The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Business Studies Teachers Association of Ireland (BSTAI) and NUI Galway Western Region Schools Quiz took place recently in the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at NUI Galway. Sixteen schools, with a total of 28 teams took part and competed from all over the west, to determine who would represent the region in the National Finals in March. The table quiz was held for Junior Certificate students of Business Studies. Brian Duffy, Chairperson CIMA West of Ireland Branch, said: “At CIMA our relationships with education providers have always been crucial.  We are delighted to have a leading role in this quiz which showcased the talents of second level business students in the West of Ireland.” Professor Willie Golden, Dean of the College of Business, Public Policy and Law at NUI Galway, said: “NUI Galway works closely with its regional hinterland and this is nowhere more evident that in the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics. A defining part of all our student courses is the engagement with the local community. Working with the BSTAI and CIMA allows us to engage with second level students and foster their interest in business studies. I have no doubt that many of these students attending the event, will be amongst our leaders of the future.” Jennie Harrington, President of the BSTAI, commented: “I am delighted that so many business studies students took part in the CIMA Schools quiz.  It is an opportunity for students to have fun while also revising for their Junior Certificate exam. I would like to thank CIMA for all their work in organising the quiz.” The winners on the night were Seamount College, Kinvara, Co. Galway, who took first place. They were followed closely in second place by Dominican College, Taylors Hill, Galway. Third place went to Presentation College, Athenry, Co. Galway. The top three teams from the regional final will now go on to compete in the National Finals, which will take place in March.

This week's Economics Seminar will be given by Dr Edel Doherty, NUI Galway, on "Identifying labelling issues in discrete choice experiments: an application to recreational site choice" at 2.00pm on Friday September 28th in in Lecture Hall 1 (St Anthony's part of the Cairnes Building).

Chair of the Fulbright Commission in Ireland, Ms. Una Halligan, congratulates Dr. Stephen Hynes of the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics on being awarded a 2012/2013 Fulbright Scholarship at a ceremony held recently in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin. Dr Hynes will undertake research at the Center for the Blue Economy (CBE) in the Monterey Institute of International Studies, California, in the area of marine economics and ecosystem service valuation.

The BMW Regional Assembly together with the Socio Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) at NUI Galway hosted the inaugural meeting of the MARNET project at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, NUI Galway on July 11th and 12th 2012. MARNET (Marine Atlantic Regions Network) is a 2.5 year collaborative transnational project involving maritime regions from the Basque country of Spain, Brittany in France, Stirling in Scotland, Porto in Portugal as well as the Border Midland and West region of Ireland. The BMW Regional Assembly is lead partner of the MARNET project which will map the value of the Atlantic marine economy through the development of reliable and comparable socio economic data. The €1.3m project involves the participation of marine researchers as well as Regional Authorities across the Atlantic Area. In Ireland the expertise of the Marine Socio Economic Unit at NUI Galway will be crucial in developing a framework from which new added value activities within the marine sector can be developed to add to the 17,000 jobs already supported by marine related activities in Ireland. MARNET will also complement the integrated plan for the Marine Economy launched in February 2012 by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr. Simon Coveney, TD. The Plan aims to grow the marine sector and move from generating only 1.2% of GDP from this vast and diverse marine resource, which covers an area 10 times the size of Ireland’s land mass. Local Authorities with marine interests will benefit from the MARNET project through the development of practical initiatives aimed at growing the marine sector at a local level. The Project is part funded by the ERDF through the EU Interreg Atlantic Area Programme 2007-2013.

The 2011 Census shows that more than two out of every five people aged 65 and over lives in a rural community. Surprisingly, relatively little is known about the situation of this important demographic group. The Rural Ageing Observatory at NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Social Gerontology is seeking to fill some of the gaps in knowledge on rural ageing. This week it launched the first two reports in a series that, in time, will provide vital information about the ageing population in rural Ireland. The first of the short reports focuses on key demographic trends and issues facing rural older people. The second report summarises evidence relating to income, poverty and deprivation of Ireland’s older rural population. Launching the reports, Professor Thomas Scharf, Director of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology said: “More than 200,000 people over the age of 65 live in rural communities across Ireland. In the autumn, the government will be launching its National Positive Ageing Strategy. It’s important that this is a strategy for older people wherever they live – in rural as well as in urban communities. Greater awareness of the circumstances of rural older people, in particular, is essential if the right policy measures are to be adopted.” Both reports are available online at www.icsg.ie

The J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics at NUI Galway is delighted to host a three day intensive course on 'Discrete Choice Modelling' that will be taught by Professor William Greene of New York University. The course will take place on July 4th, 5th and 6th 2012. Discrete choice models have become an essential tool for the analysis of individual choice behaviour and can be applied to choice problems in a wide variety of diverse fields including environmental management, urban planning, transportation, energy, telecommunications, and healthcare. This course will present the most recent developments in theory and methods of estimation for discrete choice models. A number of applications from different areas of the professional literature to illustrate these techniques will be discussed. The course will include lectures by Professor Greene each morning. In the afternoon, Professor Greene will guide participants as they do some hands-on analysis using data sets and a familiar computer package. Professor Greene currently holds the Toyota Motor Corp Chair in the Department of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University where he has taught since 1982. He has also been a visiting professor at several universities including Oxford University, University of York and Sydney University. He is the author of two popular software packages, LIMDEP and NLOGIT, and has written two textbooks, Econometric Analysis (now in its 6th edition) and Applied Choice Analysis. He has published approximately 100 articles in leading journals such as Econometrica, Journal of Econometrics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Political Economy, and the American Economic Review. The course fee is €350. Places are limited to 50 so early booking is recommended. The fee includes refreshments throughout the course. View more details (including how to register for this workshop).   Conference on Applied Microeconometrics and Public Policy 3rd July 2012   Professor Greene will also be the plenary speaker at a conference on Applied Microeconometrics and Public Policy that will be held in the Westwood House Hotel, Galway on July 3rd. View the conference programme here: Conference Programme 3rd July 2012‌ There is a special conference fee of only €50 for people who are attending the summer school as well as the conference.