News
DCU CER participated on the 2nd Universities South Africa (USAf) Higher Education Conference
16/11/21
DCU CER participated in the 2nd Universities South Africa (USAf) Higher Education Conference, conducted in collaboration with the Council on Higher Education (CHE), from 6 to 8 October 2021. The conference theme was The Engaged University.
Following the lead of the successful 2019 event, the conference provided a platform for thought leadership, debates, deliberation and shared understanding among senior academics, researchers, executive leadership of public universities, government, business and civil society.
As Co-Director of the CER, Professor Ronaldo Munck talked about the ethical questions that arise conducting engaged research.
More information here.
2022_CM602: PPI Ignite Zoom lecture available
12/10/21
Dr. Lucy Whiston's Zoom lecture on PPI is now available from Loop
Partnering with Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation at Queens in a HEA North South Programme bid CESI
5/10/21
DCU CER is Part of the SMART-ER Project
14/9/21
Through the Centre for Engaged Research, DCU is serving as a point of contact for the SMART-ER Project. The ECIU University Research Institute for Smart European Regions (SMART-ER) is a research, innovation and education strong alliance, enabling all 12 ECIU University member institutions to jointly address complex societal challenges under the framework of the UN SDG11 (Sustainable cities and communities).
The SMART-ER is a new model of research and innovation, based on a virtual collaborative environment, will call scientists and researchers of the member universities for joint research initiatives and project activities. The SMART-ER together with diverse stakeholder groups at a local, national and international level, will promote the dialogue with society and will work according to a shared Research and Innovation (R&I) Agenda.
CER director Ronnie Munck will be DCU's SMART-ER ambassador in helping realise the project's strategic initiatives:
- Develop a common research and innovation agenda and convergence action plan, in synergy with education strategies and regional engagement, sharing infrastructures and resources
- Develop and implement strategies for strengthening human capital and collaborations in research and innovation.
- Promote and integrate dialogue with society in research and innovation activities of SMART-ER
More information can be found here.
CER Autumn Lecture Series
2/9/21
The DCU Centre for Engaged Research Autumn Lecture Series will begin on September 15th.
Drawing from a wide diversity of fields and disciplines, the series showcases the variety and depth of engaged research on the island of Ireland and internationally. This series will discuss developments with regard to community engagement, citizen science, ethical issues and will help answer the question of ‘what is engaged research?’
Speaking about the series, Prof. Ronnie Munck, Head of Civic Engagement in Dublin City University said:
“The main mission of engaged research is to be collaborative and change oriented, positioning the community as a full participant in shaping the research question, analysing the data and developing effective knowledge dissemination strategies. It seeks to empower communities and local stakeholders through knowledge and to promote democratic values for positive social transformation.
This series will also show how engaged research is also a key element in the impact agenda of the engaged university.”
The first lecture in the series will feature Claire Mulrone (Ulster University) and Dr Emma McKenna (Queen's University) with a lecture on 'Engaged Research in Northern Ireland: The Science Shop Model.'
Dr Emma McKenna co-ordinates The Science Shop in Queen’s University Belfast. The Science Shop is a community engaged research initiative, facilitating students to work on curriculum-based research projects generated from the needs of community partners. In this role she works with a wide range of community organisations across Northern Ireland and with students and academic staff across all faculties. She is a leading member of the Living Knowledge International Science Shop Network. She has mentored Science Shops across the world, including in Canada, India, Hungary, France and Spain. She is Associate Editor for the NCCPE’s Research For All journal. Her current main interest is redesigning and reimagining curricula to underpin student research engagement with communities.
Claire Mulrone is the Community Engagement Manager and Co-Director of the Social Justice Hub at Ulster University. Claire has responsibility for Community Engagement activities supporting both adamic staff and students to undertake a range of engaged research projects sharing their knowledge and expertise with community and voluntary partners across Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Science Shop, a joint collaboration between Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University celebrating its 30th Anniversary 2018.
CER Member's Project Among Those Announced by the Irish Research Council
9/8/21
Eleven new research projects have been announced recently by the Irish Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), that will see the UK and Ireland bring together world-leading expertise in the Digital Humanities. Among them is TOHIF (Tackling Online Hate in Football) led by Dr Mark Doidge of the University of Brighton and CER member, Dr Gary Sinclair.
Speaking of the new project, Dr Sinclair commented: “Sport has always been an important context through which societal understanding of issues concerning race, gender and national identity are articulated and contested. Consumption and discussion of football through social media, particularly during international football tournaments (see final of Euro 2020), has increasingly become a hotbed for widespread abuse and hate crime.
This project will work with stakeholders across sport, social media and government in the UK and Ireland to understand this problem and identify strategies and policies in which to address this societal issue through the power of sport.”
TOHIF will aim to develop new research techniques, bring innovative approaches to community engagement and enhance cultural understanding and access to heritage.
More information can be found here
DCU Now Offers GTE in Engaged Research
22/7/21
Through the hard work of CER Steering Committee members, Professor Kate Irving and Dr Padraig Murphy, DCU is now offering a Graduate Training Element (GTE) in Engaged Research. This makes DCU the first Irish university to offer a module dedicated to Engaged Research.
The module (CM602) will be based in the School of Communications with Dr Murphy as module coordinator. It will be available to postgraduate students across all faculties in the university, offering them 10 credits and a thorough grounding in the diverse methodologies and principles of engaged research. Furthermore, as a cross-faculty module, students will be encouraged and equipped to carry out inter-disciplinary collaborative research.
Community engagement, research ethics and societal impact are increasingly key components of project structures and funding applications across Europe. CM602 will equip DCU students of all fields with the key skills to integrate these priorities into their research. In line with DCU's Strategic Plan (2017-2022), these early stage researchers will have a firm foundation "to flourish in the world outside the university" and to support DCU in being "the very antithesis of the ‘Ivory Tower University.’"
