Agenda

Opening welcome

Claire O’Connell and Ola Majekodunmi
Prof J. Peter Clinch, Chair, SFI Board
Prof Daniel Carey, Chair, IRC Board

Research shorts

Pesticides and Irish Weather: What’s the buzz for bees? by Dr Dara Stanley, Assistant Professor in Applied Entomology, University College Dublin

Sociology of Humans and Machines in the Digital Age by Prof Taha Yasseri, School of Sociology and a Geary Fellow at the Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin

Panel discussion: The Impact of AI on Academia

AI is transforming the world of academia as we know it. Join this expert panel to discuss its potential benefits and the challenges facing academic communities across the globe.

Panel Chair: Prof Linda Hogan, Professor of Ecumenics, School of Religion, TCD with guests:

• Prof Barry O’Sullivan, Principal Investigator and Director of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at UCC.
• Prof John D. Kelleher, Professor of Computer Science at the Hamilton Institute, Maynooth University.
• Dr Abeba Birhane, Senior Advisor in AI Accountability at Mozilla Foundation and Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Computer Science and Statistics, TCD.
• Dr James Cuffe, Anthropologist, Dept of Sociology & Criminology, UCC.

Research Short

Multiscale Modelling for Biomechanics and Medical Implants by Dr Ted Vaughan, Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Principle Investigator in the Biomechanics Research Centre, University of Galway

Awards Ceremony and Dinner

Presented by Dr Claire O’Connell and Ola Majekodunmi

Evening Online Film Collaboration with CURÁM’s Science on Screen

The Home Health Project : https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/833596386   (9 minutes)

This €1m project, co-funded by Cisco Ireland and CÚRAM hopes to establish a model of digital healthcare that can be used to better connect remote communities across Ireland to the healthcare system. University of Galway researchers at the H.I.V.E. Lab are using state-of-the-art medical device technology, such as remote sensors and AI software to improve patient care management for the Clare Island community. Video consultations with remote physiological monitoring will deliver ‘virtual’ care, in addition to the medical service provided by the nurse and doctor on the island.

Feats of Modest Valour – https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/768544078      (26 minutes)
Tom, Milena and Brian live clockwork existences, dictated by a strict regime of medication and the challenging physical reality of living with Parkinson’s. Meanwhile, a team of dedicated scientists at University of Galway are developing a new medical device, which could potentially halt or even cure the devastating disease. Woven together with observation and animation, the film invites us to witness the story of groundbreaking medical science taking place in Galway and the profound impact this will have on people with Parkinson’s Disease both nationally and worldwide.

Winner – Science Award at Imagine Science 2017, New York Winner –
Best Professional Documentary at Raw Science Film Festival 2018
Runner-up – Audience Award at Imagine Science 2017, New York

A Tiny Spark – https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/768173973        (26 mins)

This Science on Screen documentary ‘A Tiny Spark’ shows us how something small or seemingly insignificant can wield the power to alter the course of something else forever. A stroke itself is one moment that changes someone’s life forever, just like the blood clot itself, although tiny, could mean so much to the world of stroke research. This documentary is about groundbreaking research being done by neuroscientist Prof Karen Doyle at CÚRAM, the SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices at University of Galway.

The People there to Catch Us – https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/747730547      (22 mins)

PASSWORD: CURAM2022
Recently broadcast on RTE, ‘The People There to Catch Us’ tells the story of Tom Hope and Rachel O’Mahony, two cancer survivors who work alongside researchers at CÚRAM and Precision Oncology Ireland (POI), to help improve the lives of others living with the disease. The documentary was produced by Ronan Cassidy of Carbonated Comet and directed by Luke Brabazon under CÚRAM’s ‘Science on Screen’ public engagement programme.  The documentary shines a light on the lived experience of cancer survivors, their contribution to the research and the ongoing work of research centres like CÚRAM and Precision Oncology Ireland that will shape how cancer will be treated in the future.

My Green Lab  – https://vimeo.com/375847945                                                 (7 mins)
A documentary film, produced by Wild Island Pictures, the CURÁM SFI Research Centre and University of Galway, describing the journey of lab scientists improving their workplace sustainability. Featuring Allison Paradise from mygreenlab.org and a lab group of scientists led by Prof Una FitzGerald at galwaygreenlabs.ie. Video by Dawid Piotr Szlaga.

CRAFTVALUE – https://youtu.be/TF2f8UJl61M

Why is it that our Georgian terraces and public buildings, country houses and modest rural dwellings have such an enduring physical presence? While design clearly plays a significant part, materials and craftsmanship are fundamental to the quality of this historic built environment. CRAFTVALUE, a four-year IRC Advanced Laureate Research Project at Trinity College Dublin, seeks to open our eyes to the painstaking achievements of stone masons, carpenters, joiners, carvers and modellers of plaster, wood and stone. Too long taken for granted, this rich craft heritage is now the subject of sustained research and analysis. How was the virtuoso staircase, the marble chimneypiece or the columnar doorcase physically created? How were tools held and used, and how was skill acquired, developed and sustained? Where were materials sourced and what was their impact on craft production? The CRAFTVALUE team is working with stakeholders in Ireland and the United Kingdom, including the Office of Public Works and the National Trust, to develop knowledge of our shared heritage.

Creating Community in Times of Crisis: The Role of Creative Writing in Empowering Donegal Women – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDQBvGWxqxw

This partnership between Trinity College Dublin and the Women’s Collective Donegal will expand on existing research to examine creative writing as a means of empowerment for women in Donegal border communities faced with acute societal ‘crises’ such as pandemic recovery, the climate emergency and the rising cost-of-living. Writing workshops which probe the impact of ‘crises’ will

be followed by focus group discussions to obtain participant reflections. Outputs include an anthology of the women’s work, a documentary film and an online symposium. Findings will be  published in a report recommending best practice in facilitating creative writing for rural women’s empowerment.

EURONEWS – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcd1vybzZ_0

EURONEWS, funded by the Irish Research Council and based at University College Cork, is examining new sources for the European dimension of early modern news, integrating Ireland and elsewhere into the network of circulation, 1550-1700, to understand a forgotten but highly significant media landscape.
Before modern times, news circulated in the form of weekly or biweekly semi-public manuscript newsletters (also called avvisi), a Renaissance invention consisting of usually anonymous sheets, reproduced in multiple copies, which eventually became the basis of the first printed journalism.  Until now the structures of distribution have been better known than the matter distributed, an imbalance created by the sheer volume of material as well as by the technical obstacles to massive analysis.  So far, conjectures about what there was in this material that could have shaped peoples’ lives, mental horizons and views of the world have been based on little or no evidence or else on printed sources, which at first circulated only sporadically, and then drew directly upon the manuscript networks.  The Medici papers at the state archive in Florence contain the largest and most varied repository of this source, including sheets originating from all over Europe, bearing news from everywhere including Ireland, Scandinavia, the eastern Mediterranean, Asia and the New World. EURONEWS proposes to study this and other repositories with a view to re-creating the news environment that shaped early modern times.