Featured in this issue: - University College Dublin

Bank of Ireland / UCD
New Irish Scholarship
Awards
With the recent census identifying 400,000
foreign nationals currently living in Ireland,
which represents almost 10% of our
population, a key priority area for Irish
universities over the next few years is to
further develop systems and supports for
members of minority ethnic groups from
outside of the EU now resident in Ireland.
UCD, in association with Bank of Ireland, has
introduced a New Irish Scholarship Scheme.
"The scholarships - valued at up to €5,000 per
annum for the duration of the student's degree
programme - are aimed at individuals who face
significant economic obstacles to entering
university," said Ronan Murphy (Office of the
Director of Access at UCD).
“Bank of Ireland has a long tradition of
supporting student initiatives at UCD,” said
Sinéad Mulryan (Commercial Branch Manager,
University Branch Montrose, Bank of Ireland).
“And we are particularly proud of our
commitment to this unique new scholarship.”
Applicants for the scholarship scheme must
have been resident in the Republic of Ireland for
a minimum of three years and must be legally
entitled to remain, based on Irish naturalisation,
refugee status, humanitarian leave, leave to
remain or be holders of an Irish work permit for
the past three years.
Candidates for the scheme are individuals
aspiring to study at undergraduate or
postgraduate level in UCD (full- or part-time)
but whose financial circumstance are such that
it would be extremely difficult for them to take
up their place in UCD.
23
UCD researcher
awarded €5.8 million
in research funding
Professor Maarten Nieuwenhuis (UCD School
of Biology and Environmental Science) has
been awarded over €5.8 million in research
funding from COFORD (The National Council
for Forest Research and Development) under
the National Development Plan 2007-2013,
following the evaluation of proposals by an
international team of reviewers. The total
funding obtained exceeds €4.8 million of
which over €4 million is allocated to UCD.
The funding has been awarded for six research
projects in the ‘Planning and Implementation
of Sustainable Forest Management (PLANSFM)’
programme as well as for the programme itself.
The PLANSFM programme is based within
the UCD School of Biology and Environmental
Science. One of the research themes of the
School is ‘Ecosystems and sustainable resource
management’, and the programme fits very
well within this theme, benefiting from the
wide range of expertise in the School, and
opening up possibilities for future research,
further integrating forestry management
(planning) into the research and development
UCD professor awarded RIA gold medal
Pictured at the presentation ceremony are (l-r)
Michael Kelly, Minister Mary Hanafin TD and Prof Eogan.
Olakunle Animashaun from Nigeria; Yombo Rahman
from Nigeria; Shane Liz Andaloc from the Philippines
and Samuel Ogwu Lekwadi from South Africa; who each
received a Bank of Ireland / UCD New Irish Scholarship
Award at a ceremony held in UCD in October.
Professor George Eogan, emeritus Professor of
Celtic Archaeology at UCD, widely regarded
as one of Ireland's foremost archaeologists,
has been awarded the Royal Irish Academy
Gold Medal in the Humanities. His
momentous programme of archaeological
work in the Boyne Valley over the course of
the last forty years has transformed our
understanding of the passage tombs and the
settlement history of the area. As a result, the
Boyne Valley was established as a national
park and designated a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO. His crucial role in the development
of Irish archaeology from the 1960s onwards
has received recognition in his appointment
to Seanad Éireann, in numerous awards and in
membership of bodies such as Academia
Europea, the German Archaeological Institute
and the Society of Antiquaries, London.
Each year, Royal Irish Academy Gold Medals are
presented to two outstanding academics. They
are recognised as a truly national expression of
of national land-use planning and management
methodologies. The programme will create a
critical mass of forest management (planning)
expertise at UCD, which will facilitate the
development of proposals and involvement in
national and international research programmes.
The forest industry is involved in all of these
projects, which will facilitate data collection,
model testing and, hopefully, the application
of the research findings in the planning and
implementation of sustainable forest
management. Most of the industrial project
partners have had previous involvement in
forest research and have been selected based
on their specific expertise. All projects involve
international research links, including the
Forestry Commission, UK Forest Research, the
Institute for Forest Ecosystem Research
(Czech Republic), Dr Lance Broad (New
Zealand), Universities of Freiburg and Dresden
in Germany and Nordic Forest Research in
Scandinavia.
Pictured are (l-r) Mr Alistair Pfeifer (Research and
Development Manager, Coillte Teoranta), Prof Maarten
Nieuwenhuis and Dr Eugene Hendrick (Director COFORD).
celebration for scholarly achievement.
The medals are sponsored by the Higher
Education Authority and the Irish Independent.
“Professor Eogan is being honoured on the basis
of his immense contribution over many decades
to the Humanities,” said The Minister for
Education and Science, Mary Hanafin TD.
“In acknowledging his achievements, we are
also bringing to the wider public attention the
high standards and broad range of research
work that is going on in this country. Today’s
recipients of the RIA Gold Medal, the highest
award that can be made in Ireland in this area,
stand as the most influential academics
renowned both nationally and internationally.”
Michael Kelly, Chairman of the Higher
Education Authority explained that recognising
academic excellence is a core function of higher
education in Ireland. “The contributions of Prof
Eogan to learning and research are richly valued
by all,” he said.