Leading researchers receive DCU President's Award
11 March 2003

Dublin City University's highest research distinction, the President's award, was presented today to two leading academics, Professor Anne Scott of the School of Nursing and Dr Alan Smeaton, School of Computer Applications and Director of the Centre for Digital Video Processing. The President of DCU, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, presented his research awards at a ceremony held today in the new postgraduate centre.

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.

Professor Alan Smeaton, for outstanding contribution to research in science and engineering

Professor Alan Smeaton, Dean of the Faculty of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, received the science and engineering award. He was a co-founder of the Centre for Digital Video Processing, which was awarded UDRC status in 2000. He was nominated for his excellence in securing research funding for the centre, for his publications on information retrieval which have received international recognition, and for the number of research students who have graduated under his supervision.

He is a world-leader in the field of digital and video content management. With his team of over 20 academics and postgraduate students, he established Fischlar, a web-based media-management system, which is currently the focus of world-wide attention. This research has led to the establishment of a DCU campus company, Aliope Ltd, which will focus on bringing the results to the commercial market. Fischlar can be used to generate personalised digital television which can provide a summary of any television programme on request, such as goals scored in a soccer match, scenes of a film in which a particular actor appears or even films which feature certain music.

Professor Anne Scott, for outstanding contribution to research in nursing and health care ethics

Professor Anne Scott is Head of the School of Nursing at DCU. With her team of 50 academic staff and over 800 students, she is due to move into Ireland's first designated third-level school of nursing in October 2003. Professor Scott's research interests span the areas of philosophy and ethics of health care, clinical judgement and decision-making, the influence of the humanities in health care practice and the general development of nursing research in Ireland.

She is the lead grant holder and Principal Investigator of a €1 million research programme, being carried out collaboratively by a team of researchers in the School of nursing DCU and the School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies at UCD into 'nursing decision making'. This 5 year programme of research is funded by the Health Research Board.

Professor Scott was appointed to the Irish Council for Bioethics by the Royal Irish Academy for her significant contribution to research in health care ethics. According to Ferdinand von Prondzynski, "Professor Scott's appointment to the Irish Council for Bioethics is a significant landmark in the recognition of nursing as an established discipline within the healthcare profession. Her contribution to the development of the nursing profession, and her specialist interest in philosophy and in health care ethics clearly marks a development in the role of nursing in today's society. Her involvement in the Health Research Board-sponsored research projects on empowerment in nursing and midwifery and clinical decision making marks Professor Scott as an outstanding contributor to research excellence in DCU".

For further details contact:

Eilis O'Brien ph 7005217 | 087 2057125

Eileen Colgan ph 7005656 | 087 7948929