July 2017 | DCU Postgraduate Society

Bray Head to Greystones Hike

July 9, 2017July 21, 2017 Dylan Grimes Larkin Leave a comment

The First PGS Sport’s Event – A Hike!

Last Saturday, eight DCU Postgraduate Society members set out on a hike from Bray to Greystones, Co. Wicklow. After arriving by DART to Bray, they made their way towards the bottom of Bray Head to begin the hike. The popular Bray Head climb was the beginning of their 3-hour hike towards Greystones.

The climb although, short in distance can be quite steep in parts, but the group managed to stick together and continue their journey up to the peak of Bray Head. Not without taking a brief group photograph though!

Bray Head Hike Group — Zohreh, Dylan, Gwen, Robbie, Mohammad, Vivianna, Christian,

Finally, the group made their final approach towards conquering the top of Bray Head climb, to enjoy the spectacular views of both Bray town and the coastline.

While the rest of the group enjoyed the views and had a quick rest before continuing the hike to Greystones, others decided to have some fun. Such as Gwen, our PGS Sports Officer, doing a headstand in front of the amazing coastline views.

Once everyone was rested, and Gwen had finished showing off, they continued their way down the hill to start the cliff walk running from Bray to Greystones. The cliff walk was approximately 6.5km long, with views of the coastline the entire length.

The group finished the walk in a little over an hour and a half, then heading up towards Greystones main street, where there were numerous restaurants, cafes and pubs to relax after the hike. They chose to visit the popular Happy Pear café for food, and coffee before heading to Mrs Robinson’s Bar. Then returning to City Centre via DART.

Some weird vegetarian food, from The Happy Pear

All in all, this was a wonderful day out for the group and for bringing Postgrads together, it was a brilliant start to our sporting activities. If you are interested in joining our future hikes follow our facebook page for updates. Also if you want to see our other sporting activities please fill out this brief survey.

PubhD 21: Ancient Empires, Bio Drugs & Medieval Ireland

July 6, 2017August 2, 2017 DCUPGS Leave a comment

Dublin PubhD 21

PubhD 21 – Our 21st PubhD Dublin event will take place on the 2nd August at 7:00 pm in The Pavilion Bar’s balcony in Trinity College Dublin, with three more guests presenting their research for 10 minutes each followed by a Q&A after each presentation. All are welcome to come and enjoy interesting talks and pints!

So who is speaking?

Ronan Stewart who graduated with his Master’s degree in South Asian studies from the University of Cambridge in 2012. His work is about the fall of the Hindu Vijayanagara civilisation in 1565 and involved exploring three different literary traditions, with Islamic, Western and Hindu accounts all working through this.

He aims for a balanced and informed dialogue about history and how it informs the present, especially as it informs the Muslim world and assists the rise of violent Islamist groups like ISIS. He has conducted lectures about this topic with University College Dublin and sports against racism Ireland. These issues can range from the treatment of minorities in Muslim countries, gender issues, how Muslims approach crime and so on.

This involves tackling historical myths which pervade our society and help push forward nationalistic, religious or other ideologies which can cause conflict. Myths include the notion of a poverty-free Islamic caliphate, the return to a totally moral past, or a past which was free of religious discord. Ultimately this discussion is about what kind of society we want to live in.

Prashant Kaushik is a second year Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher in National Institute of Cellular Biotechnology in DCU. He is studying proteins produced by Chinese Hamster Ovary cells to improve the biological processes used widely in pharmaceutical industry.

John Tighe completed his BA in AHA/History in TCD in 2013, and an MPhil in Medieval History in TCD in 2014, doing a thesis on ‘The Inter-relationship of power structures and agricultural systems in al-Andalus c.Ad900-1300’, and since 2014 has been doing his PhD with Prof. Emeritus Terry Barry and Dr Immo Warntjes on Settlement Patterns in the Diocese of Tuam in the early medieval period.

(Unfortunately, Jacintha O’Sullivan & Laura McGrady had to postpone their talks for this months PubhD).

Directions

Looking forward to seeing you all there at PubhD 21! As always, if you are interested in taking part in future events as a speaker, which usually take place on the first Wednesday of the month, please contact us at dublin@pubhd.org!

DCU PGS Bray Head Hike

July 3, 2017July 21, 2017 DCUPGS Leave a comment

The Postgrad Society’s 1st Sports Event (one of many to come) is taking place on Saturday, 8 July 2017. We will be taking a hike up Bray Head in County Wicklow, to see the breathtaking views, and then continue along the scenic cliff walk to Greystones. Both are easily accessible by DART, and travel arrangements have been made. After the hike, the group may decide to stay in Greystones and enjoy its charming cafés, bars and restaurants; or alternatively head back to Dublin City for food and drinks. The weather is forecast to but sunny, but there may be light showers, so a light rain coat and a few layers might be worth bringing. If attending please fill out this contact form.

Cliff Walk Bray Head

Hike Outline

Activity: Hiking
Level: Beginner
When: 8 July 2017
Where: Bray Head
Duration: 1.30 – 2 hours

Time: 10:30am

Meeting point: Coffee House, Pearse Station, Pearse Street, Dublin 2

Getting to Pearse Station from DCU: Bus Number 4, 44

Plan of attack:
10:30 am – Meet at Coffee House (at Pearse Street entrance to Pearse Station – across from Subway).
11:00 am – Take train to Bray
11:40 am – Arrive in Bray, hike to the top of Bray Head and thereafter walk to Greystones.
1:30 pm (Optional) – Chill out in Greystones and have some food/drinks (I hear The Happy Pear is decent)… or we can get the train back to town and have food/drink in town.

Please let us know if you’re interested in attending.

PubhD 20: VR Education, Black Magic AI & Stem Cells

July 1, 2017July 13, 2017 Dylan Grimes Larkin Leave a comment

PubhD 20 will be on the 5th July at 7:00 pm in The Pav’s balcony in Trinity campus, with three more guests presenting their research in 10 minutes.

Simon Creane is a second year full-time PhD student at STEM, Institute of Education, DCU. His research involves the design and development of a virtual and augmented reality learning environment to support inquiry learning.

Jim O’ Donoghue from Insight in DCU, has just defended his PhD dissertation. His research focused on developing tools to manage and interpret AI experiments, thus mitigating some of the black magic therein.

Dr Michael Monaghan is an Ussher Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Trinity College Dublin. He has published a number of key papers in the field of human valvulogenesis, embryonic stem cell research, cardiomyocyte differentiation, biomaterials and noninvasive optical characterisation. He will present his research on “Convincing stem cells to do your bidding”.