DCU’s Dr Claire Gubbins wins prestigious Fulbright award

Dr Claire Gubbins, Lecturer in the Human Resource Management and Organizational Psychology Group at Dublin City University’s Business School, has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship for 2013. She will conduct research on tacit knowledge management practices and influencers in industry  at Carnegie Mellon University.

A total of thirty-seven Fulbright awardees were officially announced at an event on MS The World, which was sponsored by US Fulbright alumnus, Dr Jack Pinkowski and his wife Mrs Monica Pinkowski, as part of The Gathering on 12 July 2013. The awards are given annually by the Irish and US governments and provide Irish students, scholars, and professionals with the opportunity to study, lecture, and research at top universities and institutions throughout the United States.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s Fulbright Awards, Mr Patrick McDermott, Chair of the Fulbright Commission Board, said, “year after year, the Fulbright Awards attract Ireland’s top researchers, professionals, and graduates. With the breadth and expertise seen in this year’s winners I know that these current and future leaders will gain invaluable experience that they can share upon their return to Ireland.”

McDermott continued, “I am especially delighted to see the Fulbright Awardees’ very topical areas of research that they will examine during their year in the US. For instance, two Fulbright-Environmental Protection Agency awardees will explore innovative ways to encourage sustainability in Ireland. I know that their contributions to the future of Irish environmental policy will be informed by their time in the US.”

Dr Gubbins, said that she was delighted to be one of this year’s awardees.  “I applied for the Fulbright scholarship for personal and professional reasons.  I am an avid traveller and love to experience new cultures and meet new people; I believe it also broadens a person’s perspective on life and is key to living life to the fullest.  At a professional level, I feel that as US academia and US business models are such a strong influence on us here in Europe, it is both valuable and informative to go and work within these institutions to learn about the US academic way of life, work and expectations. Therefore, rather than hear brief or second hand stories about US academia and research and teaching approaches, it is better to go and experience them myself. It was Professor Patrick Flood whom planted the ‘idea’ and provided the encouragement to apply for the Fulbright scholarship and so to be able to achieve these objectives under the banner of what is recognised as a prestigious scholarship is icing on the cake!

“In addition to it being one of the top Universities and Business Schools in the US, Carnegie Mellon is also home to some incredible internationally recognised academics in my field of research or research interests. These include Professor Denise Rousseau who does some incredible work on Evidence Based Management and who places a strong emphasis on translational research, which is key in DCU’s research strategy”.

Speaking about the diverse nature of the awardees, Ms. Colleen Dube, Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission, said, “the Fulbright Awards continue to reflect the diversity and depth of Irish academia. Although this year’s awardees have a definite science and technology angle, the arts also feature prominently, with awardees going to the School for Improvisational Music in Brooklyn, New York and the California Institute of the Arts. I look forward to seeing, and hearing, the wonderful outputs from each of these 37 awardees at the end of 2014.”  Dube continued, “In this Gathering year we are especially delighted with the Fulbrighters’ role as cultural ambassadors while in the U.S. With 37 Irish awardees going to the U.S. and 13 Americans coming to Ireland this autumn, we are thrilled to be a part of the ongoing cultural and educational exchange between the two countries.”

 The next round of applications for Irish Fulbright Awardees will open on Wednesday, 28 August, 2013. Interested applicants in all disciplines are encouraged to visit the Fulbright Commission’s website, www.fulbright.ie, for more information. All applications for the 2014-2015 academic year will be due on Wednesday 13 November, 2013.