations.  

 

Dr Heike Schmidt-Felzmann, Senior Lecturer, School of History and Philosophy
Bio to follow

 

 

Dr Eva Szegezdi, Senior Lecturer, School of Natural Sciences

Eva received her MSc and PhD in Medical Science in her home country, at the University of Debrecen, Hungary in 2000 after which she moved to Galway and did her postdoctoral training at the Cell Stress and Apoptosis Research laboratory, NUIG. She became a Lecturer in Biochemistry in 2011 and received an NUIG Foundation Research Lectureship position in Cancer Biology in 2016. She is the director of the M.Sc. programme in Cancer Research, co-ordinator of the Doctorate School in Integrative Genomics (EU-H2020-MSCA-COFUND) and co-PI of the Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science. Eva also leads the Strategic Partnership Programme, Blood Cancer Network Ireland, a nationwide research network focusing on pre-clinical research, biobanking and early-stage clinical trials in blood cancers. The research laboratory Eva leads studies how malignant cells interact with the surrounding tissue underpinning cancer drug resistance. For this research she has several international collaborations, such as the DISCOVER-H2020-RISE consortium she co-ordinates. Her research has been recognised through a variety of honours and she has published extensively in respected journals in her field.

 

Below are the bios of the Academic staff promoted in Round 1 of the Academic Promotions scheme 2020 

Dr Kathryn Cormican, Senior Lecturer, School of Engineering
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Kathryn Cormican leads a large multidisciplinary research team working in the area of technology innovation management. This involves the design, development, validation of novel processes and information systems to enable the creation of smarter user-cantered products and services. She is internationally recognized for her contribution to research and has won many prestigious best paper awards. Kathryn has collaborated with colleagues in leading universities (e.g. Tsinghua, Macau, and Minho) as well as senior industrial partners (e.g. Boston Scientific, Fidelity Investments and Fujitsu-Siemens) and has published extensively in high impact journals in her field.  She has secured over €2 million in research income and is currently PI on two EU funded projects. Her contribution to both research and practice has been recognized through several invited keynote addresses at international conferences and symposia. Kathryn directs an award-winning MSc programme specifically designed to equip graduates with the requisite skills needed for employment in the high-tech industry. She also received the President’s award for teaching excellence in 2018.

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Dr Sean Crosson, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of English and Creative Arts‌

Originally from Cavan, Seán was educated at NUI Galway where he completed a BA (English and Economics), M.Phil, and PhD in Irish Studies under the supervision of Professor Louis de Paor. His research interests include the relationship between film, visual media and sport, and Irish film and literature. He has authored, edited, or co-edited ten books and over forty mostly single-authored peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters to date, including his most recent monograph Gaelic Games on Film: From silent films to Hollywood hurling, horror and the emergence of Irish cinema (Cork University Press, 2019), recipient of the Dean's Award for Research (2020). He is director of Graduate Research and Teaching in the Huston School of Film & Digital Media, and as leader of the Sport & Exercise Research Group within the Moore Institute, has led a range of interdisciplinary sport-related research and teaching initiatives, including as co-director of the MA Sports Journalism and Communication programme (launched in 2020). He has served as President of the European Federation of Associations and Centres for Irish Studies (2013-2019), been Vice-Dean for Research in the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies (2017-2020), and is currently a member of the Classification of Films Appeal Board.

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Dr Nicholas Devaney, Senior Lecturer/Assoiate Professor, School of Physics‌

Nicholas is a native of Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo and was educated at NUI Galway (then UCG) (BSc and PhD in Experimental Physics) under the supervision of Prof. Mike Redfern. He was a Post-Doctoral Researcher in Cambridge, Paris and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Spain, specialising in techniques of high spatial resolution Astronomy. He was then in charge of designing and building the Adaptive Optics and other Optical systems for the GTC, the largest optical telescope in the world. He returned to Galway in 2005 to take up a lecturing post in the School of Physics. Since then, his research interests have included high resolution imaging of the retina, thermal and computational imaging and he has been charged with different projects in Space Optics by the European Space Agency. He is Co-investigator of a MAORY project, a collaboration of the Italian National Astronomical Federation, Grenoble Observatory and NUIG to build the 20 MEuro Adaptive Optics system for the European Extremely Large Telescope, which will be completed in Chile in 2025.

 

Dr Róisín Dwyer, Associate Professor, School of Medicine

Róisín is a native of Dublin and was educated at UCD (BSc) and DCU (MSc in Biological Sciences). She also completed her PhD under the mentorship of Dr Peter Smyth at UCD, focused on iodide uptake and metabolism in breast cancer. Róisín spent three years as a postdoctoral scientist in the Mayo Clinic (USA) investigating novel approaches to breast cancer imaging and therapy. Upon her return to Ireland this was further advanced through two individual fellowships at NUI Galway, during which time she also completed a MA in academic practice. Róisín leads a research team aiming to develop novel approaches for therapy of advanced breast cancer. Multidisciplinary collaboration is key to this work and she is a member of national and international research consortia, and review panels. Her research has been recognised through a variety of honours and she has published extensively in respected journals in her field. 

Professor Martin Glavin, Personal Professor, School of Engineering‌

Martin is a native of Galway, and was educated at NUI Galway, graduating with a BE in Electronic Engineering. He studied for a PhD at NUI Galway on the topic of algorithms and architectures for high speed data communications systems and joined the academic staff at NUI Galway in 2004. His research focuses on the development of signal processing algorithms for automotive, agricultural and biomedical applications. He co-founded the Connaught Automotive Research (CAR) group in 2005, and has worked closely with local and international industry for over 20 years on a number of research projects, securing funding from SFI, IRC, EI, Horizon 2020 and direct sponsorship from industry. He has been programme director for the BE and ME in Electronic & Computer Engineering since 2007, and won the President’s award for Teaching Excellence in 2009. While Martin’s academic and research achievements have been significant, he believes that the best days of his career continue to be the days when he gets an opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of the students at NUI Galway.

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Dr Sharon Glynn, Associate Professor, School of Medicine

Sharon is a native of Dublin and was educated at DCU (BSc in Biotechnology). She earned her PhD in Biotechnology/Cancer Biology under the supervision of Prof. Martin Clynes at DCU.  She spent four years as an All-Ireland NCI Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, USA, before moving to NUI Galway in 2010 as Director for Laboratory Research for the Prostate Cancer Institute.  Appointed as Lecturer in Pathology in 2010 in the CMNHS, she has published extensively in leading research journals on the subject of tumour biology and patient outcomes, and has received funding from Breast Cancer Now, the Irish Cancer Society and Science Foundation Ireland, including an SFI Career Development Award in 2018.

 

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Dr Caroline Heary, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Psychology

Caroline was educated at the University College Dublin (BA, Psychology) and NUI Galway (MPsychSc in Health Psychology). She returned to UCD to undertake a PhD working with Prof. Eilis Hennessy & Prof. Hannah McGee (RCSI). She worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Children’s Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin, before joining NUI Galway as a Lecturer in 2003. Caroline has served on the Council of the Psychological Society of Ireland and is the Irish representative on the European Paediatric Psychology Network and the International Committee of the Society of Pediatric Psychology (US). She has published in leading developmental science and health psychology journals on topics relating to youth mental health (stigma, help-seeking) and the development of positive health behaviours during childhood. Caroline is a co-founder of the Youth Academy (NUI Galway).  She is a former Undergraduate Director and is Co-Director of the PhD in Child & Youth Research

Dr Elaine Keane, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Education‌

Elaine is a Galwegian and was educated at NUI Galway (BA, HDipEd, MEd, PhD). A former post-primary teacher of languages and CSPE, and project coordinator implementing distance learning access programmes nationally, she joined NUI Galway in 2004 as a researcher in CELT. In 2006, she commenced as Lecturer in the School of Education, where she teaches Sociology of Education and Research Methods, is Director of Doctoral Studies and former Chair of the Research Committee. Her research focuses on widening participation in higher education, social class and education, teacher diversity, and constructivist grounded theory. She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and has led several projects as Principal Investigator (funded by IRC, HEA, HRB, ERASMUS+). Elaine has given invited lectures in universities in Ireland, England, Sweden, and the USA, serves on the Editorial Board of Teaching in Higher Education, and is lead editor on a volume about teacher diversity (Routledge, 2022).

 

Dr Colette Kelly, Senior Lecturer, School of Health Sciences

Colette is a native of Galway and was educated at NUI Galway (BSc (Hons), the University of Aberdeen (MSc) and the University of Reading (PhD).  Colette is a registered Public Health Nutritionist and worked in the food industry and with scientific charities before joining NUI Galway as a postdoctoral researcher in 2005. Colette became a lecturer in 2011 taking on the role of Director of the BA Social Care programme for 6 years and Chair of the School of Health Sciences Teaching and Learning committee.  In 2018 she became Director of the Health Promotion Research Centre and the Vice Dean for Graduate Studies in the College of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences. Colette also represents her College on Academic Council. Colette’s research focuses on food environments and child and adolescent health. She has held leadership roles on an international study of child and adolescent health and works with the World Health Organization European Office to impact policy on adolescent health. She has published over 50 peer reviewed articles and 28 published reports. 

Dr Su-Ming Khoo, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Political Science and Sociology‌

Su-ming read Anthropology and Geography at UCL and received her PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from the Queen’s University of Belfast, for research on democracy and development alternatives in Malaysia. She joined NUI Galway’s School of Political Science and Sociology in 1999. Su-ming is an inter and transdisciplinary scholar and chairs the Research Clusters on Environment, Development and Sustainability (Whitaker Institute) and Socio-Economic Impact (Ryan Institute) at NUI Galway. Her research, teaching and publications connect human rights, global public goods, higher education and global ethics. She is currently Principal Investigator for the BCAUSE research project: Building Collaborative Approaches to University Strategies against Exclusion in Ireland and Africa: pedagogies for quality Higher Education and inclusive global citizenship (IRC COALESCE/88 2019-22) and has recently coedited three books with Helen Kara on Researching in the Age of COVID-19, published by Policy Press (2020).

 

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Dr Gerard Molloy, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology

Gerry is a native of Dundalk and is a first generation graduate (neither parent completed secondary school). He was educated at University of Ulster (BSc in Applied Psychology), before completing a PhD in Psychology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland under the supervision of Professor Derek and Marie Johnston. He has published extensively in leading research journals on the subject of Health Psychology and completed post-doctoral fellowships at world-leading research centres at the University of Aberdeen and University College London. He has served as Chair of the Division of Health Psychology in the Psychological Society of Ireland, been Vice-Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies here at NUI Galway, and is currently PI on an international research collaboration with colleagues from Canada, NUI Galway and the Department of Health in Ireland focusing on understanding the determinants of physical distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. He is an elected fellow of the European Health Psychology Society and has secured €1.8 million in research income since joining NUI Galway in 2012.

 

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Professor Aisling McCluskey, Personal Professor, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Applied Maths

 Aisling is a native of Antrim and graduated with a PhD in Mathematics from Queen’s University Belfast in 1991. After a postdoctoral position in Toronto, she joined NUI Galway in 1992 introducing a new research field (analytic topology) not only to the university but to the country. She has developed strong and sustained contribution to the field through publishing in leading specialist and general journals and maintaining significant international collaboration and leadership including the founding in 1997 of the annual Galway Topology Colloquia series.
The latter series is distinguished by its foresight in placing particular focus on the training and development of graduate and early-career researchers and was an early signal of Aisling’s clear and determined commitment to a research agenda that integrates both research in mathematics and scholarship in teaching and learning. Her research-led and award-winning teaching and the completion of an MA in Academic Practice with CELT in 2011 catalysed the development of a new research dimension in undergraduate mathematics education and three co-authored undergraduate texts, published by Oxford University Press in 2014, 2018 and 2021.

Dr Charlotte McIvor, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of English and Creative Arts‌

Charlotte is a native of Philadelphia, PA and was educated at Muhlenberg College (BA in Theatre and English) before completing her PhD at University of California, Berkeley (Performance Studies).  She is the author of one monograph and multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters as well as editor of multiple edited collections with the themes of her research encompassing migration, interculturalism, and contemporary performance, with an emphasis on socially engaged and collectively created grassroots work in Ireland and beyond. She is also a theatre and creative arts practitioner whose practice includes directing and creating devised theatre for educational contexts and most recently, serving as a co-lead of NUI Galway’s Active* Consent programme, for which she directs the Creative Arts and Communications Unit and produces original content like theatre, short films, animations, and social media campaigns to educate young people on sexual consent.  She has given invited keynotes and lectures internationally including at University of California, Irvine and University of Lincoln and serves on the board of arts organisations including Baboró, the international arts festival for children, and Border Crossings.  

Dr Stephen Nash, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Engineering‌

Stephen is originally from Dundalk and was educated at Trinity College Dublin (BAI in Civil Engineering). He also completed an MSc by research in water quality modelling at TCD and subsequently worked with an environmental consultancy developing aquatic models. He took his PhD in marine modelling at NUI Galway and was appointed as lecturer in civil engineering shortly after beginning his PhD studies. He teaches in water engineering and sustainable energy and established the MSc in Water Resources Engineering in 2016.  His research expertise is marine and coastal modelling. He has secured more than €2 million in direct research income from funding agencies and industry and has published 40 journal papers. The quality of his research has been recognised by awards from Engineers Ireland, the Irish Marine Industry and the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK).

Dr Paul O'Connor, Senior Lecturer, School of Medicine‌

Paul O’Connor comes from St Andrews, Scotland. He started as a Lecturer in Primary Care in 2013 after coming to NUI Galway to be a Senior Research Methodologist in the Whitaker Institute in 2010. He is the Research Director of the Irish Centre for Applied Patient Safety and Simulation (ICAPSS), and Co-director of the Diploma and Masters in Healthcare Simulation and Patient Safety.  He was awarded a PhD in Psychology from the University of Aberdeen in 2002. Prior to coming to Ireland he was a Medical Service Corps Officer in the U.S. Navy for eight years. He served as: an Assistant Professor in the Operations Research Department at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California; Instructor in Aviation Psychology at the Navy/Marine Corps School of Aviation Safety, Pensacola, Florida; and Research Psychologist and Experimental Diver at the Navy Experimental Diving Unit, Panama City, Florida.  His research, and teaching, are concerned with improving human performance and safety in high risk work environments. He has carried out research in a wide range of high risk industries (e.g. civil aviation, offshore oil production), and the military (e.g. aviation, Special Forces). In recent years his research and teaching has focused on the human factors that contribute to patient safety and quality of care.

 

Dr Leo Quinlan, Associate Professor, School of Medicine

Leo is a native of Cork and was educated at NUI Galway (BSc in Biochemistry), before taking a Ph.D. in Stem cell biology under the supervision of Prof. Michael Kane. His research interests focus on the interface of human physiology and medical device development with an emphasis on both bench and translational research in the areas of neurodegeneration, neuro-cardiac modeling, and ion channels in health and disease. He has published extensively in leading research journals in his field and has served as an editor and reviewer on several high impact journal. He was the Director of the BSc in Biomedical Science for many years and is currently the Vice Dean for Learning Teaching and Assessment in the College of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences.

Dr Michelle Roche, Associate Professor, School of Medicine‌

Michelle is a Galway native and graduate of NUI Galway (BSc Physiology, MSc Neuropharmacology and PhD Neuroscience).  Following a three-year post-doctoral fellowship, she joined the discipline of Physiology as a Lecturer in 2008. Her research focuses on the understanding the neurobiological mechanisms and interrelationship between depression, autism and pain. She has collaborated with leading academics and industry partners, publishing over 60 research manuscripts to date. Michelle is dedicated to 3^rd level education, supervising and mentoring over 20 PhD/MSc research students to completion, coordinating the 3^rd yr undergraduate Physiology Science programme and four physiology modules. She holds several prominent roles on local, national and international organisations including chair of the Career Development group in School of Medicine Athena Swan SAT, Governing council member for Neuroscience Ireland and Irish Pain Society, Scientific Advisory Panel member for the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology and editorial board member for 3 international journals.

Dr Ekaterina Yahyaoui, Senior Lecturer, School of Law 

Prior to joining NUI Galway in 2012, Ekaterina taught and researched at the University of Montreal (Canada). Her research focuses on the questions of global justice, combining interdisciplinary theoretical interrogation with attention to practical implications of various theories. At the time of promotion, she was the sole author of four monographs published by leading international publishing houses and fifteen articles in international peer-reviewed journals in additional to thirty other publications. In 2016 she was the recipient of the NUI Galway President’s Award for Research Excellence. She is an active member of the European Society of International Law where she was elected to the Coordinating Committee of the Interest Group on International Legal Theory and Philosophy as well as to the role of the Chair of the said group. Ekaterina is a former director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes of the Irish Centre for Human Rights and the current Vice-Dean for Research in the College of Business, Public Policy, and Law. 

‌‌‌‌Below are the bios of the Academic staff promoted in Round 4 of the Academic Promotions scheme 2021

 

Dr Manus Biggs, Senior Lecturer, School of Engineering

Manus is a native of Galway and was educated at the University of Galway (BSc in Science and MSc in Biomedical Science), before pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Glasgow under the supervision of Prof Matthew Dalby.  His highly interdisciplinary research is focused on biomaterials, the development of electrically active nanotechnologies in regenerative medicine and biodegradable biosensors.  To date, he has published over 70 peer-reviewed publications and 10 book chapters and secured over €7M in competitive research funding, from European, Irish and multinational funding bodies.  Manus has established research collaborations with institutes in the UK, Europe and the USA through securing bi-lateral funding and serves on the management board of the successful LifeTime doctoral Training Programme.

 

Professor Christine Domegan, Personal Professor, School of Business and Economics

Christine's work lies in three aspects of business and society intersection – in research, teaching and management – all focused on critical emerging issues such as sustainability, cliamte action, systems change, healthy environments and health. Christine is the Research Leader for the Applied Systems Thinking unit within the Whitaker Institute, NUI Galway, investigating Systems-thinking Social Marketing for Systemic Change and Stakeholder Engagement through a multidisciplinary lens with partners in the UK, Europe, Australia and Canada. Christine is currently leading an EU LIFE IP grant for climate action (€27 million) with national partners in relation to peatlands, people and policies.
Christine, in conjunction with Healthy Ireland, teaches Marketing Research, Sustainable Marketing and Social Marketing at undergraduate and postgraduate.. She was awarded College award for Teaching Excellence, 2020 for her collaborative and service learning work with Healthy Ireland over the past 7 years. Christine is European Editor for the Journal of Social Marketing and co-author, with Professor Gerard Hastings, OBE, of Social Marketing; Principles and Practice for Global Change 4th ed, Routledge (in press). Christine is Adjunct Professor, Griffith Business School, Brisbane, Australia and Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, Institute of Social Marketing (ISM), Stirling University, UK. 

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Brendan Kennelly, Senior Lecturer, School of Business and Economics

Brendan Kennelly grew up in Ballylongford, County Kerry.  He studied economics at University College Cork and the University of Maryland.  He has been lecturing at University of Galway since 1991.  He has also been a visiting professor at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania between 2002 and 2004 and again between 2010 and 2011.  His research has covered many areas in economics including public policy, economics education and, most significantly, health economics.  Within health economics, much of his work has been on mental health and health policy.  He has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals on these topics as well as contributing to numerous policy reports.  He is currently a member of a steering group that is developing a new national policy for palliative care.
He is currently the Director of the MSc Health Economics programme, a position he previously held between 2013 and 2018.  He was the Head of the Department of Economics between 2005 and 2008.  He was the Associate Head for Teaching and Learning in the School of Business and Economics between 2014 and 2017.
Brendan has organised several academic conferences during his time at NUI Galway.  He has also conceived and hosted a number of events for the general public on topical issues such as palliative care during the Covid-19 pandemic in September 2020 and reconstructing the economy of Ukraine in April 2022.

 

 

Dr Veronica McCauley, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Education

Veronica is a native of Donegal, and was educated at the University of Limerick (BScEd Science Education, PhD Science Education).  She researched and taught for several years at the University of Limerick (Ireland), Harvard University (Cambridge, USA) and currently, here in the School of Education at the University of Galway. Veronica publishes regularly in science education, science communication & public engagement, STEM innovation (social and behavioural change at individual, educational and policy level), and related areas.  She has had substantial funding success in science education and has been awarded €3 million euro as PI/Co-applicant, across 25 projects totalling €12 million euro from a wide range of funding bodies including HEA, SFI, Enterprise Ireland, Erasmus+, and H2020.  She holds the Vice-Chair position of the University’s Ethics Committee, and was recently appointed as Director of the Centre of Pedagogy and Public Engagement Research, CoPPER.

 

Dr Patricia Scully, Associate Professor, School of Physics

Patricia is from the Peak District in the UK. She was Educated at The University of Manchester (BSc (Hons) Physics); and UMIST (MSc in Instrumentation and Analytical Science). She joined Liverpool University for an Engineering PhD in Optical Fibre Sensors. She moved to Liverpool John Moores University as a Physics Lecturer in 1990, became Reader in Photonics in 2000. Then University of Manchester as Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor.
Patricia led European Union (EU) projects in bio-process and gas monitoring, using optical sensors for bio-reactors and hydrogen fuel cells. She developed smart flooring to monitor footsteps for gait analysis, security and health checks, using tomography and artificial intelligence.
In 2018 Patricia joined the University of Galway, School of Physics. She is an SFI Funded Principal Investigator in Smart Composites, Laser Processing, Sensors and Graphene, leading a SFI Frontiers for the Future project, in Laser Functionalisation of Flexible Polymer-Carbon Composites for Medical Sensing. She collaborates with an EPSRC funded project in Advanced Fluid Engineering for Digital Manufacturing, and has graduated 24 PhD students and published over 100 refereed papers

 

Professor Jane Walsh, Personal Professor, School of Psychology
Jane is a native of Galway and completed her BA and PhD in Psychology in NUI Galway, specialising in the field of Health Psychology. She subsequently held research and lecturing posts in both Dublin and Carlow before being appointed as a lecturer in the School of Psychology in NUI Galway. Jane is an established international scholar and leader in Digital Health research. Her research is applied and explores how state-of-the-art technologies can be leveraged to improve health and wellbeing. Jane is the Director of the Mobile Technology and Health (mHealth) Research Group where she leads a programme of cross-disciplinary research with global experts in medicine, engineering, science and technology. She has achieved significant funding success with awards totalling over €25 million from Horizon 2020, SFI and HRB. Jane is regularly invited to give international keynotes speeches, including in the US and Europe. Jane is a member of the Irish Cancer Society Research Advisory Board and a former Chair of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) Division of Health Psychology. Jane was recently appointed to the Royal Irish Academy Social Sciences Committee.

 

Dr Sinead Walsh, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Medicine

Sinead is a native of Galway and completed her undergraduate medical training at University of Galway (MB BChBAO).  She completed her PhD in translational medicine in UCD, examining the origins of the myofibroblast in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.  Sinead is a Consultant in Respiratory and Sleep medicine at Galway University Hospital.  She is head of the final year medical programme at the University of Galway.  She is a member of the undergraduate programme board, student affairs committee, curriculum steering group, and the clinical skills and simulation committee.  She is particularly interested in preparedness for clinical practice, human factors and assessment in medical education.  She has several publications in medical education, sleep and respiratory medicine in peer-reviewed journals.  She is a member of the Irish Thoracic Society working group on Interstitial Lung Diseases.  

 

 

Below are the bios of the Academic staff promoted in Round 3 of the Academic Promotions scheme 2021

 

Dr Florence Abram, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences

Florence is a native of Nancy, France and was educated at Ecole National Supérieure d’Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires (MSc, France) and Wageningen University (MSc, The Netherlands). She worked as a professional Research Microbiologist (Unilever Research, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands) and then as a Computer Programmer (Unilog IT, France) before undertaking a PhD in Microbiology at NUI Galway under the supervision of Professor O’Byrne in the field of Infectious Diseases.  After spending three years as a post-doctoral researcher in Environmental Microbiology, she was appointed as a University Fellow (Teaching and Research) and then as a Lecturer at NUI Galway in 2013.  Florence has published extensively in leading research journals on the subject of Microbial Ecology.  Her teaching and research specialisms include Molecular Systems Biology and the application of Machine Learning to Microbiology.  Florence is currently leading the School’s Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team, and chairs the School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

 

 

 Dr Patrick Collins, Associate Professor, School of Geogrpahy, Archaeology and Irish Studies

Pat Collins is a native of Galway and has worked as an Economic Geographer at NUI Galway since 2012.  Prior to that he was a researcher at the Whitaker Institute where his work looked at the location decisions of multinational technology companies.  More recently, Pat has turned his attention to Creative Economies and Cultural Production.  Through a  number of EU funded projects, Pat has sought to better  understand the relationship between culture, creativity and production as well as identifying the unique role played by Geography.  Pat has contributed to both of Galway's recent designations, the first as UNESCO City of Film and more recently as European Capital of Culture 2020.  As well as international conference contributions invited lectures Pat was a visiting scholar at Aarhus University in 2017 and has published over 20 internationally peer reviewed journal artiles and two books, the most recent focusing on industrial development policy in Ireland.

 

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Professor Eilís Dowd, Personal Professor, School of Medicine

Is as Carna i nGaeltacht Chonamara í Eilís ó dhúchas.  After taking her PhD in Pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh, and completing post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge, McGill University and Cardiff University, Eilís returned home to a Lectureship in Pharmacology at NUI Galway in 2005.  In the University, Eilís balances her role as a pharmacology educator to undergraduate and postgraduate science and medical students, with her leadership of an active and dynamic Parkinson’s disease research team.  Over the years, her research has been funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the European Union, Science Foundation Ireland, the Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council.  Eilís has served as President of Neuroscience Ireland, Ireland’s National Neuroscience Society, and President of NECTAR, the Network for European CNS Transplantation & Repair, while she currently sits on both the Executive Committee and the Governing Council of FENS, the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies.

   

 

 Dr Una FitzGerald, Senior Lecturer, School of Engineering

 Originally from Cork city, Una grew up in the US and Galway, and completed a BE (Ind Eng) and MSc in Biotechnology at NUIG.  Dr FitzGerald worked in the pharmaceutical sector for five years in France and the UK, before embarking on a PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.  Following a brief spell in cancer research, on joining Professor Sue Barnett’s lab in Glasgow University, she discovered her true passion – neuroscience and in particular, research on brain disorders including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.  Since returning to NUI Galway, Una built a track record in MS research; she is a funded investigator in CÚRAM, the SFI Centre for Research on Medical Devices and is ex-director of the Galway Neuroscience Centre.  Supported by funding from the EU and SFI, her current research focus is on developing better models of progressive phase of MS and on precision medicine for people with MS.  In 2019 she led the CÚRAM lab to be the first in Europe to gain Green Lab Certification ‘My Green Lab’ and she now chairs the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s working group on sustainable public sector labs.

  

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Dr Mark Foley, Senior Lecturer, School of Physics

Mark is a native of Limerick and was educated at NUI Galway (BSc in Physics), and a PhD in Physics under the supervision of Professor Philip Walton.  He has published extensively in leading research journals on the subject of radiation and medical physics and has collaborated with colleagues nationally and internationally.  He has had spells as visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and at the University of Victoria, and has been Vice-Dean for Strategy & Communications in the College of Science at NUI Galway.  He established the Medical Physics research cluster, the medical physics stream in the BSc in Physics (academic director 2009-2016), and is the current Academic director of the MSc in Medical Physics which was awarded North American accreditation from CAMPEP (2015 – present).  

 

 

Dr Sanjeev Gupta, Associate Professor, School of Medicine

Sanjeev is originally from New Delhi, India.  He carried out his PhD work in Gene Regulation at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.  He was conferred with a PhD in 2002 by the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.  Sanjeev did his postdoctoral training with Professor Emad Alnemri, a world leader in the field of apoptosis.  He lectured at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) before joining NUI Galway in 2007 and was appointed as a Lecturer in Pathology in 2010.  He has served as the Year 2 Head for the undergraduate Medical Programme at School of Medicine.  His recent activities include service as coordinator of undergraduate Research Programme at School of Medicine. Sanjeev leads a research team aiming to understand and overcome endocrine resistance in hormonal breast cancer.  He co-leads the Neutro-PREDICT team (www.nuigalway.ie/neutropredict/) currently engaged in the development of a hand-held at home device that can be used to monitor changes in neutrophil counts.  Sanjeev sits on the editorial board of a number of international journals and assessment panels of funding agencies.  He has published widely in high impact journals and has been invited to deliver keynote seminars at several national and international meetings. 

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Dr Enda Howley, Associate Professor, School of Computer Science

Enda Howley is originally from Oranmore, Co Galway, and was educated at NUI Galway where he graduated from the BSc in Information Technology (1.1) in 2004.  Enda was awarded a Government of Ireland, Embark Scholarship to undertake a PhD at NUI Galway in 2004.  Enda has published over 100 peer reviewed articles in leading international journals and conferences. After completing 4 years as an SFI Post-doctoral researcher at NUI Galway, he was appointed a member of academic staff in 2012.  In 2015 he was the national award winning Programme Director for the Grad Ireland Postgraduate Programme of the Year Award.  From 2018 to 2020, he was Programme Director of the MSc in Computer Science (Data Analytics) before taking up the role of Director of Internationalisation in the School of Computer Science.  His research interests are in the areas of Agents, Simulation and Machine Learning.

 

 

Professor Colette Kelly, Personal Professor, School of Medicine

Colette is a native of Galway and was educated at NUI Galway (BSc (Hons), the University of Aberdeen (MSc) and the University of Reading (PhD).  Colette is a registered Public Health Nutritionist and worked in the food industry and with scientific charities before joining NUI Galway in 2005.  Colette became a lecturer in 2011 and took up the role of Director of the BA Social Care programme and Chair of the School of Health Sciences Teaching and Learning committee.  In 2018 she became Director of the Health Promotion Research Centre (HPRC) and the Vice Dean for Graduate Studies in the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.  Colette also represented her College on Academic Council for three years. 
Colette’s research focuses on child and adolescent health and she established the Researching Adolescent and Child Health (ReACH) group with the HPRC to advance work in this field.  Her research on nutrition focuses on adolescent food environments and food behaviours.  She has held leadership roles on an international study of child and adolescent health (www.hbsc.org) including chair of the Eating and Dieting focus group, chair of the Youth Engagement group and is a member of the co-ordinating committee for the international HBSC study.  Colette works with the World Health Organization European Office to involve youth in matters related to adolescent health and to impact adolescent health policy.

 

 

Dr Rory Monaghan, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Engineering

Rory was raised in Galway and was educated at NUI Galway (BE in Mechanical Engineering).  He earned his MSc and PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on clean hydrogen energy systems.  He spent 2 years as a Postdoc in the Combustion Chemistry Centre at NUI Galway before joining the School of Engineering, where he is the Director of Energy Systems Engineering Programme.  Rory is the Lead Investigator in the Energy Research Centre in the Ryan Institute and a Funded Investigator in MaREI, the Science Foundation Ireland Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine Research.  He leads a team of 15 researchers who study energy transition technologies like green hydrogen, sustainable bioenergy, renewable fuels, and carbon capture utilisation and storage for hard-to-decarbonise sectors. 

 

Dr Matthew Redman, Senior Lecturer, School of Physics 

Matt joined NUI Galway in 2004 having previously worked in the University of Manchester, University College London, and the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.  His research in astrophysics examines how planetary systems can form close to explosive massive stars, and conversely how the destruction of planets at the end of a star’s life can shape the spectacular nebulae that arise.  He has been supervisory for ten current and former PhD students researching such topics.  At undergraduate level, Matt is currently Chair of the Education and Students committee for Physics.  As Director for the Centre for Astronomy, he led NUI Galway’s partnership in the I-LOFAR radio telescope constructed in Birr, in 2017.  During Matt’s 2016 – 20020 tenure as Chair of the Astronomical Society of Ireland, and following a long campaign, Ireland acceded to the European Southern Observatory, and now has direct access to the most powerful ground-based telescopes in the world.

 

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Dr Michael Schukat, Associate Professor, School of Computer Science

Michael is a native of the Rhineland, Germany.  He was educated at the University of Hildesheim (M.Sc. Computer Science in 1994, and Dr. rer. nat. in 2000).  Between 1997 and 2001 he held various engineering positions in the automotive and network storage industry, both in Germany and Ireland, before joining NUI Galway as a Lecturer in the Department of Information Technology in 2002.  Since 2005, Michael has held various Programme Director roles and was also Head of the IT Department from 2017 to 2018. He has been Director of Education and Students in the School of Computer Science since 2020.
Michael has been the Principal Investigator of seven, mainly Enterprise Ireland-funded projects in the areas of computer vision, cybersecurity, medication management and fibre optical networks.  His current research focus is on Artificial Intelligence and its application in computer vision, health informatics and cybersecurity.

Dr Brian Ward, Senior Lecturer, School of Physics
Bio to follow

‌‌‌‌Below are the bios of the Academic staff promoted in Round 6 of the Academic Promotions scheme 2022.

 

 
Dr Bernadine Brady, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Political Science and Sociology

Originally from Cavan, Bernadine is a graduate of UCD (B.SocSci. Politics and Sociology) and University of Galway (MA Community Development, PhD Sociology, PG Dip Academic Practice). Her research and teaching are focused on youth well-being, inclusion, empathy and civic behaviour.Bernadine is a widely published academic and has presented at more than 40 national and international conferences. She has built successful partnerships with policymakers and practitioners to ensure that her research has a strong impact beyond academia.Dr Brady has been awarded funding in excess of €2.3m (.5m as lead applicant) from bodies including IRC, HRB, European Commission, Foróige and DCEDIY. She is Associate Director of the UNESCO Child & Family Research Centre, Chair of the Researchers Network of Mentoring Europe, subject matter expert on a Project Advisory Group for the reform of youth work funding in Ireland and Co-chair of the School of Political Science & Sociology Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team.  

 
Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley, Associate Professor, School of History and Philosophy

Sarah-Anne grew up in Cobh, Co. Cork and received her PhD from University College Cork in 2010. A social historian of modern Ireland, she is an internationally recognised expert in the history of child welfare and gender history in Ireland. Current chair of the Irish History Students’ Association (IHSA) and past President of the Women’s History Association of Ireland (WHAI), she has authored/co-authored/edited eleven books and over twenty peer-reviewed articles/chapters. In 2020, Old Ireland in Colour, which she co-authored with Professor John Breslin, won the Journal.ie Best Irish-Published Book of the Year Award. Co-PI with Dr John Cunningham of the Tuam Oral History Project (TOHP), her projects have been widely cited in the media in recent years including articles in CNN and contributions to BBC Women’s Hour. In 2023, she was awarded an ENLIGHT Societal Impact Award representing the TOHP team and is currently an ENLIGHT Impact Ambassador for 2023/24.  

 

Professor Eoghan Clifford, Personal Professor, School of Engineering

Eoghan is a native of Limerick and received a PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Galway in 2010. With the students’ union he initiated the award-winning CÉIM; a student-led peer-mentoring programme which makes very positive impact to the 1st year experience. He previously received the College of Science and Engineering teaching excellence award and enjoys in-class discussions with students on broader engineering, societal and environmental interactions. The award-winning research outputs from his research group include new technology, patents, commercial licenses, and a successful spin-out company – Vortech Water Solutions. He has supervised 20 PhD students to completion and continues to be inspired and challenged by the researchers in his group. He has directly secured over €20M as overall project coordinator from SFI, EI, Horizon Europe, H2020 and FP7 etc. and is a co-applicant on the NexSys partnership programme. He has been invited to speak at industry, government and academic conferences and recently co-authored a white paper published by the International Water Association. In 2017 he received the University of Galway alumni award for achievements in sport. 

 

 
Dr Pau Farràs Costa, Associate Professor, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences

Dr Pau Farràs is director of the ChemLight group and academic staff at the University of Galway since September 2015. He received his BSc in Chemical Engineering from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain) in 2003 and obtained the PhD in Chemistry from the Materials Science Institute of Barcelona in 2009.  
The ChemLight group focuses on the preparation of molecules and materials capable to drive light-driven reactions for the production of fuels and chemicals. Dr Farràs has secured over €5.9M in research funding, including the coordination of EU-funded projects FLOWPHOTOCHEM, SEAFUEL, SOLAR2CHEM and ANEMEL. He is in the advisory board member of SFI-project HyLIGHT, member of Hydrogen Europe Research, the International Energy Agency Hydrogen TCP and co-director of Green Renewable Technologies Ltd. He has co-authored 57 peer-reviewed publications, 2 book chapters and 4 innovation disclosure forms. 

 

Dr Edel Doherty, Associate Professor, School of Business and Economics

Edel is a native of Donegal and was educated at the University of Galway.  Edel has been lecturing in Economics at the University of Galway since 2014 and previously she held research positions at the University of Galway and Queen’s University Belfast. She also spent time as a visiting scholar at Simon Fraser University in 2019 and the University of California, Berkeley in 2009. Edel has published extensively in both health and environmental economics, and she has been involved in multiple successful funding applications to national and international funding agencies. In Health Economics, Edel has worked on projects in the areas of obesity, chronic pain, vaccination uptake, dementia, mental health and public health. In Environmental Economics, Edel has examined public preferences in areas such as recreation, water quality and agri-environment schemes. 
Edel was the inaugural Director of the B.Comm (Global Experience) Year and since 2023, she is the Associate Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for the School of Business and Economics.  Edel is a member of the Executive for the Irish Society for Women in Economics.  

 
Professor Karen Doyle, Professor in Physiology, School of Medicine

Karen is from Wicklow Town. Educated in UCD (B.Sc.) and Trinity (PhD), she worked in the pharmaceutical industry and as a lecturer in the UK before taking up a lectureship in Galway. Karen’s research investigates novel strategies to protect the brain from stroke. She studies the characteristics of the clots that cause stroke to inform medical device design and develop novel treatments. She is a member of the CURAM executive, the founder and original director of Galway Neuroscience Centre and a previous Vice-Dean of Graduate Studies in CMNHS. She is the President of Neuroscience Ireland and a member of the Governing Council of both the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and the International Brain Research Organisation. She is a previous recipient of the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence in Galway and winner of a National Teaching Experts Award from the National Forum for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 

 

 
Professor Sharon Glynn, Professor in Pathology, School of Medicine‌ 

Sharon is a native of Dublin and was educated at DCU (BSc in Biotechnology). She earned her PhD in Biotechnology/Cancer Biology under the supervision of Prof. Martin Clynes at DCU. She spent four years as an All-Ireland NCI Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, USA, before moving to University of Galway in 2010 as Director for Laboratory Research for the Prostate Cancer Institute. Appointed as Lecturer in Pathology in 2010 in the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2020, she has published extensively in leading research journals on the subject of tumour biology and patient outcomes, and has received funding from Breast Cancer Now, the Irish Cancer Society and Science Foundation Ireland, including an SFI Career Development Award in 2018. In 2022 Sharon received a Fulbright Scholar award and spent 8 months at Houston Methodist Hospital conducting research on breast cancer. In 2023 she was awarded €2.7 million by the EU to lead a MSCA Doctoral Network on targeting nitric oxide for the treatment of breast cancer.  

  

 

Professor Geraldine Leader, Personal Professor, School of Psychology.

Geraldine is a native of Cork and graduated from University College Cork where she obtained her B.A. (Hons) in Applied Psychology and Ph.D. in Psychology.  Geraldine is a behavioural psychologist and her expertise lies in the broad area of neurodevelopmental conditions especially autism and intellectual disability.  Her research focuses on the expansion of our understanding of the autism spectrum and thereby enhancing the life experience and potential of individuals with autism and their families.  She studies autism across the lifespan with an emphasis on increasing the quality of life of children, adolescents, and adults through evidence-based research.  She also conducts interdisciplinary research and has established a range of important research partnerships and collaborators, nationally and internationally.  She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in the leading journals in her field.  At the University of Galway, she is the Director of the Irish Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Research (ICAN) which is located at the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS).  Geraldine is a Principal Investigator in a EU/US led project called GEMMA (Genome, Environment, Microbiome, and Metabolome in Autism) which was awarded €14.2m funding by the EU.  She also leads an interdisciplinary COST network of 135 researchers from 43 countries dedicated to increasing access to education and employment for people with disability using Assistive Technology (AT).

   

 
Professor Rory Monaghan, Professor in Energy Systems Engineering, School of Engineering

Rory was raised in Galway and was educated at University of Galway (BE in Mechanical Engineering).He earned his MSc and PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for research on clean hydrogen energy systems.He spent 2 years as a Postdoc in the Combustion Chemistry Centre at University of Galway before joining the School of Engineering, where he is the Head of the Discipline of Mechanical Engineering and the Director of Energy Systems Engineering Programme.Rory is the Lead Investigator in the Energy Research Centre in the Ryan Institute and a Funded Investigator in MaREI, the Science Foundation Ireland Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine Research.He leads a research team that studies energy transition technologies like green hydrogen, sustainable bioenergy, renewable fuels, and carbon capture utilisation and storage for hard-to-decarbonise sectors. 

 

 
Dr Olivia McDermott, Associate Professor, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences

Olivia is a native of Castlegar in Galway and completed her BSc in Microbiology and an MSc in Quality and Reliability at the University of Galway. She holds an MBA from the University of Limerick and a D. Prof in Work-Based Learning from the University of Middlesex. She completed her post-doctoral work at the University of Limerick. Prior to joining the University of Galway, she held several Senior Management positions in the Computer and Medical Device manufacturing industries and worked as a self-employed Operational Excellence consultant.  
Olivia is the course co-director associated with the Irish Medtech Association’s Medical Technology Regulatory Affairs Masters, run by the University of Galway, in conjunction with ATU Sligo. She manages a large team of industry-based researchers focused on Operational Excellence and Regulatory Affairs. She has published and co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers, and she hosted the European Lean Educators Conference at the University of Galway in 2022. She has received several awards for her published work, and she is on the Editorial Advisory Board of the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma (IJLSS) and is on the Editorial Review Board of the TQM journal.  

 

 
Professor Paul O’Connor, Personal Professor, School of Medicine

Dr Paul O’Connor is a human factors psychologist and Personal Professor in the School of Medicine. He is the Research Director of the Irish Centre for Applied Patient Safety and Simulation, and Co-Director of the Diploma and Masters in Healthcare Simulation and Patient Safety. His research, and teaching, are concerned with improving human performance and safety in high-risk work environments. He has carried out research in a wide range of high-risk industries (e.g., civil aviation, offshore oil production), and the military (e.g., aviation, special forces). In recent years his research and teaching has focused on the human factors that contribute to patient safety and quality of care and the application of healthcare simulation. He has received more than six million euro of funding as a Principal/Co-Principal investigator and authored more than 180 publications. 

 

 
Dr Lindsay Reid, Senior Lecturer, School of English and Creative Arts

Lindsay was educated in Canada at the University of King’s College (BA, Classics and Early Modern Studies) and the University of Toronto (MA, Comparative Literature; PhD, English and Book History). She is the author of two monographs, Ovidian Bibliofictions and the Tudor Book (2014) and Shakespeare's Ovid and the Spectre of the Medieval (2018), as well as numerous articles and book chapters. In 2022, Lindsay worked with Cúirt Festival and UK-based literary organisation Speaking Volumes to create the pamphlet publication Breaking Ground Ireland. At present, she is centrally involved with 'Re-mediating the Early Book: Pasts and Futures' (REBPAF), an MSCA Doctoral Network coordinated by the University of Galway. Within the university, she is Vice-Dean for Graduate Studies in the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies; beyond the university, she is a Subject Advisor for the Irish Teaching Council and Chair of the Renaissance Society of America’s webinars committee. 

 

 
Dr Andrew Simpkin, Senior Lecturer, School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences

Andrew was born in Wigan and grew up in Collinstown, Westmeath. Andrew studied mathematics in Dublin before completing a PhD in Statistics with Prof. John Newell at the University of Galway. Andrew spent six years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bristol, Columbia University, and the SFI Insight Centre for Data Analytics before returning to the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences in Galway in 2018. He enjoys delivering a range of modules to engage with students from all Colleges in the University of Galway. Andrew has developed methods for modelling high-dimensional data using functional data analysis, and models for epigenetic change in genomics. He holds honorary positions at Massey University, the University of Queensland, and the University of Bristol. He is indebted to his national and international collaborators across many fields. 

 

 

 

 

Below are the bios of the Academic staff promoted in Round 5 of the Academic Promotions scheme 2022.

 

Dr Cornelia Connolly, Associate Professor, School of Education

In addition to a Ph.D. in pedagogical innovation Cornelia holds a B.Eng. (Hons) and M.Eng. (Hons) in Computer Engineering from the University of Limerick and a MBA from the University of Galway. A native of Monaghan, Cornelia is an established international scholar and leader in computer science education and learning engineering. Her teaching and research combines industry-inspired practices with computing and digital technologies to create engaging learning experiences, understand human learning and knowledge transfer to facilitate behavioural change in a variety of contexts. Cornelia was Programme Director (Education) for the undergraduate concurrent specialist teacher education programmes, led the development of the BA Education (Mathematical Studies and Computer Science) programme and is Chair of the Research Committee at the School of Education. Cornelia has been invited to give keynote lectures in universities in the USA and Europe, and has achieved significant funding success with awards from Horizon 2020, SFI and industry. She has published extensively in leading international journals and is a member of the ACM Transactions on Computing Education and International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology editorial boards.

 

 

 Professor Kathryn Cormican, Professor in Systems Engineering, School of Engineering

Kathryn Cormican is Director of the Enterprise Systems Research Centre in the School of Engineering and a member of Lero - the Irish Software Research Centre. She leads a large multidisciplinary research team working in the area of technology innovation management. She is internationally recognised for her contribution to research and has won many prestigious best-paper awards. She has been a keynote speaker at several international conferences and has published extensively in high-impact journals in her field.  She has secured over €2.5 million in research income and is currently PI on three EU-funded projects. Kathryn was awarded Female Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year in 2022 by the Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Engaged Universities.

 

 

 Professor John Cullinan, Professor in Economics, School of Business and Economics

John is a native of Waterford and studied at University College Dublin, London School of Economics, and University of Galway. He was previously a Visiting Scholar at University of California, Berkeley and a Visiting Researcher at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has held lecturing positions at University of Limerick, Maynooth University, and University College Dublin. John’s research focuses on the causes and consequences of socioeconomic and geographic inequalities in the areas of health, disability, and education and he has published extensively on these topics. His research-led teaching approach focuses on the application of econometric methods to inform public policy and address societal challenges. John has won President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Excellence in Research, and Excellence in Research Supervision and he is Founder and Director of the Centre for Economic Research on Inclusivity and Sustainability (CERIS). He was previously Vice Dean for Research and Vice Dean for Graduate Studies

 

 

 Dr Allyn Fives, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Political Science and Sociology

Allyn joined the School of Political Science and Sociology as a Lecturer in 2013. He received a BA from the University of Galway and an MA from the University of Essex. His PhD was supervised by Russell Keat at the University of Edinburgh. Allyn’s research is in the area of political theory, with particular interest in moral conflict. He is the sole author of four monographs (published by Palgrave and Manchester University Press) and author of 28 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. He was also lead researcher on a number of funded research studies. Allyn was Chair of the University’s Research Ethics Committee for five years; was joint director of the PhD in Child and Youth Research for 10 years; was First Year coordinator (Political Science and Sociology) for three years; is currently Chair of the School’s Teaching and Learning Committee and Programme Director of the MA in Politics and Sociology.

 

 

 

Dr Aaron Golden, Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences

Aaron was born in London and grew up in Co. Wicklow and Dublin. He completed a BA in Natural Sciences (Experimental Physics) at Trinity College Dublin, an MSc in Computational Science from the Queens University of Belfast and a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Galway. Aaron joined the University's newly formed Information Technology Centre in 1999, moved to the School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences in 2009, and in 2022 to the School of Natural Sciences. Aaron is an internationally recognised expert in Transient Astronomy specifically applied to the study of stellar/sub-stellar magnetospheres, with minor planet 11451 named 'Aarongolden' by the International Astronomical Union in acknowledgement of this work. He is regularly awarded peer-reviewed observatory time on telescopes located in Chile, Hawaii, the continental United States, India, South Africa, and several in earth orbit. He has previously worked as a consultant to NASA's Planetary Science Division. Aaron is actively involved in several University of Galway astronomy linked consortia including the I-LOFAR radiotelescope located in Birr, Co. Offaly, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on the Big Island of Hawaii, and in the development of the MORFEO imaging instrument, a critical component of the European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope currently under construction in Chile.

 

 

Professor Anthony Hall, Personal Professor, School of Education

Tony is a leading international scholar in educational design, innovation and technology. He is Director of Educational Design Research for Designing Futures (HEA, €7.57m (2020-2025); and a Principal Investigator of the i2i (Idea to Impact) Project (European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT)/Horizon Europe, €1.2m (2021-2023).
Tony is University of Galway’s first General Editor of Ireland’s principal educational research journal, Irish Educational Studies, published internationally by Routledge/Taylor & Francis, leading the journal to its strongest position in its 41-year history. He also serves on the editorial boards of several premier international journals, including Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning; and in 2022 was appointed International Academic Advisor for Routledge Open Research. Since 2007, Tony has been an invited expert on educational design, technology, and research e-infrastructures for the European Commission; and advises the Teaching Council on educational research. He received a Teaching Excellence Award in 2021, and was nominated again in 2022. 

 

 

 

Professor Gerard Molloy, Personal Professor, School of Psychology

Gerry is a native of Dundalk and is a first-generation graduate (neither parent completed secondary school). He was an undergraduate in Psychology at Ulster University and completed a PhD in Psychology at the University of St Andrews. He completed post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Aberdeen and University College London. Since joining the University of Galway he has led a major programme of research on the behavioural science of medication use. He has served as Chair of the Division of Health Psychology in the Psychological Society of Ireland and also served as an inaugural College Vice-Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. He is an elected fellow of the European Health Psychology Society and received a President’s Research Excellence Award in 2018. In 2021 he was appointed as an Associate Editor of Health Psychology Review. In 2022 he secured major funding for a 4-year programme of research on the community use of antibiotics.

 

 

Dr Denis O’Hora, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, School of Psychology

Originally from Cork, Denis attended University College Cork (BA in Applied Psychology) and Maynooth University (PhD in Psychology; supervisor: Professor Dermot Barnes-Holmes). He lectured in London and Ulster University, before joining University of Galway as Lecturer in Psychology in 2007. He has published extensively on human learning and decision making. His work addresses fundamental cognitive and motivational processes and their expression in neural and behavioural measures. He has also applied insights about human decision making to societal issues such a workplace safety and pro-environmental behaviour. He is an active proponent of Open Science, providing numerous workshops in this area. At University of Galway, he founded and directs the first masters in Consumer Psychology in Ireland and is the current director of the university’s Vertically Integrated Projects programme. He participates in the International Energy Agency Wind Technical Collaboration Programme Task 39 Quiet wind turbine technology and is a member of the Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee (FSPAC), an Advisory Committee to the Health and Safety Authority. He has given invited lectures in several universities, including Cornell, Salzburg, and the Humboldt University in Berlin.