Research Newsletter - Issue 60: Good News
Congratulations to the DCU awardees who have been successful in the following awards/grants. Click on the title below for further information.
Congratulations to Prof. Mathias Urban (School of Language, Literacy & Early Childhood Education, and the Early Childhood Research Centre) for being awarded €128K by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland, to conduct a research project on the Nordic approach to evaluation and assessment in early childhood.
The purpose of the study is to shed light on the values and principles that have guided the evaluation and assessment of the quality of early childhood education and care in the Nordic countries–Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden. The research project will undertake a systematic investigation into the development over time, and the current practice of evaluation in the Nordic countries.
The study will be conducted by a team of researchers based at DCU and the University of Stavanger (UiS). It will be jointly directed by Mathias Urban (Desmond Chair of Early Childhood Education at DCU, and Professor (II) of Pedagogy at UIS) and Elin Reikerås (Professor of Early Childhood Education at UiS and director of FILIORUM).
Congratulations to Prof. Fiona Regan (Co-applicant) (School of Chemical Sciences and Water Instiute) and Dr Ali Intizar (Academic collaborator) (School of Electronic Engineering), who have been successful on behalf of DCU in this €5m SFI-Microsoft Ireland research award on climate change. In collaboration with Maynooth University, the project, called Terrain-AI, will focus on improving our understanding of the impact of human activity on land use and how it relates to climate change. The research will initially focus on test sites in Ireland, with the ultimate aim of reducing global carbon levels by sharing the insights and models developed with other countries.
Leveraging the latest multimodal sensing technologies, IOT devices and the Microsoft Azure Cloud, the project will build artificial intelligence (AI) models that can inform more effective and sustainable management practices, leading to significant carbon reduction. The project led by Maynooth University will also be conducted in collaboration with Teagasc, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Dublin City University, and University of Limerick.
Congratulations to Dr Jiangui Meng (NICB/School of Biotechnology) who has been awarded a Type 2 Innovation Grant from Sanofi Genzyme. These grants focus on supporting independent, novel and innovative research projects investigating Type 2 immune-mediated diseases.
Dr Meng's group has been identifying new targets for the common Type 2 inflammatory disease, including atopic dermatitis and its beyond. With this new award their group will develop novel therapeutics for treating these relapsing conditions.
Congratulations to all DCU Erasmus+ awardees! Our announcement of the awards this year has been delayed due to disruptions related to COVID-19. The following are awards that we can currently announce, with additional awards expected to be announced in the coming months:
- Dr Martin Brown (School of Policy and Practice / Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection) will be coordinating the “Inter Cultural Community Evaluation and Planning (ICCEP)” Strategic Partnership project. This project aims to develop a community-based planning and evaluation system, referred to as ICCEP where schools and other stakeholders collaborate in networks for the improvement of migration background students.
- Christine O’Kelly (Age Friendly University) will be coordinating the “Traditions, Recipes and Cuisines of Europe using Smartphones (TRACUS)” Strategic Partnership project. The overall aim of the project is to develop and curate a database of recipes, cuisines and traditions (storytelling/singing/dancing) associated with European cuisines using mobile technology as a learning tool.
- Dr Paul Grimes (School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies / Centre for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning) and Dr Eilish McLoughlin (School of Physical Sciences for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning) will be coordinating the “Supporting Transitions Across Mathematics and Physics Education (STAMPEd)” Strategic Partnership project. The aim of the STAMPEd project is to develop ways that both pupils and teachers can be supported during periods of transition: transition across school systems (e.g. primary level to secondary level), transitions between different teachers, transition across subjects, and several other social transitions.
- Dr Susan Marron (School of Arts Education & Movement) will be partnering on the “Primary Education Physical Education Teacher Education (PRIME PETE)” Strategic Partnership project.
- Dr Louise Hopper (School of Psychology) who will be partnering on the “Improving demeNtia care Through Self-Experience (INTenSE)” strategic partnership project.
- Prof. Tomas Ward (School of Computing) and Vicky Twomey-Lee (School of Computing), who will be partnering on the “Innovative digital solutions to assess 21st century skills in makerspaces: school & nonformal (ASSESSMAKE 21)” Strategic Partnership project.
- Dr Orna Farrell (Open Education Unit, National Institute for Digital Learning), Dr James Brunton (Open Education Unit, National Institute for Digital Learning), and Prof. Mark Brown (Director of the National Institute for Digital Learning), who will be partnering on the “European Network for Catalysing Open Resources in Education (ENCORE+)” Knowledge Alliance project.
- Dr Pierangelo Rosati and Dr Damien Dupré (Business School) will be partnering on the “Technology-based Entrepreneurship for Supporting Sustainability in MENA Region (MENA-Preneurs)” Capacity Building in the field of Higher Education project.
Congratulations to all DCU awardees on being awarded SFI Discover Programme 2020 awards:
- Dr John White (School of Policy and Practice) and Dr Cliona Murphy (School of STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies) will be coordinating the “Physics in Action” project. The project aims to develop and deepen pupils' understanding of and interest in physics concepts and explore the use of embodied cognition, to support these students in learning about physics.
- Dr Rob Brennan (School of Computing / ADAPT Centre) will be leading the “AI_InMyLife: AI, Ethics & Privacy Transition Year Workshops” project. The project will engage 500 Dublin teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds in a 15-week (20-hour) co-created, interactive workshop series encouraging them to reflect on their experiences in a world shaped by artificial intelligence, personal data processing and digital transformation.
- Dr Elizabeth Mathews (School of Inclusive & Special Education) will be leading the “Irish Sign Language STEM Glossary Project - National Expansion” project. This project will promote and support STEM education for Deaf and Hard of Hearing learners (DHH) using Irish Sign Language (ISL).