ALIVE Certificate for Volunteering

The ALIVE certificate has two aims. 

First and foremost, it rewards all the time and effort students put into their extra-curricular activities: societies, sports clubs, campaigns, committees, volunteering, community engagement, mentoring, class representatives, student radio, and everything else that isn't degree-related!

Secondly, employers note that students have a lot of fantastic experience but don't know how to talk about it in interviews and application forms. So, University of Galway has developed the ALIVE Certificate for Volunteering. This gives students the opportunity to talk about what they have been doing, and get the recognition they deserve!

Gold Awards for Civic Engagement

University of Galway has been acknowledging student excellence through the award of gold medals in Medicine for over 100 years. In partnership with the Community Knowledge Initiative, additional gold medals were awarded to student in Medicine for their Civic Engagement contribution. In 2020 a further gold medal for civic engagement was introduced to acknowledgement civic engagement achievements of students in the Health Sciences. 

Civic Engagement activities can take many forms including student volunteering, service learning, collaborate research projects and other activities that benefit both the community and the university including its’ students and staff.

President's Award for Societal Impact

The University of Galway President's Awards for Societal Impact is a recognition of the valuable contribution staff members makes to society. The aim is to award the outstanding contributions of staff across the whole University who seek to use their skills and knowledge to improve the University’s contribution to society and our various communities, to stimulate excellence and help improve the visibility of the University’s impact on society and the broader community, above and beyond routine support and academic activities, on behalf of the University. This is the fourth year the awards have been running and now in 2020, there are two categories of awards with the Early Stage being offered in addition to the traditional Established career award.

Previous awardees:

Global Leaders Programme

University of Galway student Cameron Keighron has been selected by the Talloires Network based at Tufts University, USA, to participate in the Next Generation Leaders Program, sponsored by the Mastercard Foundation. University of Galway has been a partner and engaged member of the Talloires Network for over a decade through its work in the Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI) ensuring that the public good role of the University is embedded and mainstreamed.

Over  300 applications were received for this prestigious collective and the international selection committee chose just 41 participants.  The young leaders will  be organised into smaller working groups. Each group will focus on a particular civic engagement theme and participate in the 2021 Talloires Network Global Leaders Conference hosted by Harvard University in partnerhip with Tufts University.  The themes they aim to explore include:  Pandemic Recovery and Resilience, Innovations in Gender Equity, Structured Listening Methods, and Civic Engagement Future. 

The President of University of Galway stated that “we are excited and proud that Cameron Keighron has been chosen to participate in the Next Generation Leaders Program and know that the capacities and attributes that Cameron possesses emulate our vision and values of openness and respect, of our graduates as citizens connected to and contributing to community and society in Ireland and internationally.  We look forward to supporting this Program and all who participate.”

Student participants selected represent 21 countries around the world: Australia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Ghana, India, Ireland, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States. 

Cameron is currently a PhD Student in Electrophysiology studying Parkinson's Disease (under Dr Leo Quinlan) and has been involved in advocacy, activism and volunteering for the past decade. Cameron is deeply connected to community and is the current Chair of AMACH! LGBT+, the President of the ENLIGHT Student Board, student partner in the Inclusive Learning and Teaching project and a Youth Panel Member on a study looking to improve healthcare for Type 1 Diabetics. Cameron was selected given his passion about changing the way we view the world around us and ensuring that everyone feels empowered to have their voice heard.

Cameron says “I am delighted to be selected to be a part of the Next Generation Leaders Program through the Talloires Network of Engaged Universities. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to global conversations around civic engagement and activism, with an incredible chance to network with 40 other engaged students from diverse backgrounds. I am looking forward to working closely on the Innovations in Gender Equity working group developing strategies to combat discrimination based on gender identity."

Further information, please contact Cameron Keighron, 086 238 6183