Chemical Sciences - School Awards

Awards

President's Awards for Teaching and Learning 2009

19 May 2009


Prof Richard O'Kennedy (centre) pictured with the award winners Blánaid White, Aoife Morrin, Cris Guntin and Conor Sullivan

The annual President's Awards for Teaching and Learning took place on 14 May 2009 in the Helix. Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski, President of DCU, presented the awards to DCU staff members who had made outstanding contributions to the teaching and learning mission of the university. Nominations are made by students and staff which are then adjudicated by a panel appointed by the University Teaching and Learning Committee.

Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski said "There were over 50 nominations for this year's awards, the highest number in the history of the award. The nominations bore testimony to the significant contributions made by staff to DCU's teaching mission."

The winners were:
Academic Support Staff Category: Conor Sullivan, School of Education Studies
New Lecturers/Postgraduate Tutors Category: 'The Legislation Lecturers': Blánaid White, Aoife Morrin and Sonia Ramirez, School of Chemical Sciences.
Academic Category: Cris Guntin, School of Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies

Professor Richard O'Kennedy, Vice-President for Learning Innovation, was warmly welcomed to his new post and gave an insightful presentation entitled 'Supporting a DCU Community of Learning and Innovation'.

Following the award presentation Sylvia Huntley-Moore, Director of Staff Education and Development, TCD, shared her experiences and conclusions of student surveys in a presenation entitled 'Student Surveys - Help or Hindrance in Promoting Effective Teaching'

Top researchers receive President's Research Awards 2007/2008

Friday 1st February 2008

Professor Dermot Diamond, Dr Peadar Kirby, Professor Robert Forster and Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski
Professor Eugene Kennedy, Dr Brigitte Le Juez, Professor Dermot Diamond, President Ferdinand von Prondzynski

This year's President's Research Awards were presented to two distinguished researchers at DCU – Professor Dermot Diamond of the School of Chemical Sciences and the National Centre for Sensor Research, and Dr Brigitte Le Juez, School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies.

The awards are presented annually to researchers who have excelled in the areas of Science and Engineering and in Humanities and Social Sciences.

President Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, commended Dermot Diamond for his outstanding contributions to sensor development and for driving DCUs advancement through original science and strategic development. “Professor Diamond has made outstanding research contributions, provided strong leadership in his field, promoted science to new audiences, pushed the boundaries of multi- and interdisciplinary science, contributed significantly to social and economic development, and it is my great pleasure to award him the 2007 President's Research Award for Science and Engineering”, he said.

Dr Brigitte Le Juez received the award for her outstanding contribution to the development of Comparative Literature Studies and French and Francophone Studies, both nationally and internationally. Her most recent Work, Beckett avant la lettre (2007) which is to be published this year in an English translation, received instant and widespread praise in France and has been hailed internationally as a pioneering work in Beckettian scholarship.

Speaking at the ceremony, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski paid particular tribute to the Vice-President of Research, Professor Eugene Kennedy and his team for their commitment, dedication and strong performance in a highly competitive market.

Professor Frank Gannon, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland, also gave an overview of the role of the SFI.

Professor Dermot Diamond - Full Citation

Dr Brigitte Le Juez - Full Citation

DCU President's Teaching and Learning Awards presented at DCU

Thursday 7 June 2007

Professor Dermot Diamond, Dr Peadar Kirby, Professor Robert Forster and Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski
Odilla Finlayson, School of Chemical Sciences, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, DCU President, and Brian Freeland, School of Biotechnology

At the annual DCU teaching and learning day Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski, President of DCU, presented his annual Teaching and Learning awards to the DCU staff members who have made outstanding contributions to the teaching and learning mission of the university.

The winners are:

Odilla Finlayson, School of Chemical Sciences (Academic category) nominated for her innovative and supportive approaches to facilitating independent student learning, as well as her research work on student approaches to learning chemistry.

Brian Freeland School of Biotechnology (Teaching support category) nominated for his enthusiastic, innovative and committed contribution to supporting all aspects of bioprocess engineering teaching within the School.

The awards are made annually. Nominations are made by students and staff which are then adjudicated on by a panel appointed by the University Teaching and Learning Committee. The awards are also supported under the HEA Strategic Initiatives scheme.

The full list of nominees is available http://www.dcu.ie/ovpli/liu/presawardnominees07.shtml

DCU President's Research Awards: Prof Brett Paull and Dr Gary Murphy

Friday 1 February 2007

Professor Dermot Diamond, Dr Peadar Kirby, Professor Robert Forster and Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski
Prof Brett Paull, Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski, DCU President, Prof Eugene Kennedy and Prof Gary Murphy

This year's highest research distinction, the President's Research Awards, have been presented to Professor Brett Paull and Dr Gary Murphy.

The awards acknowledge the serious commitment to the research in both Science and Engineering and Social Sciences and Humanities. The criteria for the awards are national and international prominence, the relevance of the research and the degree of excellence the research has achieved in eachspecialised area.

Professor Brett Paull, Head of the School of Chemical Sciences, received the award for his outstanding contribution to research in Science and Engineering. He is internationally recognised for his contributions to the development of separation science based technologies. He has received particular recognition for his research into ion chromatography and capillary electrophoresis of small inorganic ions. This aspect of his research was recognised in 2005 through the award of the Society of Analytical Chemists Silver Medal, an annual international award for leading anaytical scientists under 35 years of age.

He heads a research group of 15, with many active collaborations with international groups based in the UK, Austria, Russia, Norway, the US and Australia. He has authored 77 journals and book articles and has also secured considerable research funding from both national and European sources.

Dr Gary Murphy received the award for his research in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr Murphy was co-editor of Irish Political Studies. He is a well-known and frequent commentator on contemporary matters in the written and broadcast media. His book 'Economic Realignment and the Politics of EEC entry: Ireland, 1948-1972' was launched in the Irish embassy in Washington D.C. in June 2003. It was the first book-length treatment of the role of interest groups in Irish society in the post-war period and explains how interest groups aligned with various governments in the formation of Irish economic policy in the 1960s, preparing the way for membership of the EEC.

Dr Francoise Blin and Dr Tia Keyes -- this year's President's research award recipients

Tuesday 31 January 2006

Professor Dermot Diamond, Dr Peadar Kirby, Professor Robert Forster and Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski
Dr Tia Keyes, School of Chemical Science, Prof Eugene Kennedy, Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski, DCU President, and Dr Francoise Blin, School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies

Dublin City University's highest research distinction, the President's Award, was presented today, 31 January 2006, to two leading academics, Dr Tia Keyes of the School of Chemical Science and Dr Francoise Blin of the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies.

The awards are presented annually to academics for outstanding research carried out in the field of Science and Engineering and also in Social Sciences and Humanities. DCU academics are invited to nominate candidates for the awards, who are then judged on the following criteria: national and international prominence, the relevance of their research, and the degree of excellence they have achieved in their specific area.

Dr Francoise Blin, for outstanding contribution to research in Humanities and Social Sciences

Dr Francoise Blin, School of Applied Language and Intercultural studies, received the award for her pioneering work in linking research to the classroom experience and for her commitment to interdisciplinarity in her research activities.

She is internationally recognised for her work with Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and is now the Vice-President of EUROCALL Executive Committee.

With the advent of Moodle, an open source virtual learning environment, and a social constructivist approach to Teaching and Learning, it is the research of scholars such as Dr Blin which will provide the academic community with the tools to analyse our students' learning experience and devise appropriate teaching strategies and further research projects.

Dr Tia Keyes, for outstanding contribution to research in Science and Engineering

Dr Tia Keyes of the School of Chemical Sciences and the National Centre for Sensor Research received her award on the basis of her outstanding contributions to inorganic photophysics as well as energy and electron transfer dynamics.

She played a key role in developing the research programme of the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute that was funded by Science Foundation Ireland in 2005 to the tune of more than €16.5m.

In conclusion, Tia has made outstanding research contributions in physical chemistry, promoted science to new audiences, pushed the boundaries of multi- and interdisciplinary science, contributed significantly to social and economic development.

President Research's Awards

1 March 2004

Dr Peadar Kirby and Professor Robert Forster
Dr Peadar Kirby and Professor Robert Forster

Dublin City University's highest research distinction, the President's award, was presented today, 1 March 2004, by Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, DCU president, to two leading academics, Dr Peadar Kirby, School of Law and Government and Professor Robert Forster, School of Chemical Sciences.

The awards are presented to academics in the field of Science and Engineering and also in Social Sciences and Humanities, who are then judged on the following criteria - national and international prominence, the relevance of their research, and the degree of excellence they have achieved in their specific area. Dr Peadar Kirby received the award for his significant contribution to the field of international political economy. Prof. Robert Forster received the award for his significant contribution to research in ultra-fast electrochemistry.

Professor Dermot Diamond, Dr Peadar Kirby, Professor Robert Forster and Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski
Professor Dermot Diamond, Dr Peadar Kirby, Professor Robert Forster and Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski

The awards are presented annually to academic staff who have made significant contributions to the research effort of the university or who have brought a specific innovation to a particular field of research or area of expertise. Staff members are invited to nominate academics. The nominations are supported with relative evidence which will vary depending on the discipline of the nominee, but it should always reflect the reputation of the nominee and the significance of their research effort.