Tuesday 29 July 2014

10 truths a PhD supervisor will never tell you

10 truths a PhD supervisor will never tell you

There are some important dos and don’ts to bear in mind when choosing someone to oversee your doctoral thesis, advises Tara Brabazon

Snowball Metrics: no pinch of salt needed

Snowball Metrics: no pinch of salt needed

 The first Snowball Metrics Recipe Book was published in 2012, with 10 recipes relating to areas such as research funding and output. And so great has been the universities’ enthusiasm for the unexpected insights that cooking the recipes has provided that at the end of last month a second edition was published, containing a further 14 recipes relating to factors such as collaboration, societal impact, intellectual property and spin-offs.

Thursday 24 July 2014

Strained relations: fears of a man-made flu pandemic

Strained relations: fears of a man-made flu pandemic

The risk of a man-made pandemic has startled virologists and epidemiologists to the extent that two papers on the subject were once deemed too dangerous to publish

Kawaoka is one of a small number of researchers tinkering with the genomes of bird-flu strains to model how they might acquire human pandemic potential. Many fear these hubristic microbiologists might trigger a man-made plague if the synthetic bugs ever escape from their laboratories.

Monday 21 July 2014

The Infinite Monkey Cage

BBC - Podcasts and Downloads - The Infinite Monkey Cage

Award winning science/comedy chat with Brian Cox, Robin Ince and guests.
Witty, irreverent look at the world according to science with physicist
Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince. 

Wednesday 16 July 2014

Young blood rejuvenates old brains

Young blood rejuvenates old brains : Nature Medicine : Nature Publishing Group

 Age-related cognitive decline occurs in many mammals, including humans, resulting from a decline in hippocampal function, and it is associated with reduced synaptic plasticity in hippocampal circuits. In this issue of Nature Medicine, a new study shows that cognitive impairment observed in aged mice is largely reversible following exposure to the blood of young mice.

Tuesday 15 July 2014

List of top 1,000 universities features eight from Ireland

List of top 1,000 universities features eight from Ireland

Eight Irish universities appear on a list of the world’s top 1,000 third-level institutions published today.The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) features eight US and British universities in the top 10. 

Friday 11 July 2014

Developing Your Research Project — University of Southampton — FutureLearn

Developing Your Research Project — University of Southampton — FutureLearn

Free Online Course from the University of Southhampton.

The course is intended for anyone who is currently undertaking or planning to undertake a piece of academic research, be that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), International Baccalaureate Extended Essay, coursework or a piece of independent scholarship.

Developed and delivered by research-active academics, the course will support you with every step of the research process, from developing a hypothesis and finding sources to writing up and presenting one’s findings.

SFI Targeted Research Professorship Programme 2014 opens for applications

SFI - NEW PROGRAMME TO ATTRACT ICONIC INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH TALENT TO IRISH UNIVERSITIES – Minister Bruton, Minister Sherlock

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr Richard Buton, T.D. together with the Minister for Research and Innovation, Mr Sean Sherlock, T.D. today announced a major new drive by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) to attract the world’s top research talent to the seven Irish universities. The Targeted SFI Research Professorship Programme 2014 will be delivered by Science Foundation Ireland and will provide research funding of approximately €5 million for each successful applicant. Attracting top international research Professors is a critical part of the Government’s strategy to build research capacity in key areas of economic importance.

Thursday 10 July 2014

Research grants worth €23m awarded to young scientists

Research grants worth €23m awarded to young scientists

A very different kind of tattoo could provide a way to help diagnose conditions such as liver failure and eczema outbreaks, according to a young researcher who has received almost €650,000 to pursue her idea. The best thing about it is if it works it offers an alternative to needles and blood samples.

The research study pursued by Dr Aoife Morrin of Dublin City University is one of 40 such awards to early and mid-stage researchers made by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Science Foundation Ireland.

The awards are worth a combined €23 million and provide between €450,000 and €800,000 over four years. They are meant to help younger research scientists to establish themselves and enable them to apply for funding from the EU and other sources, according to Minister of State for research Sean Sherlock. 

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Eleven researchers in Irish universities named among world’s top 3,000

Eleven researchers in Irish universities named among world’s top 3,000

Eleven researchers based in Irish universities have been ranked among the world’s top 3,000 by the multinational media body Thompson Reuters. Inclusion means the person’s research is listed in the top 1 per cent for the number of times their work has been cited by other scientists.

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...