DCU President's Research Awards:
Prof Brett Paull and Dr Gary Murphy
Friday 1 February 2007

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.