Friday 31 May 2013

MyRI Tutorial: Measuring your Research Impact

MyRI Tutorial

MyRI is a collaborative project of four Irish academic libraries producing a set of materials to support bibliometrics training.

Open Science | University of Oxford Podcasts - Audio and Video Lectures

Open Science | University of Oxford Podcasts - Audio and Video Lectures

In this series of podcasts the impact of opening up science is considered: allowing both the research community and the public to freely access the results of scientific work. Individuals can be fully informed about medical or environmental research, students worldwide can get access to the latest work, and software agents can roam the vast scientific knowledge base seeking patterns and correlations that no human has observed. Ultimately, it may profoundly change the way science is done. The resources are released under a Creative Commons licence - see end slide for attribution.

Rigour and Openness in 21st Century Science: Panel 4 part 6 | University of Oxford Podcasts - Audio and Video Lectures

Rigour and Openness in 21st Century Science: Panel 4 part 6 | University of Oxford Podcasts - Audio and Video Lectures

Open data. Victor Henning, Mendeley gives a talk for the Rigour and Openness in 21st Century Science held on the 11th and 12th April 2013

Thursday 30 May 2013

Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative - Research & Training - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative - Research & Training - National Institutes of Health (NIH)
 The NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative is part of a new US Presidential focus aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. By accelerating the development and application of innovative technologies, researchers will be able to produce a revolutionary new dynamic picture of the brain that, for the first time, shows how individual cells and complex neural circuits interact in both time and space. Long desired by researchers seeking new ways to treat, cure, and even prevent brain disorders, this picture will fill major gaps in our current knowledge and provide unprecedented opportunities for exploring exactly how the brain enables the human body to record, process, utilize, store, and retrieve vast quantities of information, all at the speed of thought.

Human Brain Project - Home

Human Brain Project - Home

 The Human Brain Project should lay the technical foundations for a new model of ICT-based brain
research, driving integration between data and knowledge from different disciplines, and catalysing 
a community effort to achieve a new understanding of the brain, new treatments for brain disease and new brain-like computing technologies

Monday 27 May 2013

3U Partnership-3U Education

3U Partnership-3U Education

 The 3U partnership (NUI Maynooth, RCSI, DCU) has established 3U N-STEP (National Initiative in STEM Education and Practice) to advance teaching and learning in the area of STEM Education. The initiative has two strands: Strand 1 concerns research into the teaching and learning of STEM subjects at third level; Strand 2 concerns enquiry-based learning in Mathematics and Science Education.
Staff members who would like to find collaboration partners can register their interest at http://www.maths.nuim.ie/3UNSTEPform

Friday 24 May 2013

"From publication to impact: Using Google Scholar and Publish or Perish to measure research impact "

NetworkED: Technology in Education

A presentation entitled  "From publication to impact: Using Google Scholar and Publish or Perish to measure research impact " will be presented (and live streamed) by Anne-Wil Harzing the editor of the Journal Quality List, the provider of Publish or Perish, a software program that retrieves and analyses academic citations, and the author of “The Publish or Perish Book: Your guide to effective and responsible citation analysis”.
  
Date: Wednesday 29 May 2013, 3pm  via live stream from the LSE.

' This presentation will show how online access of the academic literature through Google Scholar can be used to develop sophisticated metrics of academic research impact. We review various measures of research impact, but focus mainly on citation analysis. First, we will discuss why every academic should be interested in citation analysis. Subsequently, we review why it is important to complement the traditional subscription-based source of citation data – Thomson ISI’s Web of Science or Scopus – with Google Scholar. In the second part of the presentation, we will cover the use Google Scholar as a source for citation analysis in some detail. It will show how to track your own citations, which citation metrics to use and how to present your case. This part of the presentation will involve a demonstration of the use of the software program “Publish or Perish”.'

Press release: RSC and the Chinese Chemical Society announce unique publishing partnership

Press release: RSC and the Chinese Chemical Society announce unique publishing partnership

A unique not-for-profit society partnership signed today between the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS) and the RSC will launch a collection of journals that combine high quality content and fast publication with trusted values of society publishing. 

BBC News - Cockroaches lose their 'sweet tooth' to evade traps

BBC News - Cockroaches lose their 'sweet tooth' to evade traps

Natural selection in action ! A strain of cockroaches in Europe has evolved to outsmart the sugar traps used to eradicate them. American scientists found that the mutant cockroaches had a "reorganised" sense of taste, making them perceive the glucose used to coat poisoned bait not as sweet but rather as bitter.

Thursday 23 May 2013

NUI Maynooth Certificates in Science and Engineering | access.nuim.ie

NUI Maynooth Certificates in Science and Engineering | access.nuim.ie
  
The NUI Maynooth Certificates in Science and Engineering are now open for Applications.

 These Foundation Year Programmes will provide students with an opportunity to study at Foundation Level those areas identified as having key skills shortages currently in Ireland such as Computer Science, Technology, Mathematics, Physics and Engineering.
Successful completion of one of our Foundation Certificates will guarantee entry to a number of our Science and Engineering Degrees at NUI Maynooth.

Thursday 16 May 2013

Human skin cells converted into embryonic stem cells: First time human stem cells have been produced via nuclear transfer

Human skin cells converted into embryonic stem cells: First time human stem cells have been produced via nuclear transfer
 Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) have successfully reprogrammed human skin cells to become embryonic stem cells capable of transforming into any other cell type in the body. It is believed that stem cell therapies hold the promise of replacing cells damaged through injury or illness. Diseases or conditions that might be treated through stem cell therapy include Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, cardiac disease and spinal cord injuries.

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Event: Friends of Medieval Dublin, 15th Symposium, 25 May 2013 | FMRSI

Event: Friends of Medieval Dublin, 15th Symposium, 25 May 2013 | FMRSI

Wicklow Mountains National Park | Ireland's BioBlitz

Wicklow Mountains National Park | Ireland's BioBlitz

The National Biodiversity Data Centre, in conjunction with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Coillte and the Centre for Environmental Data and Recording is organising Ireland’s BioBlitz event on 24 & 25 May 2013.

 Events will include: dusk bird and bat walk; moth trapping demo; upland bird walk; pond dipping; electrofishing; newt surveying and much more!! 

Trainings By Product | Elsevier TrainingDesk

Trainings By Product | Elsevier TrainingDesk

Learn how to use Elsevier’s products using this online training resource which include Embase, Engineering Village, Science Direct, Scopus and Reaxy's databases.

Thursday 9 May 2013

National Heritage Science Forum - Home

National Heritage Science Forum - Home

 The National Heritage Science Forum is being set up to address the recommendation of the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee Inquiry on Science and Heritage and to implement the National Heritage Science Strategy objectives.

Wednesday 8 May 2013

Ireland Punches above Its Weight in Scientific Research Impact - WSJ.com

Ireland Punches above Its Weight in Scientific Research Impact - WSJ.com
 The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters, the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today announced a renewed four-year commitment between the Irish Universities Association and Thomson Reuters to demonstrate the efficiency and global impact of Ireland's scientific research. The trusted indicators of Thomson Reuters InCites(TM) , a customized, web-based research evaluation tool, enable universities to measure research output and impact, monitor trends, and benchmark their performance against peers at the individual, departmental and global levels. 

If you'd like to access the Incites database contact ciaran.quinn@nuim.ie in the Library.

Welcome to Century Ireland

Welcome to Century Ireland
 The Century Ireland project is an online historical newspaper that tells the story of the events of Irish life a century ago. Century Ireland is published on a fortnightly basis, beginning in May 2013, and is the main online portal for the Irish decade of commemorations, 1912-23.

Three white-tailed eagles born in Ireland - RTÉ News

Three white-tailed eagles born in Ireland - RTÉ News

 The programme to re-introduce white-tailed eagles into Ireland after an absence of over 100 years has been given a huge boost with the birth of its first eaglets.
Project Manager Dr Allan Mee has confirmed that three babies have been born in the past week.
Two were born in Mountshannon on Lough Derg in Co Clare, and the other in Killarney National Park, where the project began six years ago.

Friday 3 May 2013

NUIMaynooth company develops online system to increase intellectual ability

NUI MaynoothCommunicationsPress ReleasePsychology

A new spin-out company from NUI Maynooth has demonstrated that it is possible to increase intelligence levels and has developed an online programme which can measurably increase intellectual ability. 

The company, ‘Raise Your IQ’, has developed the ‘SMART’ (Strengthening Mental Abilities with Relational Training) programme which equips the user with the cognitive skills which lay the foundation for better intelligent reasoning and thinking and increases intelligence levels. Unlike ‘brain training’ products on the market which merely enhance memory, SMART improves the ability to reason logically and think clearly, so it also leads to improvements in verbal ability, perceptual reasoning and speed of information processing.
The system has been trialled in Irish schools with the latest research showing primary school students experienced an average IQ rise of 23 points. An increase in IQ above 10 points represents a significant increase in intellectual ability. Evidence shows that increases in the IQ levels of SMART participants are still in place four years later.

Thursday 2 May 2013

BiologyBrowser | Free information from a trusted source

BiologyBrowser | Free information from a trusted source

Produced by Thomson Reuters, Biology Browser offers access to evaluated and curated digital resources of interest to the scientific researcher.

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Birth of a Holiday: The First of May - Eric Hobsbawm | libcom.org

Birth of a Holiday: The First of May - Eric Hobsbawm | libcom.org

 In 1990 Michael Ignatieff, writing about Easter in the Observer, observed that 'secular societies have never succeeded in providing alternatives to religious rituals'. And he pointed out that the French Revolution 'may have turned subjects into citizens, may have put liberte, egalite and fraternite on the lintel of every school and put the monasteries to the sack, but apart from the Fourteenth of July it never made a dent on the old Christian calendar'. My present subject is perhaps the only unquestionable dent made by a secular movement in the Christian or any other official calendar, a holiday established not in one or two countries, but in 1990 officially in 107 states. What is more, it is an occasion established not by the power of governments or conquerors, but by an entirely unofficial movement of poor men and women. I am speaking of May Day, or more precisely of the First of May, the international festival of the working-class movement, whose centenary ought to have been celebrated in 1990, for it was inaugurated in 1890.

World University Rankings 2023

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 include 1,799 universities across 104 countries and regions, making them the lar...