Research Day 2017
The annual DCU Research Day took place on Wednesday, 22 February, in the Helix. Each year, the event includes the presentation of the President's Research Awards to the winners. Additionally, this year, each faculty had the opportunity to display research highlights to the DCU community. we were particularly delighted to present research from our newest faculty, the Institute of Education. Each faculty participated by displaying posters, respectively focusing on current research projects, research centres, or Schools.
Professor Greg Hughes, Interim Vice-President for Research & Innovation, presented an overview of DCU research. He noted that while we have maintained our levels of strong research output and grant income, we are facing challenges resulting from the current political environment and strong competitiveness in European funding.
The Research Day keynote speech was delivered by incoming Dean of the Institute of Education, Dr. Anne Looney. Titled, 'Another Brick in the Wall? Research and Teacher Education', the keynote focused on conceptual borders between disciplines, forms of research, and teaching and research, and how teacher education can bring down such walls. Dr. Looney highlighted the importance of teaching critical reading and processing of information, pointing out that in the contemporary influx of information, a crucial skill is the abillity to determine what to ignore.
The winners of the President's Research Awards 2017 were Professor John Costello, School of Physical Sciences (Natural Sciences, Health, Engineering and related areas), Professor Maura Conway, School of Law and Government (Humanities and Social Sciences, Business, Education and related areas), and Dr. Louise Hopper, School of Nursing and Human Science (Research Staff). Prof. Conway joined in via a live video link from the US.
Each winner presented an overview of their research career and their research interest, followed by a brief Q&A. For those who were unable to attend, the presentations will be soon available online.