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Ollscéala JULY 2009

Shaping Our Future

As the academic year draws to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on what has been a successful year for NUI Galway. The University has enjoyed a number of very significant achievements in the administrative, support and academic areas. I would like to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of all staff in contributing to these successes.

Highest increase in CAO first choice applications

We have enjoyed a tremendous increase of 13.1% in first preference undergraduate applications through the CAO this year, the highest increase of all of the Irish universities and more than double the average increase for the University sector nationally (6.2%).

These increases were seen across almost all subject areas and in particular in Engineering, where a new Energy Systems Engineering programme proved particularly popular, in Information Technology, Science, Arts and Business.

Applications to our taught postgraduate programmes have also increased by 22% this year, while adult education programmes have seen an increase of 10 to 15% in applications.

Teaching Awards

I recently had the privilege of notifying the winners of the President’s Awards for Teaching Excellence for 2009. The high standard of applications for these Awards never fails to impress me, and demonstrates real commitment to teaching excellence on the part of our lecturing staff. Congratulations to this year’s winners:

- Ms. Adeline Cooney, Nursing

- Dr Martin Glavin, Electrical & Electronic Engineering

- Dr Brian Hughes, Psychology

- Dr Fearghall Morgan, Electrical & Electronic Engineering

- Dr Dagmar Stengel, Botany

Research successes

We have also had a very successful year in research and are now positioned firmly in the top tier of Irish Universities, in terms of research. A measure of our success this year has been the level of research funding received from Science Foundation Ireland, relative to that of other institutions.

NUI Galway has been awarded €47.8 million in the last year - this places us second only to Trinity College Dublin (49.3m) in terms of SFI commitments, and well ahead of UCD, UCC, and all others. This is a real affirmation of the strength of our research as awards of this scale are only made where institutions are engaged in internationally significant research.

Research in the news

The results of our research have been hitting the headlines too. From the discovery of a coral reef off the west coast of Ireland to the fact that the Obama administration is using internet technology developed by DERI, research at NUI Galway has been truly global in scale and significance this year. The opening of two new research centres – in Energy and in Disability Law, together with the launch by President McAleese of the Republic of Ireland’s first UNESCO Chair, a Chair in Children, Youth & Civic Engagement held by Professor Pat Dolan, are just some of the many important research developments that have taken place in the last year.

Growth in Research Students

We have also seen strong growth in PhD numbers recently. In the last year we registered 264 new PhD students and 74 new Research Masters students, bringing the numbers of registered PhD students to 815, and Research Masters students to 206. Crucially, we are also getting better at bringing these research students through their programmes in the required time frame. HEA data from 2007, the most recent data available, shows that we had 106 PhD graduations in that year; compared to just 50 in 1999.

Our performance in the recent award of fellowships from both the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences and the equivalent Council for Science, Engineering and Technology was also very strong, with 24 IRCHSS and 19 IRCSET scholarships, placing us third and fourth respectively, in these competitions.

Applying our knowledge

NUI Galway is now the leading Irish University in the area of innovation and technology transfer. Recent Enterprise Ireland statistics reveal that we are out-performing all of our competitors in this field:

§ Since 2006, ten spin out companies have been formed, including six of these in 2009

§ Between 2007 and 2008, we filed over 100 patents, representing 28% of the total number filed in the third-level sector

§ We signed 34 licensing agreements with partner companies, which represents 30% of licenses filed in the sector

This ability to commercialise our research is essential in delivering the innovation and enterprise necessary to realise the Smart Economy.

NUI Galway reaches out

NUI Galway continues to reach out to the local community through a wide range of initiatives. In May, the University became the lead partner in the Volunteering Programme for the Volvo Ocean Race. As Ireland’s leading University in the development of student volunteering initiatives, we brought our considerable experience in this field to bear in helping to mobilise the 1,000 volunteers required to organise the Galway stopover of the world’s premier yacht race.

Living Scenes, a groundbreaking educational programme co-ordinated by the Adult and Continuing Education Office, which brings teenagers and retirees together in the classroom, celebrated 10 years of success this year with a truly impressive entertainment event. This pioneering intergenerational programme of learning involves Transition Year students and local retired adults who learn together, share experiences and develop mutual respect and understanding.

Also celebrating its 10th Anniversary is the University’s highly successful Access Programme, which encourages and facilitates students from non-traditional backgrounds to participate in higher education.

This has also been a very busy year for Conferencing, with a number of high profile national and international conferences organised by NUI Galway staff, and with many of them held here on campus.

Strategic Plan 2009-2014

As you will be aware, the University has recently completed a period of strategic planning, resulting in the presentation of a draft Strategic Plan to Údarás na hOllscoile at the end of June. I am pleased to report that the Plan was approved in principle and will be finalised over the summer, and I look forward to presenting it to you in September.

In the meantime, I would like to thank you for your hard work and commitment to the success of our University over the past year. I look forward to working with you to further that success in the coming academic year.

Beir bua agus beannacht,

James J. Browne Ph.D.,D.Sc.,MRIA,C.Eng.
Uachtarán - President

Oifig an Uachtaráin
This page was last updated Tuesday, July 21, 2009