Ninth Level Ireland

“Cocaine has replaced ecstasy as the second-most common drug used by students at third-level, says a new report by University College Cork (UCC). The Drug Use in Higher Education Institutions survey found that while cannabis remains the most common drug at third level, cocaine use has risen in recent years …” (more)

[Tadgh McNally, TheJournal.ie, 20 January]

“A first-of-its-kind lecturing and research position in Limerick is looking to bridge the gap in understanding between the Travelling and settled community. University of Limerick’s Sociology Department adopts a ‘research first’ approach, and a newly devised Lecturer in Traveller Studies position hopes to press upon this notion even further …” (more)

[Cian Ó Broin, Limerick Leader, 16 January]

“Today the European Research Council (ERC) announced the first round of winners of Starting Grants under the new Horizon Europe programme. The results make for interesting reading. Some 397 grants were awarded worth a total of €619 million, i.e. about €1.5 million each on average, all intended for researchers in the early stages of their careers. A complete list of award winners can be found in this PDF document. Congratulations to all of them! Here is the breakdown by host country …” (more)

[In the Dark, 10 January]

“Irish universities actively support the strategic importance of establishing Collaborative Research Degree Programmes to enable international collaboration and to build research capacity in Ireland. This is in line with international and national policies (Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020 & Innovation 2020) …” (more)

[IUA, 4 January]

“In its recent report on the Leaving Certificate results and the standardisation process undertaken, the State Examinations Commission highlights unconscious bias favouring female students …” (more)

[Selina McCoy, Delma Byrne and Pat O’Connor, Irish Times, 21 December]

“Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he is taking to address workers’ rights for postgraduate researchers in universities and institutes of technology …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 16 December]

“2021 has been a year of market consolidation. While the big mergers and acquisitions have garnered much attention (most recently Clarivate completing its deal for Proquest and Wiley’s ongoing spending spree), I wanted to bring to light a different area of rapid market consolidation, namely the demise of the independently publishing research society. 2021 has seen an acceleration of this trend which began in 2018 with the announcement of Plan S …” (more)

[David Crotty, The Scholarly Kitchen, 14 December]

“Many international students report experiencing racism while studying here, but lack trust in the authorities to report it, new research suggests. Four out of 10 (40%) international higher education students taking part in a major study report experiencing racism here, either as a victim themselves or witnessing it …” (more)

[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 9 December]

“Irish Librarians condemn publisher Pearson’s 400% price hikes. Irish Librarians and library-related organisations wish to express our dissatisfaction with the recent announcement of upcoming increases to content provided by the publisher Pearson …” (more)

[Conul, 2 December]

“Rates of third level education in the State were higher than the EU average last year, according to data published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The data showed that 58% of 25-34 year olds had a tertiary level qualification in 2020 in Ireland, compared with an EU average of 41% …” (more)

[Jade Wilson, Irish Times, 29 November]

“Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the recently concluded agreement to include Israel in Horizon Europe until 2027; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 18 November]

“The academic publisher Elsevier is currently negotiating a deal with UK universities. In Oxford, as in other universities, there have been extensive discussions about the proposed deal; the goals are to reduce costs to sustainable levels and to provide full and immediate open access to UK research …” (more)

[BishopBlog, 14 November]

“The Government is planning to strengthen the availability of scientific advice to inform decision-making across key areas ranging from climate change to cyber security …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien and Marie O’Halloran, Irish Times, 10 November]

“I’m not getting much time these days to think about new ideas for blog posts so yet again I’m going to rehash an old one, but at least it is somewhat topical because of an interesting blog post I saw recently about the American Sociological Association …” (more)

[In the Dark, 8 November]

“Lobby groups for over 1,000 universities have urged the European Commission to finalize the UK’s association to the EU’s research and innovation program, as Britain remains frozen out over Brexit disputes …” (more)

[Cristina Gallardo, Politico, 4 November]

“The I Wish’s 2021 Survey of Female Students’ Attitudes to Stem found that 55% of girls interested in engineering did not have access to the subject and 77% are not confident in their ability to do Stem. The study concluded it is time to rethink how Stem subjects are presented in schools with over three-quarters (78%) of teenage girls saying lack of choices is a barrier to a career in Stem …” (more)

[Irish Times, 27 October]

“UK scientists are being ‘frozen out’ of the £80bn EU research programme Horizon Europe because of the ongoing dispute over the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol, a House of Lords committee has claimed …” (more)

[Lisa O’Carroll, Guardian, 24 October]

“Last month I mentioned that I attended an event to mark the departure of Professor Philip Nolan at the end of his term as President of Maynooth University. Over drinks afterwards he wasn’t very forthcoming about what he was planning to do next …” (more)

[In the Dark, 20 October]

“When an article is published in a scientific journal, three authorship positions indicate who the study’s principal researchers are: first author, last author and corresponding author. These positions are used for decision-making, particularly in the evaluation of scientific careers and the awarding of possible promotions. Previous studies have shown that women less frequently occupy these authorship positions than men do, especially as last authors, a position reserved to senior scientists …” (more)

[AlphaGalileo, 20 October]

“A chara, – It is is difficult to see how the headline conclusion can reasonably be drawn from the Higher Education Authority survey into third-level pay as no factor other than ethnicity seems to have been taken into account (‘Ethnic minorities in higher education more likely to be on lower pay’, News, October 18th) …” (more)

[Dave Slater, Irish Times, 20 October]