On Thursday, June 8th, Trinity GSU will have it’s inaugural Postgrad Ball. The event will be held in The Ballsbridge Hotel and is hosted by Trinity GSU, Trinity Alumni Office and the Trinity Postgraduate Review. This event is one of Trinity’s largest postgraduate events each year.
The event will feature an annual awards ceremony including the awards for “Best Postgrad of the Year”, “Class Rep of the Year”, “School Rep of the Year”, “Postgraduate Equality Advocacy”, “Life Long Contribution” and “Supervisor of the Year”.
The Trinity Postgrad Ball with its four-course meal, prosecco reception and live music makes it an event not to be missed. The entertainment on the night features some the best acts in Ireland including:
The trip to the LIT inter-varsity conference (LPRC) in Limerick was on Wednesday, May, 24th. 14 postgraduates and one undergraduate made the trip down to the LPRC. We took the long and tiring train journey down to Limerick. Once arriving in Limerick we checked into to our hotel, we were staying in the Ennis Road Travelodge for one night.
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As we arrived the presenters prepared for their presentations, while the rest relaxed. We had six DCU Postgraduate present their research at the conference. Ranging from fields such technology, Electronic Engineering, Environmental Chemistry, Molecular Biology, Sociology and Community Interaction.
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Prior to the presentations, there was a workshop on ‘Communicating Your Research to a General Audience’ by Dr Julienne Stack.
Speakers from DCU included:
Peter Brennan: Self-Sustained Sub-Surface Soil Sensors.
Ricardo Valdes-Bango Curell: miRNA-based Genetic Switches in CHO cells.
Sai Pavan Rajesh Sharma: Aged Acoustics Affair with Attractive Ageless Animals
Karen Ward: Research investigating the meanings of spirituality among accredited counsellors practising a new shamanic energy therapy technique with their clients.
Nayanna Boraiah: Data & Forensics using kibaba plugins
Jennifer Okeke: Research exploring the experiences of sex trafficking in the lives of migrant women in Ireland
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After the presentations during the conference, we all gathered to attend a discussion panel with the heads of research of each of the HEI’s, UL, LIT & MIC. The role of research was discussed and how it will develop in the future. It was quite an insightful discussion on research and the neo-liberal agendas of the HEI’s and community development.
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Networking
The conference took place between 8:00 am and 5:30 pm, with the awards ceremony taking place at 5:15 pm. After the conference, we freshened up and attended a networking event with a complimentary dinner and drinks reception. The reception was held at the Clayton Hotel, this offered a fantastic opportunity to network with fellow postgraduates from across the country.
Presenting their work at PubhD 19 on Wednesdnesday the 7th of June are:
Stephen Maher recently re-joined Trinity College Dublin as the James Ussher Assistant Professor in Translational Oncology. Stephen is a translational cancer biologist with the Department of Surgery, who works closely with cancer patients at St James’s Hospital. Most cancer patients will receive either chemotherapy, or radiotherapy, or both, to treat their disease. His research focuses on understanding the biology of cancer, and why some patients tumours respond very well to these treatments while others do not. Over the past few years, a major focus of his research has examined the genetic regulation of sensitivity to treatment, how damage to the genetic material inside tumour cells influences their sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiation, and how we are using this information to use re-engineer resistant tumours to become more sensitive to treatment.
Joanne Kenney recently completed her PhD in NUIG. Her research focuses on neuroimaging in psychiatry. Many individuals diagnosed with psychosis have impaired cognitive abilities such as impaired learning and memory, attention, social skills and problem-solving. These difficulties with cognition can greatly affect their everyday functioning such as having problems in education, finding employment and meaningful relationships. Using magnetic resonance imaging, my research investigates brain images of people who were diagnosed with a psychotic condition to see if there are any subtle abnormalities in the structures of their brains, compared to psychiatrically healthy individuals, which contribute to these cognitive difficulties.
PubhD June will be a very insightful and fun event, all are welcome!
If you would like to present one day just email dublin@pubhd.org for details!
Laura McGrady will unfortunately not be able to present due to illness, although she may present another month.
Laura McGrady is a first year PhD student in DCU. Her PhD research is being undertaken in the interesting discipline of Neuropsychology and law. It falls under the category of Neurolaw the interdisciplinary study that explores the effects of discoveries in neuroscience on legal rules and standards. Recent developments in modern brain imagining technology have many implications for criminal investigation, the justice system and sentencing protocols. Her research is specifically concerned with the use of EEG technology for polygraph purposes and also its admissibility in the court of law. I am currently developing a hybrid of two popular lie detector tests that are designed to record and measure the brain wave involved in memory recognition. This will & determine if the examinee is concealing important or crime-relevant information.
Watch last month’s PubhD here, for more information on the speakers click here!
This month’s ‘Pizza & Research’ will focus on the latest research in Cancer technology and care. We have a range of speakers from various fields. We will be accepting donations at the event in aid of the Irish Cancer Society. It will take place in room HG10, Nursing & Human Sciences Building, DCU at 5:30 pm on May 30th.
Speakers:
Stephen Lyons who is a second year PhD student. He is researching methods for early non-invasive screening of Melanoma using magnetic nanoparticles by locating specific biomarkers.
Fiona Skelly is a second-year PhD student, she is researching the effectiveness on physical, clinical and psychosocial outcomes from DCU’s MedEX programme. MedEx is a community-based chronic illness rehabilitation program which caters for a variety of chronic conditions. The program offers medically supervised exercise classes which are a mix of aerobic training and resistance training. She is studying characteristics of the physical activity and sedentary behaviour patterns of a chronic illness population. Also, the effects of an exercise intervention on physical activity and sedentary behaviour patterns of a chronic disease population.
Claire O’Connell, a PhD researcher at the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute in DCU, is developing an early detection test for cancer metastasis. She uses a fluorescent dye encased in glass nanoparticles which differentiate the cancer cells from the normal healthy cells. This technology can improve cancer therapy and save lives. It can do this by detecting cancer cells in patients’ blood before spreading to other organs.
Trinity College Dublin organised it’s first inaugural International Postgraduate Reseach Conference last week. Amongst some of the topics discussed were International Policy, Social & Institutional Policy & Environmental Sustainability, Advancements in Technology and the Human Right to a Sustainable Environment.
Researchers from universities such as Columbia University (New York), Regis College (Boston), Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University presented their research to a global community. Here is a brief highlight of some of the events at this conference. Also an interview with members of Trinity Graduate Student’s Union.
