Graduates and students of NUI Galway featured prominently at the annual National University of Ireland (NUI) Awards ceremony which took place recently in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham taking home a notable 30 awards. Two NUI Travelling Studentships in the Sciences were awarded to NUI Galway graduates Martin Browne, Biochemistry and Robert Richardson, Mechanical Engineering. The NUI E.J. Phelan Fellowship in International Law was awarded to NUI Galway graduate John Reynolds, who will take up his fellowship in the School of Law at NUI Galway. Other scholarships and awards include the French Government Medal and NUI Prize for Proficiency in French was awarded to Mariana Tempesti, with the Pierce Malone Scholarship in Engineering presented to Robert Richardson. The NUI Club London Scholarship was awarded to Conor Burke, a Film Studies student at NUI Galway. The Scoláireacht agus Duais Chiste Theach an Ardmhéara sa Ghaeilge/Mansion House Fund Scholarship and prizes went to Senan Mac Aoidh and Luke Callinan. Four Dr Henry Stewart Literary Scholarships and Prizes were presented to: Ruth Cormican, French; Fionnuala Fadian, Gaeilge; Lindsay Shorten, Italian; and Paul Griffin, Spanish. A total of 18 Dr Henry Hutchinson Stewart Medical Scholarships and Prizes were awarded to NUI Galway’s College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. The award recipients were Antionette Flannery, Clinical Radiology; Cliona Small and Jennifer Small, Gynaecology and Obstetrics; Caoilfhionn Connolly, Medical Microbiology; Laura Nestor, Medicine; Elizabeth Howard, Midwifery; Yvonne McDonagh, Nursing; Jennifer Scott, Paediatrics; Sarah Cormican, Pathology; Cillian McNamara and Conor Fahy, Pharmacology; Sinead Coen, Physiology; Craig MacLiathain and Darren Kilmartin, Public Health; Elaine O’Connell, Occupational Therapy; Patricia Ruane and Veronica Smith, Podiatry; and Sorcha Rabbitte, Speech and Language Therapy. Speaking on the success of NUI Galway students and graduates, President Jim Browne, said: “This clearly highlights the high calibre of students studying on NUI Galway programmes and follows previous successes in these annual awards. I congratulate each of the Award recipients on their achievement, which will add to their academic reputation. I commend the Award recipients and I pay tribute to their teachers for their work in supporting students and helping them to achieve such high standards.” At the ceremony, the Chancellor, Dr Maurice Manning presented Travelling Studentships, Post-Doctoral Fellowships scholarships and other awards to over 115 students and graduates of the NUI Constituent Universities and Recognised Colleges.The total value of NUI Awards this year was over €1 million. In 2012, over one hundred students and graduates from the constituent universities and recognised colleges of the federal university received awards. NUI Galway, UCD, UCC, NUI Maynooth, RCSI and NCAD were represented among the award winners. -ENDS-

An information evening for prospective mature students will take place at NUI Galway on Thursday, 22 November. The event will take place from 7-9pm in the O’ Flaherty Theatre, Arts/Science Concourse, NUI Galway. The information evening is designed for people aged 23 and over who are considering embarking on full-time undergraduate degree programmes in NUI Galway in the 2013/2014 academic year. Information will be provided at this session on the programmes available to mature students across each of the University’s five Colleges: College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies; College of Business, Public Policy and Law; College of Science; College of Engineering and Informatics; and College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Studies. Sessions will also cover topics such as entry requirements, application and selection procedures, financial queries and other support systems available within NUI Galway.  NUI Galway’s Mature Students Officer, Trish Hoare, said: “NUI Galway is proud to announce that mature students can now apply for entry to Medicine (GY501) and Arts with Psychology (GY104). We are also looking forward to next year’s new degree in Arts with Journalism (GY119).” Applications for third-level are made mostly through the CAO, which has a deadline of the 1 February, 2013. To qualify as a mature student you must be 23, or over, on or before 1 January, 2013. Mature applicants for programmes in the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies degrees are also required to register prior to 1 February, 2013 for the Mature Students Admissions Pathway (MSAP) exam which takes place on Saturday, 23 February, 2013. For more information on future upcoming CAO advisory sessions see http://www.nuigalway.ie/mature/publicevents.html or email Trish Hoare at maturestudents@nuigalway.ie.  The University’s Mature Students Guidebook is also available, along with further information, at www.nuigalway.ie/mature. -Ends-

NUI Galway’s Drama and Theatre programmes will present a public reading from the first biography of Stewart Parker, one of Northern Ireland’s most important playwrights. Marilynn Richtarik, author of Stewart Parker: A Life, will deliver the reading in Galway’s Druid Theatre on Thursday, 22 November at 7pm. Stewart Parker’s plays have been compared to the great dramas of Brian Friel, yet he was in many ways unique. His plays Spokesong, Northern Star and Pentecost are regarded as masterpieces but tragically Parker died at the young age of 47. A contemporary of Seamus Heaney, he from a working-class Protestant background and shared with other Northern Irish writers of his generation the challenge of dealing with the Troubles in a politically, morally, and aesthetically responsible manner. The story of how Parker met these demands through his writing affords the reader insights into the experience of daily life in the shadow of political violence. Based on Parker’s personal papers including diaries, notebooks and early drafts of his literary works, and on interviews with those who knew him best, Stewart Parker: A Life describes his career in the context of both his personal history and the turbulent times through which he lived in his native Belfast. Covering all of his major works for radio, television, the stage and film, this biography illuminates the genesis and meaning of classic plays such as Spokesong and Pentecost – works that continue to shed light on Northern Irelands’ past, present, and future. Marilynn Richtarik is Associate Professor of English at Georgia State University and a leading authority on theatre from Northern Ireland. She is an author of numerous articles on Stewart Parker and has written programme notes for productions of his plays in London, Dublin, Belfast, and Washington, DC. Dr Patrick Lonergan, Director of the BA degree in Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at NUI Galway, said: “We are delighted to welcome Marilynn Richtarik to Galway to read from her exciting new biography of Stewart Parker. Parker is one of the greatest dramatists ever to emerge from the north of Ireland and although his life was cut tragically short, he wrote some of the best Irish plays of the late twentieth century. This public event is an opportunity for all theatre lovers in Galway to come together to find out more about this important figure.” Entry to the reading is free but space is limited and copies of Stewart Parker: A Life will be on sale after the reading. For further information please email Patrick.Lonergan@nuigalway.ie. -Ends-

NUI Galway’s Ryan Institute is hosting an ‘Art from Science’ exhibition as part of the Galway Science and Technology Festival. The exhibition will open on Tuesday, 13 November and run through until the big festival finale at NUI Galway on Sunday, 25 November. Science and technology inspired art is not a new concept, but increasingly art is being used as a medium that invites the audience to think about a scientific subject in a novel way. Julia Baer, a ceramicist and scientist who recently completed a Masters Degree in Botany at NUI Galway, explains: “Incorporating aspects of science and nature into artwork creates an opportunity for people to look at science in a way that they might not have before. My ceramic work includes images of marine life such as seaweeds and radiolarians. Radiolarians are microscopically small animals that occur in all the world’s oceans. People are often surprised to find out that the delicate prints on my work derive from the natural world they can potentially find at their doorsteps! I think those that view and buy my pieces also walk away with a greater appreciation for marine life that they may never before have thought of as beautiful or even knew existed.” Julia’s work will be displayed alongside a number of other pieces and projects including ten large murals created by artist Brian Brennan for the recent Sea2Sky science event. Also on display will be a sculpture and paintings from Chemistry’s Distill Life exhibit, ‘Fascination of Plants’ photographs. Poetry by Moya Roddy and Pete Mullineaux, as well as artwork from Ryan Institute researchers will also feature. The highlight for many will be the multi-room interactive installation known as the BEAST!, created for the recent Baboró International Arts Festival for Children. The BEAST! (Baboró Environment, Art, Science and Technology) project saw scientists from NUI Galway’s Ryan Institute and Baboró artists working with primary schools on issues related to sustainable living in the 21st century. The resulting installation came out of the pupils reflecting on what they had learned from the scientists, and working with the artists to express their ideas in a very creative, and thought-provoking, way. “The BEAST! project was such a unique way for NUI Galway researchers to connect with school children, and share ideas on all sorts of subjects related to environmental change, like sustainable fisheries, eco-housing, and power and efficiency”, said Professor Colin Brown, Director of NUI Galway’s Ryan Institute for Environmental, Marine and Energy Research. He added: “The artistic installation is a fantastic way to ensure that what these pupils learned can be shared with a much wider audience. It’s a beautiful and impressive piece of work and we are delighted to work with the Baboró team showcasing it on the NUI Galway campus.”  The ‘Art from Science’ exhibition is located in a space adjacent to the Bank of Ireland Theatre at NUI Galway, in a building known as the Soils Lab.  It will be open weekdays only from 10am to 5pm, apart from Sunday, 25 November when it will be open all day as part of the Galway Science and Technology Festival Exhibition, also on the NUI Galway campus.  The exhibition is free and open to all. To book in a group for a guided tour please contact sarah.knight@nuigalway.ie . -Ends-

Some 130 students and teachers recentlydescended on NUI Galway to participate in an extended learning workshop, Bank Your Future. This national financial education initiative by NUI Galway and Junior Achievement, supported by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is designed to educate second-level students to establish good financial habits to carry them through their adult lives During the event Dr Pat Morgan, Vice-President for the Student Experience at NUI Galway presented students from Mercy College, Coláiste Iognáid, Presentation College Athenry, and Archbishop McHale College in Tuam, with certificates for completing the Bank Your Future programme. Lorraine Tansey, Student Volunteer Coordinator at NUI Galway, said: “NUI Galway is proud to partner Junior Achievement and recognise the secondary school students for their successful completion of such a vital skills development programme. At NUI Galway we are deeply committed through our strategic plan to engaging regionally with NGOs and schools. Hundreds of university students are volunteering with over thirty homework and youth clubs across the city and county to raise educational aspirations.” NUI Galway’s Access Programme and its ALIVE Programme, working with Junior Achievement, helps create a relationship between secondary schools and NUI Galway throughout their second-level education. The NUI Galway Access Programme targets people whose access to education generally, and higher education in particular, is or has been restricted. Through developing alternative entry routes, and providing educational aspirations in both primary and secondary schools, the Access Programme aims to increase participation amongst those target groups, who for a variety of social and economic reasons are under-represented at third-level. The ALIVE programme at NUI Galway aims to enhance partnerships between the University and the wider community through provision of a supportive environment in which students and community can liaise through volunteering. Bank Your Future is a six-week programme taught in the classroom by independent business volunteers from a variety of business backgrounds. This academic year will see approximately 1,750 students across Galway, Dublin, Leitrim, Sligo, Limerick, Cork and Waterford participating in this initiative. The programme includes: the importance of education and its role in improving potential earning power balancing salary and expenditure using credit and cash wisely the importance of saving the benefits of insurance Findings from the evaluation of the Bank Your Future project last year indicated an increase in students’ confidence in knowing how to manage their money having completed the programme. “Empowering young people with the skills surrounding the complex area of personal finance will allow these students not only a firm understanding of their future financial choices and responsibilities, but also of the importance of their career choices and potential to create fulfilling and independent lives”, said Teri Kelly, Communications Manager, Bank of America Merrill Lynch. -ENDS-