Category: 2023

Celebrating Success and Global Impact

UCD Alumni Awards 2023 Recognise Excellence and Achievement

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the UCD Alumni Awards, which proudly celebrate the success and exceptional achievements of UCD’s alumni and recognise their outstanding accomplishments and contribution to society.

The UCD Alumni Awards were established in 2014 to recognise the excellence and achievement of alumni who are making a difference in all areas of society and the economy from business and industry, healthcare and science to culture and the arts. With more than 310,000 alumni in 184 countries, recipients of the annual UCD Alumni Awards are selected amid stiff competition for their global impact, their pioneering ambition and the ways in which their groundbreaking and trailblazing work reflects one or more of UCD’s strategic themes: Creating a Sustainable Global Society; Transforming through Digital Technology; Building a Healthy World; and Empowering Humanity.

Every year, UCD receives nominations from the alumni network, from faculty and staff and others for individuals who are deemed worthy to be considered for an Alumni Award. Nominees actively demonstrate the values of integrity, excellence, collegiality, creativity, diversity in their field. The UCD Alumni Awards are a way for UCD to showcase the accomplishments and successes of our alumni, which are a source of great pride to the University and an inspiration to present and future generations.

Law Award

Aedamar Comiskey – BCL 1988

A leading public and private M&A lawyer, London-based Aedamar Comiskey was elected Linklaters’ Senior Partner and Chair in May 2021. The firm has 30 offices in 20 countries, with more than 530 partners.

An Irish lawyer at the very top of her game, Aedamar is the first female Senior Partner in the firm’s 183-year history and prior to this role, was Global Head of Corporate, leading 2,000 people. Having joined Linklaters as a trainee in 1992, she made an early commitment to the firm and during her long career has championed the workforce’s diversity of backgrounds and nationalities.

Aedamar is an active sponsor of the ‘Linklaters’ Women’s Leadership Programme’ which aims to support the firm’s women in reaching senior leadership positions. Aedamar was recognised by Financial News as one of the 20 Most Influential in Legal Services 2021. She has featured in the City AM’s Power 100 Women List, Financial News Top 20 Influential Women in Law and was recognised in The Lawyer magazine’s Hot 100 Lawyers rankings.

Engineering and Architecture Award

Malachy Browne – BE 1997 (Electronic)

Malachy Browne is an Enterprise Investigations Director on the Visual Investigations team at the New York Times and is in charge of investigations that have breakthrough potential to change policy and public debate.

The Visual Investigations team at the newspaper combines traditional reporting with advanced digital forensics. Malachy co-directed “Day of Rage,” a documentary capturing in vivid detail what happened during the US Capitol riot, and he has worked on investigations into the killing of Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans by police, Russian atrocities in Ukraine, the Las Vegas mass shooting, the Saudi officials who killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, and the killing of a young Palestinian medic along the Gaza-Israel border.

This teamwork has received several awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes, four News and Documentary Emmys, two George Polk Awards, three Overseas Press Club of America Awards, the Scripps Howard Impact Award, an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, and three Pulitzer finalist citations (2017). In May 2020, the team won a Pulitzer Prize (the highest honour in journalism) for International Reporting, as part of an investigation into a series of stories about Russian bombings in Syria.

In May 2023, the team received a second Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Ukraine War, including an eight-month investigation into Ukrainian deaths in the town of Bucha and the Russian unit responsible for the killings.

Social Sciences Award

Dr Alison Darcy – BA 1999 (Psychology), MLITT 2005 (Psychology), PHD 2007 (Psychology)

Dr Alison Darcy is an entrepreneur, psychologist and technologist and founder and President of Woebot Labs, a cognitive behavioural therapist chatbot.

Throughout her career she has combined her skills in technology with her expertise in psychology to make a difference in people’s lives. Woebot, an AI-powered chatbot, enables users to monitor and manage their mental health, using evidence-based cognitive behavioural techniques.

It came about as a direct result of Alison’s clinical practice, where she observed a lack of continuity for patients after psychological support ended. In 2020, Woebot added COVID-19 support, expanding its CBT support to include interpersonal psychotherapy.

Alison wants to make mental health services and the training of cognitive behavioural therapy accessible to all, and she has pioneered the use of online learning methods to train clinicians. Since founding Woebot, Alison has secured more than $123.5 million in funding for the company, and she is also currently an Adjunct Faculty member in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department of Stanford’s School of Medicine.

Health And Agricultural Sciences Award

Rachel Kenna – BSc (Nursing Mangt) 2003

Rachel Kenna is Chief Nurse in the Department of Health, and has been instrumental in improving the population health of people in Ireland and the working conditions of healthcare staff as well as impacting on patient safety.

She played a key role in facilitating the rollout of the vaccination programme during the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of a population health screening policy, implementation of strategic health workforce planning and informing patient safety legislation.

Rachel is a general and children’s nurse and has previously held the position of Director of Nursing at Children’s Health Ireland, Crumlin and as Deputy Chief Nurse in the Department of Health. Rachel holds a BSc in Nursing Management and an MSc in Child Protection and Welfare (TCD) as well a Higher Diploma in Professional Practice, Critical Care, Leadership, Quality in Healthcare, a Diploma in Human Rights and Equality and a Professional Diploma in Governance. Rachel was selected as a Florence Nightingale Leadership Scholar for 2021.

Sport Award

Josh Van Der Flier – Dip Sports Management 2013, BSc (Sports & Exercise Management) 2017

In 2022, rugby union player for Leinster and Ireland, UCD Rugby’s Josh van der Flier became only the third Irishman to be named World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year and was also selected for the World Rugby Men’s 15s Dream Team of the Year.

The same year, he was named EPCR European Player of the Year, Leinster Rugby Players’ Player of the Year, Rugby Players Ireland Players’ Player of the Year and Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Player of the Year 2022.

He was a member of the Ireland rugby team that secured a historic first win over the All Blacks on New Zealand soil, playing in all three test matches and scoring a try in the final test and in the 2022 November internationals, he was a key player in wins over South Africa and Australia.

Ahead of this year’s Rugby World Cup taking place in France, Josh was a key member of the 2023 Six Nations Grand Slamwinning Irish squad, earning his 50th international cap against England in the final game of the tournament. Josh’s involvement with UCD Rugby continues with his support for Daffodil Day fundraising for the Irish Cancer Society.

Science Award

Dr Margaret Faul – BSc 1986 (Chemistry), MSc 1988 (Chemistry)

Dr Margaret Faul is recognised internationally as a leader in the pharmaceutical industry and a strong advocate for women in chemistry.

Throughout her 25-year career at Amgen, California she has commercialised innovative medicines to treat patients with serious illness, focusing on the process development and supply of drugs for clinical trials and the commercial market.

Prior to her current role as Vice President of Manufacturing and Clinical Supply and Operations Site Head, she advanced the company’s sustainability culture in evolving a green chemistry culture focused on the implementation of more sustainable chemical processes as the firm’s Vice President of Drug Product Technologies.

Margaret has been a member of the editorial boards for Science of Synthesis, Organic Synthesis, Journal of Organic Chemistry and Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry and her scientific excellence is demonstrated through more than 100 scientific publications and eleven patents.

She is the recipient of many awards, including the Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management and a HBA Rising Star Award. Margaret is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and a member of the International IQ consortium. In 2019, Thieme Chemistry and the editors of Science of Synthesis announced an annual Dr Margaret Faul Women in Chemistry Award, to recognise outstanding contributions by young women to research in organic chemistry.

Research, Innovation and Impact Award

Dr Eileen Furlong – BSc 1992 (Pharmacology), PhD 1996 (Pharmacology)

In her final year at UCD Eileen Furlong won the ICI Pharmaceuticals Division Prize, awarded to the candidate who achieved first place in the final BSc (Honours) Degree Examination in Pharmacology.

It was a sign of success to come. A leading molecular biologist working in the fields of transcription, chromatin biology, developmental biology and genomics, Eileen is known globally for her work in understanding how the genome is regulated, in how developmental enhancers function, how they interact within three-dimensional chromatin topologies and drive cell fate decisions during embryogenesis.

Her groundbreaking research provides insights into the inter-relationships between the genome and the environment. Eileen is Head of the Genome Biology Department at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2013, the Academia Europaea in 2016, EMBO’s research council in 2018, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2022.

Eileen has received several awards, including the 2022 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Germany’s most prestigious award.

Business Award

Kerry McLaverty – EMBA 2017

Kerry McLaverty, CEO of LauraLynn, Ireland’s Children’s Hospice, began her career at the Hospice in 2012 after being headhunted to work at the newly-opened organisation, where she pioneered therapeutic family camps and implemented a servicewide electronic medical record system.

Kerry had originally studied Sports Medicine in the US, and completed a Masters in Physiotherapy at the University of Ulster. She commenced her journey in the Irish healthcare sector as a Chartered Physiotherapist at Stewarts Hospital in Palmerstown, and working as an adjunct lecturer at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, and as a guest lecturer in paediatrics and intellectual disability.

During her Executive MBA studies as an Aspire Scholar at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, Kerry progressed as LauraLynn’s Head of Operations and Company Secretary and played a leading role in the development of LauraLynn’s fiveyear Strategic Plan (2019-2023). In 2020, her first year as CEO of LauraLynn, the Hospice secured an historic €1.5 million in annual statutory funding for the Hospice and in 2021, LauraLynn marked a ‘Decade of Care’, unveiling ambitious expansion plans including a new hub for Cork/Kerry. Kerry won the coveted AMBA Leadership Award 2022. Kerry is committed to the wider voluntary sector in Ireland, highlighted by her recent election to the Board of The Wheel, Ireland’s association of nonprofit organisations.

Arts and Humanities Award

Olivia O’Leary – BA 1969 (Spanish, Philosophy)

One of the country’s most respected journalists and commentators, Olivia O’Leary first trained as a journalist with the Nationalist and Leinster Times in Carlow. She then worked for the Irish Times as a parliamentary sketch writer, and was also a news reporter for RTÉ.

Olivia went on to become a current affairs presenter, working on programmes like Today Tonight, and Questions and Answers. She later moved to the UK and was one of the first women presenters on BBC’s Newsnight, returning home in the mid-1980s to present the flagship current affairs programme Today Tonight and its successor Prime Time. Olivia won three Jacob’s Awards and a Sony Award for her BBC Radio 4 programme, Between Ourselves.

Her insightful observations, skilled wordcraft and belief in high ethical standards in public life are evident in her books, Politicians and Other Animals, Party Animals, and Mary Robinson: The Authorised Biography, co-authored by Dr Helen Burke, and also in her decision in 2009 to leave the Roman Catholic Church over the cover up of clerical abuse scandals and their refusal to ordain women.

In 2011, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by UCD. Olivia is the recipient of two honorary doctorate degrees, from UCD in 2011 and from Trinity College Dublin in 2017, and she was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2019.

UCD Volunteers Overseas (UCDVO), is a registered charity offering students, faculty, staff, and alumni the opportunity to participate in values-based volunteering and global citizenship education programmes. UCDVO has a diverse range of volunteer projects including online computer education with a partner in Myanmar, South North volunteering on a new eco-system restoration project in Ireland, and health, livelihoods and education programmes in Tanzania and Uganda. Founded by the late Fr Tony Coote in 2003, UCDVO is marking its 20th anniversary with a collaborative exhibition, Stories of Change. This is an opportunity to demonstrate the longer term, transformative impact of values-based volunteering and to invite some of the almost 2,000 UCDVO alumni to tell their own stories of how volunteering has influenced their lives. Visit the full exhibition as part of the UCD Global Summit on 3-4 October 2023 in the UCD Student Centre, Belfield. www.ucdvo.org

UCDVO’s Stories of Change series is funded by Irish Aid at the Department of Foreign Affairs. Irish Aid is the Government’s overseas development programme which supports partners working in some of the world’s poorest countries. Irish Aid also supports global citizenship education in Ireland to encourage learning and public engagement with global issues.

SEÁN O’CONNELL BCL 2010

UCDVO Nicaragua – 2010, 2012, 2013

Seán’s story begins with a candid admission: “To be totally honest, I wasn’t motivated by pureness.” It’s a sentiment that will resonate with many of us. Initially, the allure of a month abroad, immersing himself in a different culture alongside friends, was a major motivation to join UCDVO. It turned out to be an experience which would shape his life and career.

Seán first explored volunteering with UCDVO after learning about human rights injustices in Nicaragua while studying Law at UCD. He worked on various projects in Nicaragua with UCDVO partners, from the construction of an extension in a rural school to providing educational support for children with disabilities, and returned twice to lead teams of volunteers.

His overseas experience was “life-changing”, allowing him to gain a wider perspective on global responsibility, but he explained: “It was how I applied what I learned when I returned home that made the most impact.”

Inspired by the community culture and peer-to-peer learning at UCDVO, Seán said the programme prompted him to reassess his personal values. “The structure of the programme helps to bring diverse perspectives to the table, and makes you question everything you think you know about the world. It made me ask myself why things were the way they were, and how I could be of more use in improving them.”

After the programme, Seán decided to pursue a career in human rights law, interning with Amnesty International and co-founding the World’s Best News Campaign for Ireland – stories which challenged people’s perceptions of developing countries – before working for UCDVO, helping to recruit and prepare volunteers.

He subsequently qualified as an attorney in New York, worked with the Irish Department of Justice, Department of Foreign Affairs, and the United Nations Development Programme in Vietnam and Lao PDR. He is now based in Geneva with the United Nations, focusing on the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on human rights.

The UCDVO programme served as a transformative learning journey for Seán and guided his commitment to human rights. “I can confidently say UCDVO has been one of the biggest influences on where I am now and what I do.”

DR SANGHAMITRA MUKHERJEE PhD, Energy and Natural Resource Economics, 2022

UCDVO Tanzania – 2020

When Sangha joined UCDVO in 2020, she had very little leadership experience and was looking for a way to break into the environmental sphere. Within three years, she was named one of the top 100 inspiring female sustainability leaders by Illuminem in 2023.

Sangha joined UCD in 2016 to undertake a PhD in Energy and Natural Resource Economics. She had recently returned from volunteering in Uganda and was craving an opportunity that offered her a deeper dive into values-based volunteering and global citizenship education. “The UCDVO volunteer programme exceeded all my expectations. It was incredibly comprehensive and focused on every aspect of global issues, from migration to poverty alleviation.”

As team coordinator, Sangha managed a group of UCD students teaching IT skills to teachers in Tanzania with UCDVO’s partner TanzEd. The pandemic posed significant challenges but the group adapted and taught online. “UCDVO taught me invaluable skills, from facilitation techniques to IT skills. But, most importantly, it taught me how to cultivate flexibility and adaptability.”

Sangha explained how the training and network opportunities provided by UCDVO were game-changing and helped her forge a fulfilling career in sustainability. “The programme allowed me to expand my network and gave me the confidence to apply for jobs I’d never dreamed of before.”

Sangha has served as an Irish climate ambassador, an SDG advocate and an EU climate pact ambassador. “As well as my PhD from UCD, my UCDVO experience has helped me bring interdisciplinary thinking and social justice elements to all of my work.”

Sangha also founded The Chikyu Project – a project to minimise household food waste in Ireland – and has achieved recognition for her writing on biodiversity and social responsibility. She has delivered speeches at the EU youth talks in Brussels and at COP27. “I’m so grateful to UCDVO. I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.”

Have you ever wondered why the seemingly distinct disciplines of mathematics and music are so often spoken of in the same breath? Or why it is often assumed that a good musician must also be adept at maths? Perhaps the common denominator is that the theoretical foundation of each realm is essentially one and the same. Numbers and numerical systems are relied upon in the understanding, execution and creation of musical works. Even at its most basic level, the performance of notated music involves a sufficient grasp of proportionately related values of duration, and the ability to translate a sequence of ordered pitches into sound. To compose music, the relationships become even more sophisticated, as one must consider how these sounds might work in combination.

The connection permeates the entirety of our mappable musical history. The earliest known musical instrument is a three-holed flute fashioned from an animal bone that was discovered in Slovenia in 1995, and estimated to be between 50,000 and 60,000 years old. Even an instrument as basic as this demonstrates an innate understanding of links between measurement and pitch by placement of holes drilled into the bone.

We can best elucidate the multiple parallels by dividing the building blocks of music into three distinct categories: rhythm, pitch, and harmony.

From the perspective of pure acoustics, pitch is all about frequency levels in sound waves.”

MUSIC IN THEORY …

A rhythm is a combination of differing durations in a phrase, each connected to another by numeric proportions, with rhythmic symbols acting as a visual shorthand for numbers. If you imagine clicking your fingers or clapping along to a song, this process suggests a basic unit of rhythm. Most commonly, this will be represented by a crotchet (♩), and the most prevalent arrangement of crotchets is ‘four-in-a-bar’. Imagine a 1–2–3–4 count in that is often given by the drummer in a band, sometimes made just by striking the drumsticks together.

When notated, each bar conforms to a regular number of beats indicated by a time signature comprising two numbers. For example, in the time signature 4/4, the lower number tells us the type of beat (crotchet) and the upper one the number of beats (four). Thus, 4/4 means four crotchet beats in a bar. Other note values are proportionately related to our basic unit of pulse. A crotchet is twice as long as a quaver, four times as long as a semiquaver, and half as long as a minim.

From the perspective of pure acoustics, pitch is all about frequency levels in sound waves. This is most easily conceived as the rate of vibrations produced by a bowed or plucked string: the higher the number of vibrations per second, the higher the frequency, and in turn the pitch. A sequence of rising numbered pitches delivers a musical scale, with the first– second–third corresponding to the notes labelled as do–re–mi, and so on.

Here is a rising C major scale with note names in place of numbers or the do system, from middle C to the C an octave (eight notes) above.

We encounter harmony when pitches are combined one on top of another, and these may be considered consonant when the combinations are pleasing, or dissonant when they communicate tension. The primary harmonic unit combines the first, third and fifth degrees of the do–re–mi scale in a triad, with the example below being constructed upon the note C. The lowest note is C, with E a third above it and G a fifth below.

The most fascinating aspect of this consonant arrangement of notes is how they are found in the natural world in the form of the harmonic series. This is the sequence of notes that sounds almost imperceptibly above the so-called ‘fundamental’ note when, for example, you play an open string on a cello.

A harmonic series on the note C – the lowest string on the cello – yields another C an octave above, then a further fifth (G), third (E), third (G), and so on, with the intervals becoming increasingly smaller. The beginning of this natural series presents us with the notes of our basic major triad (C–E–G), and thus a gateway into a universal harmonic vocabulary.

…AND IN PRACTICE

In my own work as a conductor, the numeric and geometric are critical to performance preparation. When teaching conducting to students, I regularly emphasise that the unadorned text of music – the score – is akin to a book in which there are no paragraphs, no sentences, no phrases. This is underlined by a statement by the influential 20th century composer Arnold Schoenberg, who wrote: “Without organisation, music would be an amorphous mass, as unintelligible as an essay without punctuation, or as disconnected as a conversation that leaps purposelessly from one subject to another.”

Structural analysis enables the music to become a readable narrative rather than a sonic stream of consciousness. The overall architecture often conforms, if loosely, to prevalent templates, while the negotiation of musical statements over time requires keen anticipation of the journey ahead. You cannot adequately commence a phrase without knowing how long it will last; think of this in terms of how deeplyyou need to fill your lungs in order to effectively sing a particularly short or long line of melody.

All my performance scores contain extensive markings, with the most crucial being the numbers that indicate phrase structure, also called the hypermetre. Metre tells us the number (and type) of beats in the bar, hypermetre the number of bars in a phrase. Analysis also situates the phrase within a larger formal framework, and that sense of geography means you are better equipped to focus on the potential vagaries of the live concert environment. At this point, it can be a little more unpredictable.

In my own work as a conductor, the numeric and geometric are critical to performance preparation. “

For the singer in a choir or the instrumentalist in an orchestra, counting is a critical activity. Most classical works from the 17th to 19th century involve a regular recurring pulse, like three or four in a bar. But as we enter the 20th century, variations on this become more frequent. The pivotal piece that incorporates rapidly changing metres is Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, first performed in Paris in 1913, and famously inspiring an audience riot. In this score, it is common for extended sequences of bars with contrasting metres: four crotchets in a bar (4/4) might be followed by three in a bar (3/4), sometimes three quavers (3/8), or even five semiquavers (5/16). One particularly notorious example is a single bar comprising eleven crotchets (11/4). Such complexity demands the utmost level of concentration – and non-stop counting.

But even in music of greater metric consistency, counting remains vital. This is especially true when not playing and you are counting the empty bars until you have to begin again. Let us consider one legendary example. If you are the tuba player in the famous ‘Largo’ from Dvořák’s New World Symphony, you play for five bars, then count – very slowly – for 114 bars, play for another four bars, and you are done. As a conductor, I am always counting, if subconsciously, and it would be expected that I give the tuba player a decisive nod at this crucial moment. But as a player, you may not want to take that chance, so you methodically count the 114 bars of 4/4 – 456 beats in total.

FROM SCIENCE TO ART, AND BACK AGAIN

It was Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher and mathematician of the sixth century BCE, who is often credited with discovery of proportional relationships in music by way of an undoubtedly apocryphal tale about a blacksmith striking anvils with hammers of contrasting dimensions. Aristotle observed that the Pythagoreans “believed the entire vault of heaven to be harmony and numbers”, and their underlying principles endured for centuries. Music was regarded as a subject to be studied alongside arithmetic, geometry and astronomy in dominant models of classical education. Increasingly, it began to assert itself more as art form rather than a science, but mathematical attributes persisted in works by the greatest composers.

J.S. Bach in particular has been associated with mathematical sleights of hand in his music. Bach mastered and refined technical aspects of the fugue, a form of counterpoint that treats musical ideas in an almost mechanistic way. Fugues often incorporate mathematical ploys such as inversions and retrogrades, which are both types of mirroring. Inversions flip the theme on a horizontal axis, while retrogrades are the musical equivalent of palindromes.

His unfinished masterpiece The Art of Fugue employs the following principal theme, commencing with a rising fifth, then a descending third, another descending third, and so on.

A later movement, ‘Contrapunctus IV’, begins with an inversion of this theme: a descending fifth, followed by an ascending third, another ascending third, and so on.

The most famous instance of a retrograde in Bach’s music is the crab canon (canon canzicrans) from The Musical Offering of 1747. This is an 18-bar theme that proceeds as normal before being played backwards in its entirety. Both versions of the theme can then be played simultaneously. This has been compared with the mathematical concept of the Möbius Strip (see below) in which two ends connect in such a way that the strip shall only possess one side.

Similar strategies would be popularised in the early 20th century, when numerical and geometric matters once again seemed to take centre stage. Maybe the most mathematical of trends was pursued by the Second Viennese School consisting of the aforementioned Arnold Schoenberg and his disciples. Schoenberg frequently employed inversions and retrogrades, while his student Alban Berg placed a large-scale palindrome at the centre of his opera Lulu.

But these tendencies pale in comparison to the mathematical rigour of a compositional system that Schoenberg pioneered in the 1920s. This system, called dodecaphony or twelve-tone technique, allowed each of the twelve notes in the chromatic scale – all the white and black notes within an octave range on the piano keyboard – to have equal weighting. While classical works had traditionally been subject to the gravitational pull of a central pitch, Schoenberg’s democratisation of the twelve individual pitches generated a music that seemed to be suspended in mid-air. “In this space,” he wrote, “there is no absolute down, no right or left, forward or backward.” For many, this was the quintessential sound of musical Modernism, equivalent to the Joycean novel in literature, or the abstract canvases of Kandinsky, Malevich, Kupka, and others.

An intriguing addendum to Schoenberg’s story is that he was afflicted with triskaidekaphobia, an irrational fear of the number 13. Schoenberg refused to use it as a bar number in his own manuscripts, adopting 12A as a substitute. He also once refused to rent a house with the dreaded number on account of this condition, and even respelled the title of his opera Moses und Aron so it only contained 12 letters, not 13 as the correct spelling of Aaron would have entailed. He became superstitious about dying at an age that constitutes a multiple of 13 but managed to avoid this fate; he actually died at the age of 76 – on Friday 13 July 1951. His final utterance, if reports are to be believed, was simply: “Harmony.” ■

Just Add Water

Ponds are extraordinary reservoirs of biodiversity and play a critical role as Ireland faces significant biodiversity loss. More than half of Ireland’s amphibian wetlands have been lost to drainage, industrial peat extraction, pollution and natural senescence in the past century. Naturally vegetated ponds are excellent at carbon sequestration, with small ponds sequestering 20-30 times the amount of carbon compared with woodlands, grasslands and other habitats. UCD Estate Services understand the value of ponds (or lakes as they are known on campus), and are committed to protecting and creating pond habitats.

As most alumni know, UCD has historically been home to breeding pairs of Mute Swans on both the Main and Upper Lakes. Typically, swans start building nests on the islands in March or April, and the cygnets have always been a source of joy on campus.

Specifically designed to encourage biodiversity, the Upper Lake (a former carpark and bus stop that were transformed in 2014) lies between the Engineering Building and Sutherland School of Law. This natural-looking lake has been carefully designed to encourage biodiversity, with marginal planting, cobbled beaches for wading birds, islands for nesting, and deeper troughs of cooler water for fish. It’s a hub of activity where you can watch birds, bees, hoverflies, and Ireland’s biggest dragonfly, the Emperor Dragonfly, in action. The Moorhen is a common sight, as are herons and cormorants, and you’ll see Tufted Ducks bobbing on the surface or swimming underneath.

The Lower or ‘Secret’ Lakes, behind the UCD Veterinary Sciences Centre and UCD Conway Institute, are part of an original watercourse that has been developed into reed beds and ponds and are home to a variety of birds including the wren, Moorhen and the rarer Water Rail.

UCD Estate Services actively supports birdlife with a daily feeding programme. (Please note that alumni are requested to let us know if you spot any frogs while exploring!).

As well as fostering biodiversity, the Lakes are a clever piece of engineering, gathering rainwater from surrounding buildings and attenuating and releasing when required. They are also a resource for the academic community who use them for scientific studies, and a wonderful amenity for students, faculty, staff and the public.

When Belfield became the site of the new university campus, it comprised a number of old estates, each with their own woodland attached. As Ciarán Bennett, UCD Estates Operations Manager, explains: “These formed a natural woodland boundary for the campus. Colleagues such as horticulturist Ciarán Beattie have been instrumental in the management of campus trees and woodlands over time, through initiatives such as the 8km Boundary Woodland Walk and UCD`s annual Tree Planting Programme.”

www.ucdestates.ie/green-campus/biodiversity/

Is féidir linn ar fad difríocht a dhéanamh do mhaireachtáil ár mbeach agus ár bhfeithidí pailnitheacha trí phlandaí atá oiriúnach do phailneoirí a chur”

Na 10 bPlanda is oiriúnaí do Phailneoirí

Tá leabhrán acmhainní saor in aisce nua curtha amach ag Plean Uile-Éireann um Pailneoirí. Na 10 bPlanda is oiriúnaí do Phailneoirí i Suíomhanna Éagsúla is ainm don leabhrán agus tá 24 liosta ann de phlandaí atá oiriúnach do phailneoirí dúchasacha agus neamhdhúchasacha i suíomhanna éagsúla, gairdíní, bláthchiseáin chrochta, agus locháin san áireamh. Forbraíodh an treoir i gcomhar leis an Dr Noeleen Smyth, ó Scoil na Talamhaíochta agus Eolaíocht an Bhia UCD. “Is féidir linn ar fad difríocht a dhéanamh do mhaireachtáil ár mbeach agus ár bhfeithidí pailnitheacha trí phlandaí atá oiriúnach do phailneoirí a chur,” a dúirt an Dr Smyth. Tá neart fianaise ann go bhfuil na pailneoirí feithide seo, agus pailneoirí eile amhail foichí, leamhain, féileacáin, agus seangáin, ríthábhachtach nuair a thagann sé chuig barra agus plandaí fiáine a phailniú. Tá titim ag teacht ar na pailneoirí seo de dheasca easpa flúirse agus éagsúlacht plandaí bláthanna – lena chinntiú go bhfuil réim chothrom shláintiúil bia á fáil acu, ba cheart go mbeadh siad ábalta iad féin a chothú ar phailin agus neachtar ó raon bláthanna ó luath san earrach go dtí an fómhar. Aimsigh an treoir ag www.ucdestates.ie/green-campus/biodiversity

Fionnachtain Lágair Shuntasach

I bhfionnachtain iontach, tháinig mac léinn géineolaíochta sa tríú bliain, Stephen Allen, ar chineálacha giosta darb ainm Saccharomyces eubayanus ar champas Belfield níos luaithe i mbliana. Is tuismitheoir de Saccharomyces pastorianus é ceann den dá ghiosta seo agus úsáideadh an giosta bríbhéireachta sa Bhaváir ag deireadh na Meánaoiseanna, tráth a d’aistrigh an réigiún ó leannta a dhéanamh chuig beoracha cosúil le lágar.

Níorbh fhios roimhe seo conas a thosaigh na grúdairí Gearmánacha sa 13ú haois ag baint úsáide as an ngiosta hibrideach, toisc nár bhfuarthas S. eubayanus ach i gCríocha Mheiriceá agus san Áise. Tugtar le fios ó fhionnachtain shinsear an speicis giosta seo ar deacair teacht air agus atá ag fás ar ithir na hÉireann go raibh an giosta le fáil i ndeisceart na Gearmáine i rith dheireadh na Meánaoiseanna, agus tá seans ann go bhfuil pobail an-chríonna fós i bhfolach in áit éigin i gcoillte na Baváire agus in áiteanna eile.

“Trí theacht ar S. eubayanus san Eoraip tá Stephen tar éis ceist sheanbhunaithe a fhreagairt maidir le cad as a dtáinig giostaí lágair,” arsa an tOllamh UCD Geraldine Butler, príomhúdar páipéir i dTaighde Giosta Chónaidhm Chumainn Mhicribhitheolaíochta na hEorpa, arna fhoilsiú ag Oxford University Press. “Cuirfidh an fhionnachtain Éireannach fuinneamh le cuardaigh le haghaidh aonraíoch giosta cosúil in áiteanna eile san Eoraip … is sampla iontach í an fhionnachtain de theagasc a bhfuil taighde mar bhonn aige.”

Téigh ar shiúl ealaíne timpeall an champais

Is cuid de líonra de shuiteáin ealaíne a choimeádtar go cúramach iad na dealbha atá ar fud Belfield agus tugtar Cosán Dealbhóireachta UCD orthu. D’fhorbair Ruth Fergusan, Coimeádaí Theach Newman UCD, agus an Dr Paula Murphy, Scoil Stair na hEalaíne agus an Pholasaí Chultúrtha UCD, an Cosán ar dtús. Tá oibreacha ó ealaíontóirí a bhfuil clú áitiúil agus idirnáisiúnta orthu ar an gCosán, amhail Paddy Campbell (Wind and Water), Carolyn Mulholland (Tremor) agus Jill Pitko (Joie de Vivre).

Is féidir leat Chroma a fheiceáil in Ionad Eolaíochta Uí Bhriain, agus Judgement, dealbh chré-umha ag Rowan Gillespie, a léiríonn beirt fhear i mbun comhrá domhain, díreach lasmuigh den tslí isteach chuig Scoil Dlí Sutherland. Tá a scéal féin le hinsint ag gach ceann de na dealbha seo. Tá eolas (agus grianghraif ó Vincent Hoban) ar na dealbha, léarscáil idirghníomhach san áireamh, ar fáil ó shuíomh gréasáin Leabharlann Dhigiteach UCD. digital.ucd.ie.

Micro-Credentials

UCD now offers more than 80 short microcredential courses in multiple sectors including Agriculture and Food, Data Science, Financial Mathematics, Financial Services, Health Data Analytics, Law, and Medicine and Health. Micro-credentials, ideal for those who may not have the time to engage with longer programmes of study, and an excellent choice for professionals looking to upskill, pivot or change their career, provide learners with globally recognised accreditation and the possibility of using that credit towards a UCD award, such as a UCD professional diploma or master’s. UCD Alumni can avail of a 20 per cent discount on a number of microcredentials. See www.ucd.ie/microcredentials/

Coming Soon: UCD’s New Sport & Performance Complex

UCD has been granted planning permission for a three-storey multipurpose sports hall, Tennis Centre and music performance centre. The facility combined will also serve as an assessment centre for end of term exams with capacity for 2,250 students.

The development will also provide two new UEFA-standard artificial football pitches, six new five-a-side football pitches, and an artificial half-size hockey training pitch. The project, estimated to cost more than €87million, will be funded by the annual €254 student levy which has in the past funded existing sports and student facilities and will now support this new development.

Right on Track

UCD’s brand new state-of-the-art Athletics track is now open and is the home of UCD Athletics Club, the UCD Triathlon Club, UCD School of Public Health, local schools, businesses and clubs. UCD Athletics Club has signed up to the Sport Inclusion Disability Charter and the track will be key to supporting athletes with disabilities.

Classic Examples

New additions to UCD Library Special Collections are worth a visit

Adding To The James Joyce Archive At UCD

UCD Special Collections recently acquired new letters that add to the Joyce material in the C.P. Curran-Helen Laird collection. Joyce and Curran attended UCD, graduated together and remained lifelong friends.

In addition to a 1904 note from Joyce to Curran arranging to meet in Bewleys, the acquisition included a letter to Curran in 1917 while Joyce was in Zurich working on Ulysses. In this letter, he describes how he is “recovering from a painful – and this time dangerous – illness of the eyes”. This is significant as it may be the first description by Joyce of his eye trouble, which would afflict him for the rest of his life.

These letters are a significant addition to the Curran-Laird collection of correspondence, books, photographs and ephemera in UCD Special Collections, which was deposited in 1972. The original correspondence collection features more than 400 letters and includes a further 23 letters from Joyce to Curran as well as many written to Curran by Joyce’s family, associates and friends. This collection is a valuable resource for Joyce scholars throughout the world, and is available to view on the UCD Digital Library.

We urge people to explore these fascinating letters in UCD’s Digital Library, to see Joyce’s words in his own handwriting,” said Dr Sandra Collins, UCD University Librarian.

Curran (1883-1972), a lawyer and historian of 18th-century Dublin architecture, sculpture and plasterwork, became a great supporter of Joyce. Curran was married to actress, costumier, teacher and suffragist Helen Laird (1874-1957) and a vibrant and diverse group of artists, historians, playwrights, actors and writers attended the couple’s famed salons in Rathgar. Curran was a model for the character Gabriel in Joyce’s The Dead. He is also mentioned by name in Ulysses, where Stephen Dedalus recalls that he owes him ten guineas. www.ucd.ie/specialcollections

Heaney agus na Clasaicí

Tá taispeántas nua, ‘Heaney & Na Clasaicí’, tar éis oscailt i Leabharlann UCD. Pléann an taispeántas obair Seamus Heaney trí thuiscint litríocht Ré na gClasaicí. Tá rogha d’eagráin theoranta agus cóipeanna sínithe obair bhuaiteoir Ghradam Nobel, a bhronn alumnas UCD agus mac léinn Yeats, an Dr Joseph Hassett, ar Shainchnuasaigh UCD, sa taispeántas. Is dlíodóir Gael-Mheiriceánach aitheanta agus seanchara chlann Heaney é an Dr Hassett.

Pléann an taispeántas ról an domhain chlasaicigh in obair Heaney. Coimeádann an Dr Hassett, i gcomhar le hEvelyn Flanagan agus Kathryn Milligan ó Shainchnuasaigh UCD, an taispeántas.

Is urlabhraí ar son na n-ealaíona agus tacaí scríbhneoireacht na hÉireann é Joseph agus, in 2022, bhronn an tUachtarán Ó hUiginn Gradam Scothsheirbhíse an Uachtaráin air mar aitheantas ar a obair ar son na hÉireann agus ar son phobail na hÉireann thar lear.

Students work hard to earn their place at UCD because they know that a great education matters. It holds the key to rewarding career paths, stronger communities, and a fairer and more sustainable future. However, for some students, determination, ability and boundless potential are not always enough to overcome the social and financial barriers they face. Fortunately, there is an incredible community of alumni and philanthropic supporters who are wholeheartedly invested in levelling the playing field so that brilliant young people from all backgrounds have the opportunity to flourish and succeed at UCD.

TRANSFORMING LIVES

Some alumni retain strong ties to their School or College, and choose to give back by donating to a College Support Fund. These flexible funds are allocated where they are most needed to enhance the student experience, supporting scholarships, internship bursaries, and experiential learning opportunities, as well as emergency assistance for students experiencing financial hardship.

Many others – more than 4,000 alumni – are proud UCD Champions who support UCD and our students by donating regularly through the annual giving programme. Their generosity helps make UCD a great place to study and enriches students’ social and academic lives in so many ways – supporting scholarships, sports and cultural activities, UCD Library and Writing Centre, mental health services, and a host of other initiatives. Every donor has their own reasons for choosing to support UCD students. Kate Drinane was motivated by a sense of gratitude and social justice.

“It’s about knowing your support will help not just the individual but our society as a whole”

“When I was a student I was lucky to be supported by my parents and to have a weekly allowance. Knowing that I had somewhere to lay my head at night removed a lot of stress and concern. On an individual level, it’s all about empowering students and helping someone afford books, accommodation and basic necessities. On a macro level, it’s about having regard for others and making sure that people have equal opportunities regardless of their status or background. It means that we can have a more diverse workforce and a better educated society. It’s about knowing your support will help not just the individual but our society as a whole.”

COLLECTIVE IMPACT

The past year has been extremely challenging for many of us, trying to make ends meet amid the spiralling costs of food, energy and accommodation. We are sincerely thankful for the loyalty and generosity of our alumni and friends, who continue to give what they can to ensure that our students receive meaningful support when they need it most. We value and appreciate every gift, no matter how small, and every cent donated goes directly to the donor’s chosen cause. The collective impact of our giving community is enormous, and so is our gratitude to each and every one of our wonderful supporters.

■ To learn more about how you can support UCD students today, visit www.ucdfoundation.ie/supporting-students.

The great generosity of our alumni community and philanthropic supporters plays a huge part in making UCD a wonderfully diverse, inclusive and modern university and a leading centre for research and discovery. Philanthropy helps to create life-changing opportunities for students from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds, and to ensure that every UCD student has a rich and formative college experience.

SUPPORTING STUDENTS

Gifts of all sizes donated to College Support Funds and through the UCD Champions annual giving programme go directly to support our students through scholarships, bursaries, emergency hardship funding and other supports and services where they are most needed. It’s impossible to overstate the impact of this support.

Philanthropy enriches the intellectual, cultural and creative fabric of UCD by supporting the holistic development of our students. It creates opportunities for students to reach their full academic potential and to develop their unique talents in areas beyond their field of study through initiatives such as UCD Choral Scholars and the Ad Astra Academy.

For students like Shane Black, the support of a scholarship can transform their journey through university by easing the burden of financial stress and enabling them to participate fully in UCD life. Shane describes the deep and lasting impact of the scholarship he was awarded through the student support fund in the School of Law – UCD Sutherland Opportunity supported by Mason Hayes & Curran.

I am living proof of the profound impact your support can have on a person’s life.”

“In the area I come from, there is not nearly enough participation in third-level education. I knew that taking up my place in university would involve a lot of financial struggle but I also knew it was a risk I had to take. It is impossible to summarise what a profound impact this scholarship has had. It has given me all the tools I needed to build a better future, and that is exactly what I did. UCD is built upon curious, intelligent, generous and hardworking people, and those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are no less hardworking and curious. I am living proof of the profound impact your support can have on a person’s life.”

THE THINK AGAIN PROGRAMME

UCD is proud of its track record in widening the participation of students from diverse backgrounds in third-level education so that our university community better reflects the rich diversity of Irish society. Thanks to an extraordinary leadership gift from a philanthropic donor, we are continuing to reshape and reimagine our approach to access and inclusion with the launch of the Think Again programme – the first of its kind in an Irish university.

This pioneering programme, led by UCD Access and Lifelong Learning, is targeted at one of the most under-represented groups in higher education – mature women students from low-income households. These women can face many barriers to accessing education, including those related to childcare support, caring responsibilities and accessing suitable accommodation. Think Again is tailored to the particular needs of under-represented women, providing a bespoke blend of financial, academic and personal support to facilitate their success at UCD and beyond.

ADVANCING PAEDIATRIC MEDICINE

Philanthropy also plays a vital role in driving forward ambitious and innovative research by UCD’s world-leading academics. Generous individuals and corporate donors are funding groundbreaking research because they believe in the power of brilliant people working together to find creative solutions to our greatest challenges. They know that research being done at UCD today has the potential to transform the lives of people all over the world and close to home, and they want to play their part in making it happen.

The research team is using a combination of computational modelling and experimental analyses to revolutionise the treatment of cancer in children by developing treatments that are tailored to each individual patient. They develop ‘digital twins’ of patients, computer avatars that allow them to simulate and optimise the effect of therapies before they are given to patients. Digital twins will enable researchers to find new drugs and clinicians to make more precise diagnoses and optimise treatments for each individual patient so they receive only the amount of drug they need and no more. These exciting developments in UCD research promise to transform outcomes for children with cancer in the future.

WOMEN IN STEM

UCD is committed to equality of opportunity in an inclusive environment where diversity is celebrated. An alignment of our values with those of Smurfit Kappa was behind the company’s decision to provide generous philanthropic support for research into the experiences of women in engineering careers – and the barriers to retaining women in engineering roles – under the UCD Newman Fellowship Programme.

The Smurfit Kappa Newman Fellowship on Women in STEM was launched on International Women’s Day earlier this year, and the newly appointed Fellow, Dr Deirdre Brennan, is looking forward to exploring her subject in depth over the next two years: “I am delighted to join the community of Newman Fellows, to be part of this innovative initiative that merges industry and academic research in order to create real impact in people’s lives. To have the opportunity to research the question of retaining women in STEM careers is particularly pertinent today, in light of the cost of living crisis and issues with childcare.”

Since its inception over 30 years ago, the Newman Fellowship Programme has provided outstanding opportunities for ambitious early-career researchers to pursue their interests across an incredibly broad array of subject areas, spanning the sciences and humanities. The programme is funded entirely by philanthropic donations from passionate individuals and corporates who are driving positive change in the world through their support for research at UCD.

TRANSFORMING OUR CAMPUS

We love to welcome our alumni back to UCD to revisit favourite haunts and see what’s changed on campus. Our buildings, facilities and natural environment are always evolving to meet the academic and social needs of our growing community today and in the future. Philanthropic support is a vital enabler of this continual development, which is essential to maintaining UCD’s position at the forefront of teaching, learning and research. Visitors to Belfield these days will notice major work taking place near the N11 entrance, where UCD Centre for Future Learning is under construction. This state-of-the-art building will transform how we teach and learn at UCD and is a critical investment in the physical and digital infrastructure of our campus, as well as the academic development of our students. The Centre for Future Learning will be fully technology enabled, and its flexible and adaptable spaces will be used by students and faculty across all academic disciplines, freeing up much-needed space in other buildings that are currently at capacity.

Over at the College of Science, the final phase of development of UCD O’Brien Centre for Science is advancing rapidly. This will complete the transformation of our science programmes and infrastructure to create one of the finest, most diverse science facilities in Europe. The O’Brien Centre for Science will be a seedbed for agile and talented graduates with a strong foundation in scientific knowledge, digital skills, and essential transversal skills such as creativity, communication and entrepreneurship. Extraordinary philanthropic support strengthened UCD’s successful bid to secure an additional €25m in government funding for this exciting project earlier this year.

THANK YOU

Our fantastic giving community of alumni, volunteers, friends and corporate partners contribute so much, and in so many ways, to make UCD a great place to learn, grow and flourish. A heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you for all that you make possible for our students, our researchers, our campus and our community.

■ To learn more about how you can support UCD, visit www.ucdfoundation.ie.

Take The Next Step In Your UCD Journey: Update Your Contact Details

By keeping your contact details up to date, you can make the most of your alumni benefits, whilst staying in touch with us in the UCD Alumni office, with the University, and with each other. So, if you have changed your name, your home or email address, your phone number, or have moved jobs, please update your details. If you have any further questions about the alumni community at UCD, please get in touch at alumni@ucd.ie.

Build Communities

With the UCD Alumni office, you can stay connected to the growing alumni community of more than 310,000 graduates who live and work in 184 countries around the globe. Your UCD community is always close at hand – online or in person – anytime, anywhere. Connect with us by phone on 01 716 1447, by email atalumni@ucd.ie , or join our UCD Alumni LinkedIn page.

Enhance Alumni Life

Our collection of alumni benefits allows you to unlock exclusive discounts on and off campus, and a range of online resources. Take a look at what’s available on our website: www.ucd.ie/alumni/benefits

Celebrate Your Success

Our UCD Alumni team keeps you up to date and shares your success with the community. With resources like this magazine and our online Q&Alumni series, you can learn about UCD’s life-changing academic and translational research, alumni achievements and much more. Talk to us today to stay in the loop and build your profile: www.ucd.ie/alumni/contact-us/

Give Back

The Annual Giving team can assist you with information about the opportunities to support scholarships, student supports, mental health services, or a project close to your heart. By donating today, you can make an impact on the cause that inspires you the most. Connect with us by phone on 01 716 1406 or by email at info@ucdfoundation.ie

Make A Difference

Our alumni volunteer programmes help you give back to the UCD community: you can support student careers, inspire school-goers considering UCD, advise on committees, and support events on campus and abroad (including your class reunion). You can also help to improve our students’ employability by acting as mentors, speaking on career panels or offering internships. To learn more and get involved, email alumnivolunteer@ucd.ie

Build Relationships and Grow Your Network

You can connect, learn and engage with fellow alumni at events on campus, virtually and around the world. We can also help you organise or attend your class reunion. Stay informed on these events by updating your contact details at www.ucd.ie/alumni , and build relationships online on the UCD Alumni Network at www.ucdalumninetwork.com

As temperatures reached record levels across the world, terrifying images of burning landscapes in Europe and wildfires and toxic ash in North America, coupled with the deluges of rain we experienced at home in Ireland, the summer months brought the realities of global warming home to all but the most die-hard of climate deniers.

Amidst these sobering reports, there was good news in the passing of the EU’s Nature Restoration Law, a core pillar of Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s European Green Deal, after months of heated debate and an opposition campaign scientists criticised as misleading.

“The EU is a world leader in developing this legislation,” says PROFESSOR TASMAN CROWE, UCD’s Vice President for Sustainability. “It is a big step forward and sets an important precedent.” Opposition to the law argued that it would hurt food security and punish producers already damaged by the pandemic, war in Ukraine and energy crisis, with the farming lobby claiming the law was ill-prepared, lacked a budget and would be unimplementable for farmers and forest owners.

Scientists disagreed that restoring nature would be bad for food and the economy, with an open letter signed by 6,000 scientists highlighting studies showing that restoring nature would improve food security, help fisheries, create jobs and save money.

The Nature Restoration Law comes at a time when Europe’s nature is in bad health with more than 60% of its soils categorised as unhealthy and 81% of habitats in poor condition. The abundance of farmland birds has halved in the past 40 years, and one in three bee and butterfly species are in decline.

The Nature Restoration Law will place recovery measures on 20% of the EU’s land and sea by 2030, rising to cover all degraded ecosystems, in particular those with the most potential to capture and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters, by 2050.

“The EU is seeking to build up Europe’s resilience and strategic autonomy, prevent natural disasters and reduce risks to food security.”

This is the first continent-wide, comprehensive law of its kind and a key element of the EU Biodiversity Strategy. Restoring wetlands, rivers, forests, grasslands, marine ecosystems, and the species they host will help increase biodiversity and secure the things nature does for free, such as cleaning our water and air, pollinating crops, and protecting us from floods.

By taking these important steps towards limiting global warming to 1.5°C, the EU is seeking to build up Europe’s resilience and strategic autonomy, prevent natural disasters and reduce risks to food security.

“Biodiversity provides a wealth of essential public goods and services including clean air, water, pollination, and soil fertility,” explains Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, CHARLIE MC CONALOGUE (BA History and Politics 2000). “Our farmers, foresters and fishers rely on and manage these goods and services for their livelihoods.”

The passing of the Nature Restoration Law by the European Parliament paves the way for the final stage of negotiations – ‘trialogues’ – between the European Commission, the Council and the Parliament. While the detail of the Nature Restoration regulation is under negotiation at EU level, Minister McConalogue says that supporting environmental delivery is necessary across all sectors of society to protect future generations and a cornerstone of the Food Vision 2030 strategy.

“My Department is already delivering key actions to support biodiversity, climate change mitigation and improvements in water quality, and Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 will support Irish farm families in contributing to our climate and environmental ambitions while continuing to produce safe, sustainable food,” says the Minister.

Farmers are lobbying for substantially increased funding to compensate them for the changes they are being asked to make. Minister McConalogue points to specific supports already introduced by his Department, including the new national agri-environmental scheme, ACRES, which integrates locally led and results-based approaches to deliver greater impact, increased funding for organic farming and continued support for European Innovation Partnerships, a novel approach based on supporting local teams to develop and implement local actions.

“The Nitrates Action Programme which commenced last year introduced significant changes to reduce the loss of nutrients from agriculture to water,” says Minister McConalogue, “and farmers have made significant efforts to address water quality, however it will take time before the impact of these changes becomes visible in our water data.” Professor Crowe says that now that we know that the legislation is going ahead, the discussion will be around the details. “There will be wrangling and pushback from sectoral interests,” he predicts. “In the past, incentives were geared towards intensification, so there is a level of sympathy towards farmers who are now being asked to do the opposite. There is a fine balancing act between the provision of funding and allowing farmers who want a say over their own land a degree of self- determination.” Forestry is another sector in which the Nature Restoration Law is controversial. The Minister points to his Department’s proposed Forestry Programme which aims to deliver more diverse forests to meet economic, social, and environmental objectives.

Coillte is Ireland’s state-owned forestry business, managing 7% of the country’s land and responsible for innovative projects such as the ‘Beyond the Trees’ visitor destination at Avondale, Co. Wicklow, a €19 million project overseen by the company’s Head of Recreation, DAITHI DE FORGE (BAgrSc Forestry 1994).

Coillte says that it supports the need to restore and enhance biodiversity, and is focused on balancing and delivering the multiple benefits of forests for climate, nature, wood and people. It says it works carefully with nature in all of its forests and lands to protect important species and habitats, with biodiversity areas that are a mix of forested and open habitats from native woodlands to broadleaved and mixed forests to conifer forests, and open habitats including areas of uplands, heaths and bogs.

Of the 440,000 hectares under management by Coillte, 20% is managed primarily for nature, with the biodiversity value increased through enhancement and restoration projects. Coillte’s ambition is to increase this to 30% by 2025 and to 50% in the long term.

Fishing is also impacted by the Nature Restoration Law, with fishers saying it is not possible to decarbonise the fleet and protect the environment as the EU wants using existing funding.

Minister McConalogue points to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive with measures including the Landing Obligation, Multi-Annual Plans, and the Clean Ocean Initiative to remove plastics from the seas, as one of the main mechanisms currently delivering environmental protection.

It is clear that the Nature Restoration Laws are controversial and it is clear there is work to be done in garnering support from those in the farming, forestry and fishing communities. The challenge now is to develop common ground between those whose livelihoods are most impacted and NGOs, businesses, scientists and the public to develop a National Restoration Plan that will benefit people and nature in Ireland.

The possibility of a Nature Fund at the national level that is separate to the CAP in order to underpin the implementation of long-term restoration is something which the Government is under pressure to introduce, with 71% of Irish people wanting the Nature Restoration Law, according to a recent Ireland Thinks poll and research showing that every euro invested into nature restoration brings €8 to €38 in economic benefits.

In March 2023, the LIFE on Machair project began piloting a farmer participation payment programme, the LIFE on Machair Restoration Programme. A six-year, EU-funded project, it seeks to improve the conservation condition of Irish Machair habitats. Machair is a unique and rare coastal system found only in Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland, it is found on the north west Atlantic coast, from Connemara to Donegal. According to LIFE on Machair project manager DR CATHERINE FARRELL (BSc Environmental Biology 1996, PhD Botany 2001, Dip Env Impact Assess Mangt 2004), “Since Brexit, the EU’s entire Machair habitat is only present in Ireland, which means Machair conservation here is now of even greater significance on a European scale.” Machair sites provide an important refuge for threatened breeding wader bird species and pollinators in Ireland that rely on these coastal areas as important breeding areas. Dr Farrell notes the support for the project from myriad sources: “From farming to nature conservation, tourism to local amenity, bird watchers to bumblebee enthusiasts, and to those who are general appreciators of the natural world, we find common ground in sharing a deep appreciation and respect for the nature we want restored.”

JITENDRA SINHA (MSc Agr Rural Development 1997) is the co-founder and CEO of SAI-Sustainable Agro, which aims to disrupt conventional approaches and lift small-scale farmers out of extreme poverty by following a climate-resilient agroforestry model.

As a rural development, climate finance and global warming expert with many years of experience as an EU team leader in Bangladesh, China, and Sri Lanka, and as Chief Technical Advisor to UNDP/GEF and the government of Iran, he says he welcomes the passing of the Nature Restoration Law.

“The survival of humankind depends on the restoration of nature,” says Sinha. “Our generation is the last best hope of the earth, and if we do not act now, humankind will probably become extinct in the coming years. One question that is always asked is how farming for small landholders can be economically viable and ecologically sustainable. I have been instrumental in designing, piloting, and scaling the agroforestry model which takes care of Planet, People and Prosperity on degraded land for small farmers across Asia and Africa which shows how this is possible. The model won the BRICS Solution Award 2021, judged by the World Economic Forum as one of the top 13 innovations which can address SDG 2030 successfully.”

FRANK O’MARA (BAgrSc 1987, PhD 1994) is Director of Teagasc which has an extensive research programme addressing greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration, water quality, soils and biodiversity.

Through its advisory service, Teagasc communicates its environmental messages directly to 45,000 farmer clients, and indirectly to up to 130,000 land owners through its Knowledge Transfer activities. As part of its service, Teagasc advisors have assisted 45,000 farmers to identify the ‘Space for Nature’ on their own individual farms as part of the application process for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme, (BISS) and the Eco Scheme, and has also supported thousands of farmers who signed up for the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (ACRES). It also provides a free service to help farmers implement measures to maintain and improve water quality and its Signpost Programme has brought together over 60 organisations to support farmers and the agriculture sector to implement actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the sector. Signpost farmers are located all around the country and National Farm Survey (NFS) recorders are engaging with farmers on the process of collecting data. The data will be gathered throughout the year so progress on environmental indicators, performance and profitability can be tracked.

While we mainly think of rural environments in the context of Nature Restoration, there is a growing focus on urban environments too.

“In the past, there has been a tendency to set aside areas for nature but it is increasingly seen as something that needs to be incorporated into urban situations too, in relation to flood alleviation measures, for instance,” explains Professor Crowe. “We are all part of nature and we need to intervene, restore and recover everywhere.”

UCD PhD candidate MARYANN HARRIS (Study Abroad Student Agriculture 1992/1993) is a landscape architect and ecologist who works as an Environmental Planning Manager in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and contributed to the drafting of the Nature Restoration Law. Her doctoral research has involved analysis of past land uses of urban green spaces in Dublin to assess the impacts of this on habitat continuity and biodiversity.

“Looking at past land uses can indicate both the degradation that has occurred and the potential for nature restoration,” she explains. “This can inform strategies for planning for future green spaces and also climate change adaptation, such as in identifying areas for wetlands and flood protection.”

Harris notes that areas of habitat continuity contain remnant habitats and species which are fragments of the earlier ecosystem of Dublin Bay prior to urbanisation, and provide biodiversity and cultural history that are unique to Dublin.

“By analysing these remnants,” she explains, “we can retain genetic diversity and local populations of flora and fauna. This is important because it increases resilience to diseases and enables us to build on what is already there. Some urban restoration projects have to reintroduce species but we still have many species of international importance for nature conservation in Dublin City that require attention.”

Harris says that it is more important to support existing species than to introduce blanket ideas about, for instance, planting huge numbers of trees as such initiatives would result in the loss of biodiversity for migratory birds of international importance that require grazing on grasslands.

“There is a growing appreciation of our dependence on nature and that our adaptation to climate change depends on nature-based solutions.”

Harris points to the UNESCO Biosphere designation as a major initiative for Dublin Bay in providing a framework for targeted nature conservation in a collaborative way between several stakeholders and the government bodies. Its conservation strategy builds on local knowledge and activates people in many different ways. “Working with the Biosphere has given me a great insight into how nature restoration projects are taking place internationally and informed my research and professional practice,” explains Harris. “I have also used this knowledge in my input to the draft of the EU Nature Restoration Law, which marks a significant step toward meeting international targets for both biodiversity and climate change mitigation and adaptation. It is going to require a whole of Government approach and will involve preparation of a national plan for nature restoration. This will create demand for new jobs and skills and certain types of land use that may previously have been disregarded will potentially have value. The economic returns on nature restoration are significant and our quality of life will benefit from a healthier ecosystem.”

Professor Crowe has previously advised the Irish Government on nature restoration in marine protected areas and believes UCD has a lot to offer in the lead-up to the implementation of the Nature Restoration Law.

“In the past, policies have not always been well-handled,” he says, “and effective buy-in with stakeholder engagement will play a big part in the success of the Nature Restoration Law. There will be some unpalatable change and good, appropriate communication is key to achieving this. UCD can play a part both in terms of its evidence-based research, particularly on the agri-environmental side looking at the best way to do things in the context of its work at the Lyons Estate and its expertise in stakeholder engagement. The work being done in the BiOrbic Bioeconomy Research Centre is also very relevant. It’s important that the government does not rush through measures which may be ineffective but takes its time to make sure things are done right and there is alignment between interests.

“The passing of the Nature Restoration Law marks a sea change. The apocalyptic vision of the world to come that we saw this summer is fresh in everyone’s minds and the link between climate change and biodiversity that has always been alluded to is clearer. The unprecedented level of change in the natural system and the degradation of nature raises both moral and practical questions, and I think there is a growing appreciation of our dependence on nature and that our adaptation to climate change depends on nature-based solutions,” says Professor Crowe. ■

The EU and the Challenge of Artificial Intelligence

The onus on governments now is not to attempt to fruitlessly stem the tide of the rise of Artificial Intelligence but rather to ensure our societies and our laws are properly prepared to manage these new powerful tools. AI should not exist in a legal vacuum. Without proper legal protections and oversight, AI will not be a force for good and human betterment, but rather a source of conflict and fear.

The debate about how AI should be regulated is also part of a global discussion about security, digital sovereignty, and data protection, especially as competition between the US and China for control over resources and supply chains becomes even more intense. The European Union must meet this challenge while defending fundamental rights.

The EU’s proposed “AI Act” seeks to aid governments by providing a regulatory framework and common protections for all citizens and Member States, in recognition of the fact that this question is not just national, but international. This act takes a risk-based approach to the question of oversight with higher levels of oversight of AI in sectors of greater importance, for example law enforcement and healthcare provision. It will prevent the use of AI in areas that pose serious risks to our societies, such as social scoring and predictive policing.

The act also aims to future-proof the regulation of AI. This means that core concepts of AI and its deployment will be regulated rather than specific forms of the technology, thus allowing for future innovation and technological change in the sector. This in turn should mean that people can have confidence that AI exists to serve citizens and not the other way around.

Trust and understanding are vital to the continued fair usage of AI. Citizens should be well informed on the impacts of AI and the ways it is used in the world around them. This information should be presented in a meaningful and straightforward way, not solely through footnotes in unreadable small print.

It is clear from the recent report on public perceptions of AI by the UCD Centre for Digital Policy that at present, the vast majority of citizens are still not aware of what role AI plays and how their data is processed. The draft “AI Act” forms a strong basis upon which the EU can adapt to the increasingly large role that AI is playing in all of our lives. However, this legislation alone is not the panacea to all the potential risks that AI will bring.

Before deploying AI systems at scale across society, we need to ensure that they are trustworthy.”

– Dr Patricia Scanlon, Ireland’s AI ambassador; Founder, SoapBox Labs

SOCIETY

In 2023, humans are moving from frequent, daily touchpoints with AI to more deeply integrated experiences and interactions that impact every aspect of our daily lives. AI is driving the fourth Industrial Revolution and revolutionising how governments and industries as diverse as education, healthcare, finance and transportation work and interact with each other and the public.

In healthcare for example, AI assists in diagnosing diseases, tailoring treatment plans and accelerating drug discoveries. In education, it is enhancing educational experiences by automating assessments and personalising learning based on individual needs and progress. In the realm of transportation, AI is powering self-driving vehicles and improving traffic management systems. AI can also significantly impact the climate crisis, both positively by optimising energy usage, driving climate-friendly innovations, and improving accuracy of climate models, and negatively if the energy-intensive AI processes rely on non-renewable energy sources.

There has been much talk of an ethical approach to AI but what does that actually mean for society?

Before deploying AI systems at scale across society, we need to ensure that they are trustworthy and are designed to ensure a positive impact. An ethical approach to AI applications involves ensuring that fairness, transparency, accountability and privacy are built into their DNA. It involves mitigating the potential harm they can do while maximising the benefits.

Why does this matter so much? At the individual level, AIdriven systems can shape our personal experiences, influencing the products we buy, the news we consume, how we manage our health and more. Without ethical considerations baked in, these systems can prompt privacy breaches and inadvertently manipulate our behaviours, creating echo chambers that skew our view of the world as distinct individuals.

At the societal level, the implications are even more significant, profound and complex. Algorithms with the ability to reinforce systemic biases, causing unfairness in critical areas such as job recruitment, law enforcement, or credit lending can also promote democracy by streamlining electoral processes like voter registration and protecting the freedom and integrity of our social discourse.

At its most fundamental, ethical AI is about trust and human rights, and is both a moral and a practical obligation if we are to harness the huge potential of AI and the fourth Industrial Revolution that is upon us.

RETAIL

Today we are at the dawn of a data-driven digital era that will bring change to our societies, lifestyles and industry at a scale and pace never before experienced on the planet. Advances in technology, speeds of adoption and data generation will have a seismic impact.

The retail competitive landscape is changing dramatically, with barriers to entry falling, and markets opening for anyone with the ability to reimagine a business model and create value for consumers – this presents great opportunity but also for many, a massive threat to existing business. Those who can effectively and appropriately harness AI within their business will be the winners.

So what are the key areas where AI is being leveraged and how? The answer lies in how data is captured, collated and processed. The power of AI means that data can be processed in near realtime, enabling businesses to dynamically evolve their ‘go to market’ strategies and product portfolios.

AI is increasingly being used to dynamically link highly complex supply chains, enhancing product traceability and optimising supply bases. As consumers become more discerning in regard to the products they purchase, regulation demands are increasing.

Sophisticated compliance standards and regulations increasingly apply across nations, regions and local areas. The resultant pressures on retailer supply chains is immense. By applying AI to large data silos, combined with this ever-changing regulatory landscape, insights are generated, highlighting potential risks to consumers and enhancing decision-making on product recalls and optimised sourcing in real-time.

AI is being used to analyse product performance data and realtime customer feedback to predict potential future component failure. As products are launched globally, immediate feedback can be gathered from large audiences through social media and other platforms, to inform the retailer on consumer choices. This information can be fed back in real time to product development departments, enabling business to react and immediately change elements of the product design and feature set.

The algorithms driving Retail AI and Machine Learning (ML) platforms are constantly being fine-tuned to better align strategic intent to product realisation and ultimately customer satisfaction.

It is important to note that with great power must come discipline. AI can bring huge benefits but at the core of all retail success is consumer trust. Many organisations embed trust scores as part of their digital strategic initiatives. These scores place emphasis on retailers’ credibility, reliability, intimacy and self-orientation as it applies to solution development.

Alongside its transformative capabilities, AI brings ethical challenges. It is crucial to ensure … a balance between innovation, privacy and security…“

– Amy Awad, Senior AI consultant, EY and Co-Founder and CTO, LeanIn

TECHNOLOGY

The ongoing AI revolution is reshaping the entire technology landscape and driving unprecedented innovations across all sectors. The recent advancements in AI show massive potential and even more remarkable developments that will fundamentally transform the future of humanity. The transformative power of AI is becoming more evident; it can process and leverage large amounts of data and optimise decision-making.

AI has advanced significantly since the historic milestone was achieved by Christopher Strachey with the first AI Program. Since then, AI solutions have undergone a remarkable journey of advancement and scientists continue to push boundaries of what was once thought impossible. The focus has shifted towards enhancing perception, reasoning and generalisation capabilities by utilising cutting-edge computational models and algorithmbased Machine learning (ML) technology.

AI applications have made a significant impact across various domains, with intelligent automation, predictive analytics, image and video analysis, and risk management and fraud prevention at the forefront. However, with tools like ChatGPT gaining attention, the impact of generative AI is becoming more significant. Around 44% of companies are investing in leveraging AI and aiming to integrate it into their businesses, reflecting its indispensable role as a technological innovator in the foreseeable future.

Intelligent Automation (or Hyper Automation) stands out as the foremost application of AI across industries, enabling business to streamline business operations, boost efficiency, reduce costs and deliver enhanced customer experiences. A recent study by McKinsey Global Institute predicts that automation technologies could increase productivity by up to 40% in certain industries. By 2025, 10% of enterprises that successfully establish AI engineering best practices will be able to generate at least three times more value than those that don’t. To efficiently leverage the power of AI, businesses must first assess their maturity level and identify the most suitable entry point and technology options aligned with their vision.

Alongside its transformative capabilities, AI brings ethical challenges. It is crucial to ensure responsible and unbiased use of AI, to achieve a balance between innovation, privacy and security in this ever-evolving technological landscape.

Looking ahead to the next five to ten years, we can expect profound changes in business workflows across industries. The winners in this new digital era will be those who effectively integrate AI into their critical processes and unlock its value. As computing power and data availability continue to grow, AI will play an increasingly significant role in our daily lives, driving economic growth and transforming industries. We can anticipate AI’s integration into autonomous vehicles, smart cities, personalised medicine and other domains, promising an exciting future.

INDUSTRY

AI is not merely a new gadget in our technological toolbox; it is a transformative force that is fundamentally reshaping industries. Its impact is multifaceted and profound, driving efficiency, innovation, and granting a competitive edge.

At CeADAR, Ireland’s centre for Applied AI, we witness this transformation firsthand. We work with a diverse array of companies, from start-ups to multinational corporations and public sector organisations, to harness the power of AI and data analytics. Our partners span various industry verticals – agriculture, healthcare, finance, and more – underlining the industry-wide applicability of data science and AI.

In manufacturing, AI-powered technologies, such as generative models, are igniting a revolution, accelerating product development, slashing costs and facilitating rapid adaptation to market demands. The retail sector is witnessing the rise of immersive AI-driven shopping experiences, while finance is being reshaped by AI financial life coaches. AI has permeated transportation, healthcare, and education sectors as well, powering autonomous vehicles, assisting disease prediction, and tailoring curriculums for individual learners.

But the impact of AI goes beyond these tangible efficiencies. AI is also redefining human roles within industry. While there are concerns about job displacement, there is another side to the story. AI, when harmoniously integrated, can elevate human work, relieving workers from repetitive tasks and enabling them to focus on creative and strategic aspects of their roles. This ‘Human-AI Symphony’ signifies a new work paradigm where humans and machines collaborate for enhanced outcomes.

The integration of AI into our lives and industries necessitates addressing ethical, social, economic, and legal considerations, such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and accountability. Establishing ethical guidelines, investing in safety and education and ensuring transparency and accountability are paramount. We must be prepared for continuous learning and adaptation as AI technology evolves.

When wielded judiciously, AI can shape a better industrial future. It encourages us to dream bigger, and those dreams are closer to reality than ever.

MEDICINE

The 21st century is rapidly evolving into the century of data science with AI leading the way. Medicine and biomedical research are no exceptions. We can now produce more data than ever before, and the bottlenecks have shifted from data production to data interpretation. That especially applies to big and complex data sets such as omics data and images. AI promises solutions due to its ability to detect and classify hidden patterns in such data. In 2017, AI made headlines by diagnosing skin lesions with accuracy on par with human experts, but 24/7. Thus, tireless and high-throughput AI could solve our problem of the shortage of medical staff. Its remote availability also could relieve inadequacies to healthcare access in different regions of the world.

AI can diagnose conditions that humans cannot, e.g. predisposition to diabetes from retina scans, or gene expression from histopathological images. The next frontier will be omics data, such as genome sequences. Although we can read the full text of our genome, we currently only understand less than 10% of it. AI will help us decipher the semantics of genetic variations and their complex interactions that cause disease or preserve health. As every genome is unique, this type of analysis will be the key to precision medicine. For instance, Systems Biology Ireland at UCD is using AI and advanced computational modelling to construct ‘digital twins’ of cancer patients. These in silico avatars allow us to provide the best therapy for each individual patient, optimising treatment on the digital twin before we administer it – truly personalised medicine. Such personalised interventions pose new ethical challenges. AI is an X-ray of our molecular data. We need to safeguard against misuse and misguidance. AI can err, and if it does, it usually blunders severely. We need policies regulating both AI use and technological quality control. But, if used responsibly, AI will likely revolutionise medicine in this century like antibiotics did in the last.

LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES

AI is fast-paced, controversial and disruptive. Like the internet, it can be used for good or ill, and over time it will transform the way we work and live. Working in a research-intensive university is one of the reasons I was excited to be appointed as UCD’s University Librarian in 2022. This is exactly the right place to address the opportunities and challenges of AI.

AI will certainly change the professional work of libraries and archives. It will help us generate metadata and catalogue large collections, including photograph, audio and video archives. This output will then require human intervention, such as expert review and enhancement by librarians and archivists, and perhaps crowd-sourced quality control where citizen scientists review and improve the quality of the data AI produces.

We can expect that AI will be useful for Library Chatbot services, literature searches, data management plans and deduplication work. It can improve accessibility with alt text and captioning, and provide book summaries and personalised reading suggestions. Of course, this also raises concerns about bypassing the independent learning process which is an essential part of the university experience.

We know that AI can generate convincing false references, create ‘deepfake’ videos and photos, and violate copyright by effectively stealing creators’ content from the internet. We know that the training data and the developers’ biases influence the AI’s responses, producing and perpetuating harmful stereotypes and inferences.

With powerful tools such as AI, we need to develop regulation, ethical use and academic integrity guidelines. Libraries are also ideally suited to develop digital literacy services and resources to help users understand the limitations of AI and to be able to evaluate and critique AI-generated content. I am excited that UCD Library will play a leading role in these new developments.

THE FUTURE OF WORK

A once-in-a-lifetime shift in how we work has created chaos and opportunity. With 80% of companies surveyed by Gartner in January 2023 reporting that they were already hybrid working, there is a lack of meaningful data and trend insights for employers. Even large organisations are struggling to get it right, many still operating a trust-based model with informal arrangements in place. As a temporary arrangement has now become permanent, the introduction of technology is the only way to make hybrid working work, for both employees and employers.

Some organisations are leading the way in understanding what employees want and seeing how that can align with the needs of the organisation. Only when that information is gathered and understood can the future of work be successfully created.

Capella uses technology to streamline and optimise the employee experience of hybrid working, while at the same time delivering deep data and insights around workplace analytics and behaviours to employers. Our software uses AI to implement advanced analytics and data-driven decision-making. AI-powered algorithms analyse complex data sets, identify trends and deliver predictions, aiding businesses in making informed decisions with actionable insights and gaining a competitive edge in retaining and attracting talent. Without this kind of information, it’s impossible to get hybrid working right.

When Professor Orla Feely stepped forward as a candidate for President of University College Dublin, she spoke with her father. Frank Feely, a former Dublin City and County Manager, age 91, was very unwell, but he was also determined to support his daughter in her history-making move, as he had supported her throughout her life. “In the run-up to the interview, when I was preparing for it, Dad said ‘I’m not going to die until you get that job’,” recalls Professor Feely. Frank Feely passed away the day before his eldest daughter was officially announced as the next President of UCD. But, crucially, she had been able to tell him in time. “Shortly before he died, I got to tell him that I was the candidate recommended by the interview board to UCD Governing Authority,” she says, sitting in her new office, which overlooks Belfield’s famous lake. “He died assured that I had the job. He supported me right to the end. He kept his promise.”

Professor Feely’s appointment as the first female President of UCD in its 169-year history is the latest chapter in a career that has seen her shine as a researcher and lecturer in electronic engineering, and as a leader of national and European organisations. One of her driving ambitions now is to tell the world more of UCD’s story. “Visitors to UCD are very impressed, but often also surprised, when they encounter our amazing students, our research successes, our impact on society and the economy, our beautiful campus,” she says. “I don’t want these to be hidden jewels. I want us to tell our story with ambition and pride and curate that story for the 21st century, to tell people where that story is now leading.

I want people to know more about UCD and the difference we make. That’s the key for me in all this, that we are making a difference, that we are tackling major global challenges, through our rich array of disciplines and our links around Ireland and internationally.”

I want us to tell our story with ambition and pride … I want people to know more about UCD and the difference we make.“

Engineering A Future

Professor Feely has witnessed the transformative power of universities at many levels. Growing up in south Dublin, she was the first in her family to attend university, and her parents, Frank and Ita, created a supportive environment for Orla and her three siblings – Ronan, Niamh and the late Emer – to study at third level, all of them in UCD. “I was very fortunate to grow up in a household where education was so strongly valued and in a country that was investing in education,” she says. “I loved maths, and at Our Lady’s Terenure, unlike most girls’ schools at the time, we had a very strong honours maths programme. There was a real sense that engineering offered a bright future to Ireland and to students like me, and there was a particular effort to promote the profession to women.

Christina Murphy was writing compellingly in The Irish Times about engineering as a choice for women, and I went to an open day in UCD where John Kelly, then Dean of Engineering, also encouraged young women to study the subject. I sat there in UCD Merrion Street, now Government Buildings, with the grandeur of the building around me and the future laid out before me, and it all felt very exciting.” She excelled academically, winning first place in her UCD exams and receiving PhD offers from all the major colleges in the USA where she had applied. She chose to study in the University of California, Berkeley. “I was uncertain as to how I would fare in Berkeley, surrounded by top students from all around the world, but I quickly found that the quality of my UCD education left me at least as well prepared as any of those students,” she says.

“The PhD preliminary exams in Berkeley were a very intense experience, where you were interviewed by nine separate professors in their offices, answering rapid-fire questions and solving problems on the blackboard. I got the highest marks in those exams because what I was encountering there was no more or no less academically demanding or rigorous than what I had experienced in UCD.” She was part of a talented group of Irish students in Berkeley, many of them engineers and physicists, who made a real impression. They fitted into a trend more broadly in the US, where Irish graduates were making their mark in academia and in industry.

“A buzz was developing around Ireland. You also had U2, the Jack Charlton years in soccer, and Mary Robinson’s election as President of Ireland. It felt like big things were about to happen. And of course many Irish graduates like myself returned to the country and started to build a powerhouse tech sector in Ireland,” says Professor Feely. “This is something that has stayed with me: how Irish universities – and in particular UCD, given our scale and impact – were central to the transformation of Ireland at that time.” Professor Feely won awards in Berkeley for her doctoral work in non-linear circuits, in which she explored the mathematics of complex electronic systems. She received a fellowship from Intel, through which she met the late Gordon Moore, co-founder of the company and a hero of hers. “He took a real interest in Ireland, and he asked me what I was going to do when I was finished my PhD,” she recalls. “I told him I was taking a faculty position in UCD, and he nodded approvingly and said ‘Yeah, that’ll do.’ That was a good endorsement for the move home, had I needed it.”

Systems-level Success

Professor Feely loved lecturing to engineering students in UCD, and built a successful research team, many of whom have gone on to make their own mark in research. Then came opportunities for leadership roles, including as Chair of a newly configured research funding body, the Irish Research Council, and as Chair of the EU Advisory Group on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

“I didn’t consciously move into leadership as a career strategy,” she says. “I greatly enjoyed conducting research and teaching our brilliant engineering students, and would have been very happy to continue on that track throughout my career. But then I found I also really enjoyed being able to work at the system level, figuring out what levers to pull to exert influence and how to engage effectively with stakeholders from industry and government.” In 2014, Professor Feely was appointed Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact at UCD, and she served in this role with considerable success until she became President in 2023. “It is the greatest honour to serve as President of UCD and to lead this wonderful university as we write the next chapter in our story,” she says.

Professor Feely’s time as UCD President will feature enormous societal and educational change. She recognises that the climate emergency, Artificial Intelligence and the post-COVID student experience will shape her tenure to a significant extent, and she believes in the power of UCD to help in addressing these challenges.

Sustainability Matters

Sustainability is at the heart of Professor Feely’s presidential perspective, and it has already been a central focus of her time at the helm of UCD’s research and innovation. “At a time when individuals can feel powerless at the scale of the sustainability challenge, I want them to know that working together as a community, we in UCD can make a real difference,” she says. “For example, through our research and those we have educated, UCD has had major impact on Ireland’s very impressive performance in the integration of renewable energy onto our electricity grid, and in sharing that know-how internationally.” This work is now advancing through the NexSys research programme, led by Professor Andrew Keane, which explores next generation energy systems.

Other multi-disciplinary sustainability research initiatives at UCD include BiOrbic, the Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre, led by Professor Kevin O’Connor, which uses renewable resources from nature to produce food, feed and energy while reducing waste, and the work of innovators such as Professors Eileen Gibney and Fiona Doohan to increase the resilience of our food supply. Such challenges need many minds to solve them, notes Professor Feely.

“We need to have economists and behavioural scientists working with engineers and scientists, lawyers, business experts and many more,” she says. “In UCD we have the range of disciplines, the scale, the expertise and the collegiality to work together, and to work in a meaningful way with all the many stakeholders nationally and globally who are needed to find solutions to these crises.” UCD also has the power to support change through education, notes Professor Feely. “We have a new and very popular BSc in Sustainability, and I also see sustainability as a cross-cutting feature of our education.” she says.

“I want all of our students to emerge from UCD with an awareness of the sustainability and climate crises and what we can do together to make a positive difference. We have just appointed Professor Tasman Crowe as our first Vice-President for Sustainability, and this area will be a priority for UCD throughout my presidency.”

AI Transformations

Artificial Intelligence too, will shape many aspects of education, work and life in the coming decade. Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, has already sent shockwaves through the education sector. But Professor Feely sees it, and AI more generally, as an opportunity as much as a challenge. “This is such an interesting and disruptive time,” she says. “We need to think deeply not only about immediate needs such as student assessment and enhancements to our operations, but about how work and life will be impacted by AI over the coming decades and how we prepare our students for this, how we support success for Ireland and how we champion the ethical use of AI.” UCD has a strong activity in AI and machine learning stretching back decades, notes Professor Feely, with discoveries translating into the commercial and clinical spheres. “We have many pioneering and inspiring uses of AI, including AI_PREMie led by Professor Patricia Maguire, which is using machine learning to develop new ways to diagnose and predict preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition in pregnancy,” she says.

We want to design our programmes as well as our buildings to support a really engaged, flexible, multi-faceted approach to education in the 21st century.”

Student Connections

The student experience is to the fore of Professor Feely’s mind. Her twin sons are currently university students – one in UCD, one in Trinity College Dublin – and she knows from her own experience at UCD and Berkeley how important these years are for a student’s personal and social development. “I’m very aware that every student who joins UCD directly from school throughout my tenure will have had their education disrupted in a real, material way by the COVID-19 pandemic. It will have left its mark,” she says. “So how do we ensure a sense of community, connectedness and resilience? That is so important to me.

These are formative years in university, when you are figuring out what kind of life you want to lead, you are finding people who will be around you into the future and you are working out how you will make a difference in the world. We want to help our students to make those connections and find their path.” Professor Feely is particularly excited to see the cranes up on campus to build the Centre for Future Learning, soon to be followed by further ambitious capital developments. “We are exploring new spaces and approaches for teaching and learning,” she says. “University education is about so much more than sitting in a lecture theatre. We want to design our programmes as well as our buildings to support a really engaged, flexible, multi-faceted approach to education in the 21st century.”

Bringing UCD’s Jewels To Light

Just a few months into her new role, Professor Feely is relishing the varied nature of the President’s work. “UCD is a large, complex organisation, and you have to operate across various axes,” she says.

You need to make sure the internal systems are running as they should, and you also have to carry the University’s messages externally. You are an academic leading an academic community, and you are also leading a major complex organisation.

Day to day, you need to respond to immediate challenges and questions, but you also need to think very strategically – universities by their nature are looking decades into the future.” Interactions with people are at the heart of it all, she notes, and this is something she particularly enjoys. “I really love that,” she says. “I love interacting with our students, our staff, our alumni and the many, many communities that work with UCD to make a difference.”

So, rolling forward to 2033, when Professor Feely closes her presidential chapter and welcomes her successor, what does she hope is conveyed in the book of UCD when she hands it on? “I want UCD to be delivering an outstanding and distinctive education that opens up new vistas well into the 21st century for our students, just as it did for me back in the 1980s,” she says. “I want us to be making a difference through our research in areas of global challenge, and to be a valued partner worldwide.

I want us to have supported a strong and vibrant society and economy in Dublin, Ireland and beyond, with a strong ethos of public service. I want our story and our reputation out there in the world, no more of the hidden jewels, with UCD recognised and respected globally as an effective force for good.