Spin 26

ISSUE 26 January 08 €3 including VAT £2 NI and UK

SCIENCE

SPIN

IRELAND’S SCIENCE NATURE AND DISCOVERY MAGAZINE

STRANGE UNIVERSE

Irish bats — Engineering giant

CHILLING CHANGE

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How can disease be detected before it strikes?

How can you manufacture customized products at affordable prices?

How can you power a planet hungry for electricity without damaging it?

SCIENCE

SPIN A ghostly image of dark matter in the galaxy cluster ZwC10024+1652.

The Hubble compositive image reveals how dark matter acts like a lens in distorting light from distant galaxies.

Publisher Duke Kennedy Sweetman Ltd 5 Serpentine Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. www.sciencespin.com Email: tom@sciencespin.com Editors Seán Duke sean@sciencespin.com Tom Kennedy tom@sciencespin.com Business Development Manager Alan Doherty alan@sciencespin.com Design and Production Albertine Kennedy Publishing Cloonlara, Swinford, Co Mayo Proofing Aisling McLaughlin Printing Turner Print, Longford Contributors in this issue: Anthony King, Sean O’Leary, Patrick McConnell, Marie-Catherine Mousseau, Duncan Ray.

Articles published in Science SPIN may reflect the views of the contributors and not the official views of the publication, its editorial staff, its ownership, or its sponsors.

UPFRONT

2

Adapting to change

Duncan Ray reports on the impact of climate change on forestry.

7

In search of Irish bats

Anthony King writes that Ireland is home to ten species of bat.

10

Chilling change

Tom Kennedy reports that climate can change quicker than we think.

14

SUPPLEMENT Choosing science

Marie Catherine Mousseau talks to people who have made science into a career.

19

All for science

Sean O’Leary makes a case for inclusive education.

32

Pioneering engineer

Patrick McConnell writes about the engineer, C Y O’Connor.

41

Away from the bench Marie-Catherine Mousseau reports that research can be good for your career.

44

Strange Universe

Marie-Catherine Mousseau writes that we must suspend our sense of reality if we want to understand the Universe.

47

Irish oil

Seán Duke reports that deep sea basins off the west coast may be rich in oil.

52

Maths and biology meet

Seán Duke describes the Hamilton Institute at Maynooth.

55

College guide

A quick reference guide to colleges around Ireland.

38

Geological Survey of Ireland Suirbhéireacht Gheolaíochia Éireann

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 1

Higher Education Authority An tÚdarás um Ard-Oideachas

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UPFRONT

HOW ERRATIC IS YOUR BLOCK? Schools Competition

Methane boost AS temperatures rose towards the end of the last Ice Age, the amount of methane in the world’s atmosphere increased. Now, researchers from the ~University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Southampton believe that they have identified the likely source of this gas. Before temperature rose, vast areas of landscape lay on a bed of permafrost. Prof Mary Edwards from the University of Southampton School of Geography explained that as the permafrost thawed, lakes formed.

As this melting process continued, old organic material would have been released into the lakes, and this provided a good energy source for methane-producing bacteria. “Carbon, which had been locked in the ground for thousands of years,” she said, “could rapidly be converted into methane and carbon dioxide.”

Most of the methane coming from the far north may have come from Arctic lakes.

To test their hypothesis, the group gathered samples of permafrost from Siberia and northern Alaska, and thawed them in the lab. The results confirmed that these icy lakes are a source of methane now, and that they must have been an even greater source in the past. “It is possible, with global warming, said Prof Edwards, “that large releases from these lakes may occur again.”

THE Geological Survey of Ireland is organising an unusual schools competition as part of the International Year of Planet Earth — 2008. The aim of the year is to promote the role that the rocks all around us play in our everyday lives. For instance, the houses we live in mostly come from rocks, the oil that literally fires our lives comes from rocks and the jewellery that helps make us beautiful also comes from rocks!

The competition, entitled How erratic is your block?, is open to all students in Transition Year in the Republic of Ireland and GCSE students in Years 11 and 12 in Northern Ireland. Students are asked to identify an erratic (an out-of-place rock) to tell, in a short essay, where it is and how it got there. This could range from a fragment of a rock in a pebble dash wall to a displaced boulder on a mountainside. €300 cash prizes will be awarded to the best entries from each of the 32 counties of Ireland and a top prize — the Maxwell Henry Close Award — of €1000 will be awarded to the best overall entry. A number of special awards to other entries of exceptional high standard might also be awarded at the judges’ discretion. All schools from which there is an entry will receive a geological wall map of Ireland. The school of the Maxwell Henry Close Award winner will also receive a prize of digital equipment to the value of €1,500.

The aim of the competition is to stimulate geological awareness among school pupils throughout Ireland and to encourage students to consider pursuing geoscience at third level. The competition closes on Friday 14th March 2008.

This will be followed by a prize giving in May 2008, which will be hosted by Eamon Ryan, TD, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

The Irish Concrete Federation (ICF) and the Association of Geography Teachers of Ireland (AGTI) along with the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland and the Royal Irish Academy are all supporters of this initiative.

For further details and how to enter see www.planetearth.ie/erratics.

Beaufort awards Under the banner of Francis Beaufort, €20 million is being provided to research relevant to the Marine Institute’s Sea Change programme.

In September funding was awarded to groups in NUIG, Queen’s, DCU, and UCC. The projects included work on management of fisheries, marine biodiversity, genetics, and socioeconomic studies.

The awards were named to commemorate Francis Beaufort, the Meath born inventor of the widely used Beauford Wind Scale.

Alison Fogarty at the controls with Aoife O’Mahony, manager of the STEPS to Engineering programme.

Up to IT? LAST year school students were invited to enter a competition to describe what it might be like to work in information technology.

The competition, supported by a number of organisations drew a big response, and the winner, Alison Fogarty, a Fifth Year student from Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney, Co Cork, was able to gain valuable hands-on experience by shadowing real sound engineers at work during Jack L’s concert at the National Concert Hall.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 2

SPIN

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UPFRONT One stop shop for wave power

Interacting with light, and gallery director, Michael J Gorman

Let there be light THE Science Gallery at TCD opens this February with a dazzling display of light. From 2nd to the 9th of February ‘Lightwave’ is to embrace the science, technology and the art of light. Included will be LED light graffiti, an installation by designer Willie Williams, and a range of interactive workshops.

Under director, Michael John Gorman, the gallery aims to fire up a passion for science among young people. Located in the distinctive Naughton Institute, already becoming a landmark building, the gallery space includes a 144 seater multimedia theatre, studios, a café, and an extensive open space for exhibitions.

More information and information about booking into events at www.sciencegallery.org

IN welcoming the Government’s decision to support wave energy development with €7 million, the CEO of Wavebob, Andrew Parish, commented that it would help if funds were to be channelled through one agency. Wavebob, based in Maynooth, Co Kildare, has become active internationally in developing wave power systems, and the company reports that recent trials in Galway Bay have been a success.

“Wavebob,” he said, “is among the frontrunners vying to be the first to provide commercial-scale wave-power.”

Having to deal with different agencies, said Andrew Parish, is not helpful and it adds to the burden of administration.

Their support, he said is essential, but instead of the ‘pick and mix’ approach, funding could come through one dedicated agency. Such an Ocean Development Agency, he added, was suggested under the 2007 Programme for Government.

Liquid beads

If a glass bead is dropped onto a hard horizontal surface it bounces back like a tennis ball hitting a wall. However, as Xiang Cheng, Heinrich Jaeger, and Sidney Nagel at the University of Chicago report, this is only true if there are just a few beads. If a stream of beads is dropped at once, instead of bouncing back, they deflect out laterally, in much the same way as a liquid.

Saturday 16 February 2008 11 am - 4 pm Spires Conference Centre, Belfast

Marine Institute

Foras na Mara

Prof. Sir John Houghton FRS Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Global warming: a global emergency Dr. John Sweeney ICARUS, Maynooth Global warming: its impact on Ireland

NASA

Prof. Bob White FRS Faraday Institute, Cambridge Global warming: a Christian response

NASA

Programme, registration and travel at http:/www.cis.org.uk/ireland/

NASA

www.marine.ie Marine Institute Rinville Oranmore Co. Galway telephone 353 91 387 200 facsimile 353 91 387 201 email institute.mail@marine.ie

Foras na Mara

Ireland and global warming Hurricane Katrina - Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 3

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UPFRONT

BOOKS from SCIENCE SPIN A new section is being added to the Science Spin website. Readers can now order from a growing list of titles and renew subscription to Science Spin on line. www.sciencespin.com

SFI Research Summit IN November 350 leading scientific researchers attended a two-day Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Science Summit at Citywest, Dublin. During the Summit many of Ireland’s leading scientists gave presentations about their research. The two-day summit highlighted both the quality and the range of research now being conducted in Ireland. SFI Director, Frank Gannon commented that the summit, which is to become an annual event, helps to encourage debate and discussion between all those involved in research.

SFI funding, he said, is supporting world-class research, and for Ireland to benefit, he added, ”the research community must collaborate across

Medical fellows

Werner Arber, Nobel Prize 1978 winner for Physiology or Medicine (right) with SFI Director, Prof Frank Gannon at the Summit. Photo: Jason Clarke. institutions and scientific disciplines, and to look to industry to ensure the full commercial potential is gained from the research.”

Become a STAR ProPoSalS are now invited from all SFI-funded investigators for the 2008 STars programme. This collaborative programme endeavours to disseminate new skills and knowledge to teachers which can be passed on to their students - the scientists and engineers of the future.

To get the latest information about the STars Programme for 2008 please visit www.sfi.ie/star Please make particular note of the aPPlICaTIoN STaGES involved prior to the completed STar application submission deadline of 5 pm Friday 22nd February 2008.

DESCrIbED as one of the most important advances in medical training, the launch of a fellowship programme will enable molecular medicine researchers to continue their careers in Ireland. Dr ruth barrington, CEo of the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre, said the €11 million support from the HEa’s Programme for research in Third level Institutions, means that at least 22 researchers can remain here rather than following careers abroad. The fellowship programme, being organised under the Dublin Molecular Medicines Centre, will involve TCD, UCD, rCSI and UCC as participants.

The fellows are likely to work in areas which are regarded as strong in Ireland, such as neuroscience, infection and immunity, cancer, regenerative medeicine, respiratory medicine, and cardovascular disease. For part of their PhD training the fellows will come together so that they can extend their experience beyond any single institution. More information from:

www.dmmc.ie

ISOF

Irish Science Open Forum

Are you a researcher? Teaching science? Managing scientific projects? If so, register your interest with ISOF, an open and independent forum for science in Ireland. The primary aim of ISOF is to create a big showcase event for Irish science during November 2008.

A major exhibition based in the Main Hall of the RDS will include high level presentations on research, career workshops, and industry seminars. In co-operation with the exhibition organiser, SDL, and in collaboration with the research institutes and State agencies, the ISOF Council is currently working on the programme for this big science event. If you would like to be involved please make sure to register your interest now.

Watch out for more news on the Science Spin website www.sciencespin.com or register your interest by emailing tom@sciencespin.com

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 4

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UPFRONT

Virtual town Westport, Co Mayo, has the distinction of being one of the few planned towns in Ireland. In the 18th century the settlement around the harbour was moved, and a new town was laid out. Detailed plans were drawn up and in 1760 a notice was published in the Dublin penny Journal inviting developers to tender for the construction of Westport. the scheme, as we can see so many years later, was a great success, and the local landlords, the Brownes, made sure that the town’s linen industry prospered by providing houses and looms to weavers at a low rent. the arrival of the railway in 1866 then enhanced the standing of Westport as a resort town surrounded by some of the finest houses in Mayo.

Westport is now going to undergo a virtual revamp, as school pupils undertake a project to re-design part of the town. Instead of bricks and mortar, the students will be working with a 3D model, using special software from AMt3D, a company based in Westport. In the ‘town of tomorrow’ competition, sponsored by Westport town Council and the Mayo News, students from Carrowbeg College, rice College, and sacred Heart secondary school, will work on the plan. As Westport town Manager, peter Hynes

Functional foods tHese days we don’t just look for something new to eat, but instead the aims is to find foods that are good to eat. researchers at teagasc are identifying specific ingredients, so that they can be incorporated, as health benefits, into our diet.

Healthy ingredients can come from a variety of sources, and in the latest move, researchers at teagasc have teamed up with scientists at the Marine Institute to extend their search into the sea. Under the Marine Functional Food research Initiative, Dr Declan troy from teagasc is leading a team

explained, the pupils are free to make their own decisions, they can be as innovative as they like, and the only limitation is set by their imagination.

Brendan Hafferty from AMt3D, said the Google sketchUp software the students will be using is a leadinginvolving UCC, UCD, NUIG, UL, and UU. the initiative, which has received funding of €5.2 million is being welcomed as a move to make better uses of Ireland’s marine resources.

According to the Marine Institute the initiative is to concentrate on three themes; finding uses for what is currently fish processing wastes, sustainability of underutilised fish species and seaweeds, and development of aquaculture.

Dr peter Heffernan, Ceo of the Marine Institute said that two principal investigators will be brought in at professorial level, and seven postdocs, and seven phD places will

edge package. If the students want to chop down trees, create an ice rink, or paint the town red, they can, he said. the Mayo News editor, Denise Horan, said the competition will culminate with the presentation of awards next March. ith science? r involved w Working in o keep in to r interest Register you ce Open n ie Sc h the Iris contact with Forum for details Spin website ce n ie Sc e See th spin.com www.science be created. “A professor of Marine Natural product Chemistry will be recruited internationally and located at the teagasc Ashtown Food research Centre-UCD axis of the consortium.

A similar internationally ranked professor of Marine Functional Foods Biochemistry will be recruited at the Moorpark research Centre-UCC axis,” he added.

Rock around Ireland A popular guide to Irish geology

In this colourful book Peadar McArdle, Director of the Irish Geological Survey explains how all the rocks we see around us came to be there. Words and photographs help us to explore and understand Ireland’s varied landscape. From granite hills we cross a limestone plane to the western coast and some of the most ancient rocks in the world. From the black columnar basalt in the north Peadar brings us south to red sandstones, formed when Munster was the edge of a desert. There is a wealth of information here for everyone with an interest in rocks and the Irish landscape.

Rock around Ireland will be launched at the end of January 2008 and will be available from bookshops and Science Spin.

On publication the A5 112 page full colour paperback will cost €15 post free. Readers wishing to order advance copies are welcome to avail of our special discount offer. For orders received before the end of January 2008 a pre-publication price of €12 applies.

A case-bound edition of Rock around Ireland will also be available, price €20.

Rock around Ireland is a companion volume to Colour, what we see, and the science behind sight, in which Margaret Franklin and Tom Kennedy explain how we live in a colourful world.

To order use this form, or a copy Please supply copy copy copy

Rock around Ireland @ €12 Rock around Ireland, casebound @ €20 Colour @ €15

Cheque made out to Science Spin enclosed NOTE that from 30th January 2008, price for Rock around Ireland paperback is €15 Name

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Cheque and order to Science Spin, 5 Serpentine Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

SPIN

The importance of adapting Irish woodlands to climate change

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR FOREST RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT AN CHOMHAIRLE NÁISIÚNTA UM THAIGHDE AGUS FORBAIRT FORAOISE

Duncan Ray, Ecology Division, Forest Research, Bush Estate, Roslin, Scotland

ith climate change now one of the greatest global challenges, research is underway to establish the likely impacts on the environment. For the forestry sector there is considerable urgency in this task because trees planted now will experience a century of unprecedented climate change.

It is therefore vitally important that researchers assemble and disseminate information on the expected impacts, and suggest strategies to adapt forestry to climate change. In May 2007, a research team co-ordinated by Kevin Black started work on a COFORD funded 5-year programme of work (CLIMIT) to develop a carbon accounting and reporting system to help the Irish Government meet both Kyoto Protocol and Marrakesh Accord mitigation commitments. The main purpose of the programme is to calculate the sequestration potential of Ireland’s woodland resource, although one of the key projects in the programme is more about adaptation. This project is called CLIMADAPT, and it will deliver spatial and stand-based decision support tools to help forest practitioners choose the correct tree species for site types, whose quality will change with the climate.

There is now widespread scientific evidence that the emission of greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere is forcing global climate change.

General circulation models (GCM) predict how changes in greenhouse gas concentrations will affect the atmosphere and oceans and, in turn, the global climate. However GCMs work at a coarse resolution, unsuitable for a country the size of Ireland.

W

The Community Climate Change Consortium For Ireland (C4I) has implemented a regional climate model (RCM) developed by the Rossby Centre in Sweden to provide a more detailed assessment of the predicted changes in Ireland’s climate through the 21st century.

Major changes are expected in terms of warmth and summer droughtiness, both factors are important for tree growth and survival. Figure 1 shows a comparison of the measured 30 year mean moisture deficit (MD — a droughtiness index) for the baseline period (1961-1990) and simulated for the period 2050-2080 for a mediumhigh carbon emissions scenario. The decadal frequency of extreme climatic events will also increase. In the last 10 years 1 severe drought occurred in the south and east of the country. Dry summers are predicted to increase so that 3-4 droughts per decade will occur over large parts of central, southern, and eastern Ireland by 2050, increasing to more than 7 droughts per decade towards the end of the century. In the south and east of Ireland, drought sensitive species such as Sitka spruce (Figure 2) and beech are very likely to become unsuited to freely draining soils, as well as shallow soils and soils prone to winter waterlogging, both of which restrict tree rooting depth. Irish forestry must therefore adapt to climate change.

This involves making changes to species, provenance selection, and silviculture.

There will be opportunities for ‘new’ species too, for example Monterey pine (Figure 3) and southern beech are both highly productive.

Figure 2 Longitudinal cracks and resin flows developing on a Sitka spruce stem in Durris forest (Grampian, Scotland) following the 2003 drought (© Crown Copyright 2007, Forestry Commission) The CLIMADAPT decision support tool will use new web-based technology, including Google maps and AJAX (Asynchronous Javascipt And Xml), to deliver spatial strategic analyses, as well as a site-based assessments for operational use. These tools are urgently required to guide strategic policy, to guide woodland grant incentives that will maintain a robust and sustainable forest policy response to climate change.

Tools are also required to support the operational response, to identify potential site and climate related problems, to identify well-adapted species, provenance and silvicultural systems. CLIMADAPT DSS tools will be available in 2009.

Figure 3 Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) A species that is suitable in the south and east of Ireland; it is drought tolerant, exposure tolerant, tolerant of infertile soils, and fast growing (© Crown Copyright 2007 - Forestry Commission Picture Library).

Figure 1 Average moisture deficit (mm) calculated for two 30 year climate periods from c4i regional climate model simulations, for a) the baseline period 1961-1990, and b) the period 2051-2080 for the medium-high emissions scenario.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 7

SPIN

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UPFRONT

When compared to the bones of a modern bird the dinosaur fossils show a similar structure to facilitate rapid respiration.

Dino breath BIRDS burn a lot of energy, and their respiratory system has to be a lot more efficient than ours to sustain flight.

Even if we had fine bird-like bones, our muscles and lungs would not allow us to take flight. Where did birds get

Kissing bug MOST people would think twice before giving a big animal, such as an elephant, a jab, even if it was being done for their own good. Drawing blood to monitor the health of an elephant is not easy, but the Curator of Wuppertal Zoo in Germany, Andre Stradler, has found a neat way to get around that

their superior ability from? From their dinosaur ancestors, is the answer given by researchers from the University of Manchester. Dr Jonathan Codd, from the Faculty of Life Science, said that the theropod dinosaurs had similar respiratory systems to present-day birds. By examining dinosaur fossils, Dr Codd

and a team including palaeontologists, found moveable bones, known as uncinate processes, which facilitate deep breathing in birds. These dinosaurs, said Dr Codd, “possessed everything they needed to breathe using an avianlike air-sac respiratory system.”

The dinosaurs studied by the group had long uncinate processes, similar to those of diving birds. The findings show that dinosaurs equipped with bird-like respiratory systems must have led very active lives.

problem. As anyone who has ever been bitten knows, lots of insects are well equipped to do the job of extraction, and one type, the Triatomid, or ‘Kissing Bug’ has become popular with zoo keepers and vets as a natural blood collector. The reference to kissing comes from the less than welcome habit of biting people in the face as they sleep.

In South America that kiss can transmit

the parasite that proliferates within the bloodstream to cause Chagas Disease.

There are several types of Triatomid kissing bugs, and at Wuppertal Zoo it was found that disease free insects from North America could be pressed into service. The bugs are let loose on the skin where they can spend up to half an hour gorging on blood. The blood is then simply extracted from the insect using a syringe.

Recently, Andre Stradler brought the kissing bugs to Dublin Zoo, where they were used to monitor Yasmin, an Asian elephant as she entered the late stages of pregnancy. Dublin Zoo Director, Leo Oosterweghel, said that it is important to monitor the mother elephant’s progesterone, but taking blood with a needle could cause her to become upset and stressed. The kissing bugs have solved that problem, and Dublin Zoo reports that the quality of the samples has improved because they are not contaminated by stress hormones.

Given the success of the method, kissing bugs are likely to be used more widely in checking the health of other zoo animals.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 8

SFI Attracts International Researchers to Ireland Mr Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, recently announced details of a €44.55 million funding award that will create 67 new research posts in Higher Education Institutes, under the Science Foundation Ireland Stokes Professorship and Lectureship Programme.

The programme which will support 32 Professorships and 35 Lectureships is aimed at recruiting senior, world-class research academics as well as entry-level academics and senior post-doctoral researchers. Successful candidates are internationally-competitive, researchactive academics, performing at the highest level appropriate to their career point.

Highlighting the importance of the programme in meeting the objectives of the Government’s Strategy for Science and Technology Innovation (SSTI), Minister Martin, said; “The central role of education and in particular higher education in Ireland’s economic success is beyond debate. We require significant support for new posts at Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) to achieve the next phase of our national development ambitions, and the Stokes Programme will be a key element in meeting this requirement.”

science foundation ireland fondúireacht eolaíochta éireann

their staffing, to integrate quality staff into the current base of permanent staff and to add to their net pool of expertise.”

SFI is providing direct funding amounting to €180,000 for Stokes Professorships and €90,000 for Stokes Lectureships and the funding is awarded for up to five years.

These Stokes nominees all have a proven record of internationally-recognised Breakdown of Awards by Institution Institute

Awards

University College Dublin Trinity College Dublin NUI Galway NUI Maynooth Dublin Institute Technology Dublin City University Royal College of Surgeons Ireland University College Cork Teagasc University of Limerick Dundalk IT IT Sligo IT Tallaght

16 14 8 6 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 1

TOTAL

67

independent research accomplishments and have at least two years of independent research experience beyond the PhD or equivalent. Schools within the HEIs nominated the applicants for the Stokes Award programme. SFI received 172 applications for Lectureships and 89 for Professorships. Following an international review process SFI approved the awards under the Stokes Programme to 67 nominated candidates (32 Professorships and 35 Lectureships).

The HEIs are now completing contract negotiations with the successful Stokes awardees.

The Stokes Programme is named after Sir George Gabriel Stokes (1819-1903), the Irish mathematician and physicist who was born in Skreen Co Sligo. Stokes made several important contributions to fluid dynamics (c.f., Navier-Stokes equations), optics and maths physics (c.f., Stokes Theorem). Like Isaac Newton, he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a Parliamentary representative for Cambridge University and a President of the Royal Society.

Stokes made key contributions to the foundations of, what we now call, Information & Communications Technology and Biotechnologies.

We also need to continue to build on the growing international recognition that Ireland is an attractive location for research. Of the 32 Stokes Professorships awarded today, 30 are being allocated to scientists from outside of Ireland. It substantially increases the recognition that Ireland is a location of choice for internationally competitive researchers and offers an environment of competitive excellence. It is an extremely positive signal for Ireland that such eminent researchers have chosen to further their scientific careers here.” he concluded.

Commenting on the programme, Professor Frank Gannon, Director General, SFI, said; “The Stokes Programme will allow more flexible and proactive recruiting by HEI’s of key scientific and engineering researchers. It should allow departments in HEIs to strategically plan

Prof. Frank Gannon, Director General SFI; Mr. Micheál Martin, TD Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment and Prof. Pat Fottrell, Chairperson SFI (centre) with a group of the nominees for the Stokes Programme.

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SPIN

Shedding daylight on Irish bats Ten species of bat make Ireland their home, but despite the fact many of them like to ‘hang out’ close to us humans in our houses, churches and old buildings, we know very little about them. A bat survey is underway to find out more about our bats, how many there are, and how they live their lives. It is hoped this work can help with bat conservation efforts, writes Anthony King.

Ireland

The bat most commonly encountered in Ireland is the pipistrelle, which weighs the equivalent of just five paperclips. They fly at head height, swooping irregular ‘loop-the-loops’ in jerky manoeuvres as they chase midges. A single bat can chomp through three thousand in one night.

Bat expert Conor Kelleher said the pipistrelle bat’s habit of feeding around streetlights makes them obvious in urban areas. They roost in attics and under roof slates. A modern house in the Lee Valley in Cork boasts the largest bat colony in Ireland with about 2,000 individuals. For the last 30 years, bats from the surrounding countryside and villages have flown to this house to have their babies.

It makes for an impressive sight in the morning, said Conor: “They can’t all fit in, so they tend to flock around the house, so you get a swarm of 200 to 300 bats.” Pipistrelle colonies, he said, usually have less than 100 bats and other species roost in much smaller numbers.

Hunters

Above left, Leisler’s bat, and, right Brown Long Eared. Photo Austin Hopkirk.

Detecting bats at night.

Social

Bats are social animals and on warm days and just before venturing out, the pipistrelles can be heard chattering to one another. They also use sound to navigate. Bats emit very loud calls as they fly and use the returning echo to build up an acoustic picture of their environment; they can discern distance, speed and direction of a moth. The calls of Irish bats are an ear-splitting 110 decibels, as loud as a passenger jet taking off; fortunately the pitch of these calls is too high for us to hear. Having their own sonar system and being the only mammals to fly has made bats an evolutionary success story. One-quarter of all mammals are bats — over 1,000 species. Found throughout the world, they are especially numerous in the tropics, where fruit bats are important pollinators.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 10

Of the ten species of bat in Ireland, Leisler’s bat is the largest. Conor Kelleher said this bat is known as “the Irish bat” on the continent because we have the highest national population.

They are doing well in urban areas, and can be seen flying up and down Dollymount and Sandymount Strand in Dublin. “They come out of the town houses along the strand and feed along the beaches and over the sea,” said Conor Kelleher.

Built for speed, they have long narrow, sickle-shaped wings; they fly high, but make shallow dives to bag flies and beetles. “Because they are large and fast, they are not worried about being picked off by crows and so can be seen flying in the early evening before the sun goes down.”

Our smaller bats come out after sunset and are dark brown or grey in colour and, to our ears, silent. For bat watchers, a bat detector is thus essential kit. These handheld devices cost as little as fifty euros and convert bat calls to audible frequencies. Bats occur in urban areas; the lough in Cork City for instance is home to five species.

Echolocation

Over 65 million years ago, bats evolved the ability to detect moths and other insects by echolocation.

This rendered night-flying moths easy targets; an evolutionary arms race followed, and many moths and other night-flying insects evolved hearing SPIN

“The bat most commonly encountered in Ireland is the pipistrelle, which weighs the equivalent of just five paperclips” organs on their bodies to detect approaching bats. Once these moths detect bat calls, they take evasive action, zigzagging or by dropping to the ground. To counter this insect surveillance, some bats evolved whispering calls.

The brown long-eared bat is one such bat; they can pass very close to detectors without being heard. Their enormous bat ears, up to one-third their body length, allow them listen to the low returning echoes of their whispers.

Conor Kelleher said the best way to see this bat is to look upwards into a broadleaf tree and look for a bat moving from leaf to leaf, with two huge ears sticking out against the night sky. They sneak up on moths and have such fantastic hearing that sometimes they don’t even echolocate.

“He can hover in front of leaves and hear the footsteps of an insect or spider as they crawl,” explains Kelleher. They thus glean prey from the canopy and may use their large eyes.

Bat Surveys

Members of Bat Conservation Ireland this summer surveyed sixteen roosts of brown long-eared bats. Three types of buildings were looked at: castles, churches and cathedrals, and 18thcentury mansions. Tina Aughney of Bat Conservation Ireland says these bats like big, open, complex roof spaces and avoid heated buildings.

“They use the attic space to fly around, doing acrobatic exercises and testing the air to make sure climatic conditions are right for foraging.” If conditions are unsuitable, they will feed on whatever insects are in the building, she said.

Nursing colonies form a roosting ball, said Tina Aughney, with the adults on the perimeter offering insulation and protection for the young bats within.

Since 2003, BCI members and the animal ecology group at the National Park and Wildlife Service have

A derelict cottage provides shelter for Lesser Horseshoe bats.

Photo: Conor Kelleher.

Horseshoe bat roosting on a string.

Photo Conor Kellaher. recorded pipistrelle and Leisler’s bats using advanced detectors attached to cars. But last year, Bat Conservation Ireland offered members of the public the opportunity to get involved in bat research. Hundreds of volunteers surveyed canals and rivers, counting the number of times Daubenton’s bats flew past. These bats are easily

identified because they skim low over waterways – they can use their tail to scoop insects from the water surface. With a bat detector tuned to 45 KHz, volunteers could also hear the bats approaching. Bat Conservation Ireland now has plans to survey and map the distribution of all Irish bats.

The only well documented bat species in Ireland is the lesser horseshoe bat, said Tina Aughney. “It is our only Annex II bat species and therefore has a much higher priority for conservation under the EU habitat directive,” she said.

It is the only Irish bat that must free hang in its roost — it can’t bend its knees. This makes it easier to count and the population in Ireland, restricted to six western counties, is

Caption Daubenton Bat, Photo: Bat Conservation Trust.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 11

estimated at 12,500. The other nine species are more crevice dwelling and so not easy to count in roosts. “We don’t have any information that comes close to estimating the population of these species,” said Tina Aughney.

During winter, many species hibernate in underground sites or outhouses, though some will hide under roof tiles or behind loose tree bark. They reduce their body temperature to conserve energy and disturbance at this time can be very harmful.

Lesser horseshoe bat The lesser horseshoe bat is a fussy bat that requires special conditions, explains Kate McAney of the Vincent Wildlife Trust. They used to be the bat of the big mansion house, but with so many of these now gone, they have moved down the property ladder.

They roost in ruined buildings during the summer, preferring unoccupied cottages with thatch or slate roofs.

With rising property prices, even these abandoned dwellings are under threat.

The Vincent Wildlife Trust has bought or leased a number of the properties and the bats thrive in these reserves.

Two views of Daubenton’s Bat. Photo: Bat Conservation Trust.

Like all Irish bats, they feed on insects.

The lesser horseshoe needs to fly directly to its roost like a swallow; it is also unique in emitting an extremely high frequency call (110 KHz). Kate McAney said this high frequency allows it to decipher extremely fine detail, but the call dissipates rapidly.

This renders it an expert navigator in cluttered environments, but it avoids flying across wide open spaces. Linear landscape features such as hedges, tree lines and even stone walls are therefore essential to this bat, she said.

Bat Conservation

Linear features like hedgerows are extremely important for most bat species. “My biggest concern is the loss of hedgerows and intensive use of pesticides,” said Tina Aughney.

She also cites the renovation of old buildings as having detrimental effects on bats. The effect of light pollution, especially for woodland species, may be of concern. John Altringham, UK bat expert, who delivered the keynote address at the recent Irish Bat

Predators

There are no natural predators specialised in eating bats in Ireland, though barn owls will snatch bats around their roosts and nests. Peregrine falcons and kestrels have been seen picking them off, and a large bat colony in Cork is routinely predated by a sparrow-hawk. The most lethal predator of Irish bats, however, is probably the domestic cat. Cats have high frequency hearing and can hear the bats at roost. They will catch them as they come out, though they won’t actually eat them. Many young bats fall prey to the domestic cat while learning to fly. Experts suspect that the family cat has a massive effect on bat populations.

Conor Kelleher said: “If people know there is a bat roost nearby or if the cat brings one home, we advise them to keep the cat in at night time during the summer. Once a cat identifies a roost, it will see it as a bit of fun and go back night after night.”

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 12

Conference, says habitat fragmentation is an important issue in Ireland and the UK. The biggest threats are the destruction of feeding areas and roosts and the separation of feeding areas from roosts, as well as the isolation of small populations, he says.

Anyone wanting to help bat conservation can put up bat boxes or plant trees and insect-friendly shrubs and become aware of developments in their area. “Bat boxes are only a foot high but you can get 70 to 80 bats squeezed into one,” said Conor Kelleher. “It allows them more alternative roosting sites.” He added that ponds in gardens and nightscented flowers like honeysuckle will encourage bats and their insect prey into gardens. Having bats in your garden can make barbeques more comfortable, since they will keep the midges away.

Bat conservationists advocate common sense mitigation measures for bats, such as hedgerow conservation and protection of roost sites. Tall trees either side of a road with light underneath will channel bats over a road and away from traffic, for example.

Bats are a mysterious group of animals and there is a great deal yet to be discovered. Intensive study only began in the 1960s when the technology to study them was developed. “Things like squirrels and pine martens have been studied for centuries. Bat studies are in their infancy, so it’s a very good area for any budding naturalist,” said Conor Kelleher. “There’s huge scope to make new discoveries.” For example, pipistrelles were assigned to a single species until 1993, when it was discovered that there are in fact two species, the common pipistrelle (which echolocates at 45 KHz) and the soprano pipistrelle (55 KHz). They roost separately and appear to have

different food and habitat preferences.

Molecular studies

Two other Irish species, the whiskered and Brandt’s bat, are similarly difficult to tell apart: they echolocate in the same way and look similar.

Emma Teeling’s research group in University College Dublin has been applying molecular techniques to such problems, using specific sequences of DNA to differentiate whiskered and Brandt’s bats. Teeling’s previous work at the National Institutes of Health in the US led to a paper on the evolution of bats in the prestigious journal Nature. PhD students in her lab are now studying the evolutionary relationships of bats, the evolution of the senses in bats, and the genetics of the bumblebee bat.

The bumblebee bat is the smallest mammal in the world; a population in Thailand and a recently discovered population in Burma echolocate differently and Emma Teeling’s group is examining whether there are actually two species of this rare bat.

The UCD group is also studying the genetics of the lesser horseshoe bat, research that may show how Irish and European colonies are related and where Irish colonies originated from after the Ice Age. Emma Teeling said she is excited about the potential of molecular studies of bats to answer many fundamental biological questions.

Her work in the US was linked to the human genome project and she believes genetic studies on bats can have biomedical implications and offer insight into human genes and diseases.

The United States considered using bats with incendiary bombs against Japanese cities during World War II Flying foxes, or Old World fruit bats, rely on their large eyes rather than echolocation to find food, which is mainly fruit, flowers, nectar and leaves A torpid brown long-eared bat slows it heart rate and drops its body temperature to 5ºC; it spends only 0.7 percent as much energy as when fully active at the same temperature

Myths

Bram Stoker created an image problem for bats. Vampire legends in Europe and Asia existed for hundreds of years, but vampires were never bats.

The myth was born when Stoker’s Count Dracula flitted around London as a large blood-sucking bat. Though there are over one-thousand bat species, there are just three species of vampire bat, all in South America, and just one species sucks the blood of mammals. Ironically, the vampire bat is also one of the few animals to show true altruistic behaviour. Bats will share a blood meal with a hungry

roost mate.

Bat Conservation Ireland says it often explains to people that bats are not rodents and breed slowly. They have just one baby per year and can live up to 40 years. The group often gets calls from people claiming to have found a baby bat – it’s usually an adult. Given that a pipistrelle can fit in a matchbox, the small size of Irish bats surprises most people.

Bats are not blind and few are so accident prone as to tangle in hair.

Indeed, researchers using fine mist nets to capture bats find themselves frequently outwitted by bat sonar.

Future prospects

Bats are an easily overlooked but important member of our native fauna. Their numbers are under threat throughout Europe; habitat destruction, insecticides, and intensive farming may be impacting on Irish populations. Conor Kelleher said that he believes some bat species have gone extinct in Ireland in historical times, but hopes that some species such as the large noctule bat in Britain may yet return to our shores. Public interest in bats has increased enormously.

Anyone interested in bats can visit Bat Conservation Ireland’s website and consider joining the organisation and volunteering for survey work. An interest in these intriguing animals, a bat detector and a warm jacket are all that’s needed for some nocturnal fun.

Anthony King is a science graduate of TCD and has a Masters in Science Communication from DCU.

Although small, bat boxes can accommodate 70 or 80 individuals.

Left, Common Pipistrelle. Right, Whiskered Bat. Photos Phil Richardson.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 13

Chilling lessons from the past

Glendalough, and inset, pollen from Alnus (Alder), Corylus (Hazel), and Betula (Birch).

Climatic change is nothing new, but as Tom Kennedy reports, an Irish study shows that transitions, beyond human control, can occur much faster than we expect.

T

he only predictable thing about climate is that it will continue to change. Climate has never been stable, and, whether we like it or not, it never will be. Most of our ideas about climate change come from the closing years of the Ice Ages, as distant from us as a geography lesson. We often assume that these were changes over an extended period of time, and that once the ice caps had retreated, we entered into an extended period where season seemed to follow season with predictable regularity. The stories about our greatgrandparents going ice-skating on the Boyne and Liffey, seem like no more than minor variations on a well-worn seasonal theme, yet we now know that Ireland’s climate did change even more significantly over the past 10,000 years.

There were periods of intense cold, and, during the Bronze Age, there were extended periods of near Mediterranean conditions, and some of those changes appear to have been big enough to influence the pattern of human settlement.

In the same way as we think of the Ice Ages as remote, we often think of

climatic change as gradual, yet this impression of a slow drift, explained Prof Haslett from TCD is false. As he explained, change, when it occurs, can be startlingly abrupt.

One of the main reasons why we assume that changes are slow and gradual is that the available information has usually been averaged out over time. At the recent Science Foundation Ireland research summit,

Prof Haslett explained that a closer look at the data reveals that the abruptness of climate change could take us all by surprise.

Prof Haslett has been working with a multi-discipinary team on reconstructing the palaeoclimate of Glendalough. By examining pollen in sediment cores from the lower lake, the team has come up with evidence to show the occurrence of a sharp and

The changing proportions of pollen in Glendalough cores. Chart based on work by John Haslett, Simon Wilson, Michael Salter-Townshend, Andrew Parnell, Trinity College Dublin. Also, Alan Gelfand, Duke University, and Brian Huntley, Judy Allen, University of Durham

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 14

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relatively sudden fall in temperature.

The outer coat of wind blown pollen from plants is amazingly robust, and every species has a distinctive shape and pattern. Thousands of years later the pollen can be examined under a microscope, and by looking at the relative proportion of hazel, juniper, alder, and other species, scientists can determine what sort of climate occurred at the time.

Prof Haslett, a statistician, who describes himself as part of the mathematics community, said his main concern is to reduce the uncertainty in analysing the pollen and other associated data. If we can be more precise in interpreting this data, he explained, we can become better in modelling abrupt climate changes in the future. Over the past 10,000 years, he said, there have been many serious changes, yet, he asks: “what do we know about abrupt climate change?

The answer is, almost nothing.”

At Glendalough the team have been looking at cores covering the last 13,000 or so years, and at one stage, about 10,000 years ago, the growing season for trees was seen to increase by more than two thirds. This is thought to have been the equivalent of going from Arctic tundra conditions, where the

upper valley would have been under a thick sheet of ice, to the sort of climate we enjoy today. This change, said Prof Haslett, was big, yet it occurred in just a few years. We do not know, for certain, he said, and while some scientists might take a guess at ten years, Prof Haslett believes the change may have occurred over 20 years. “No matter what sort of time it took”, he observed, “it was fast.”

Glendalough is just one of over 7,000 sites being examined around the world, and one of the objectives is to see how the data can be co-ordinated to give a broader picture of climate in the past.

The cores taken from Glendalough go down 15 metre, and samples from different levels are extracted for examination back in the lab. The ratio of species at any level, explained Prof Haslett, can be related to samples from other sites. “Somewhere in the world,” he said, “we would see the same pattern.”

To achieve more accuracy, and to gain a broader view, scientists have to look beyond pollen. There are uncertainties with pollen, said Prof Haslett, making it difficult to pin point events in time. Pollen, blown by the wind, may take a while to find its way into lake sediment, and if it comes

from a long-lived species, such as oak, there is no way for the observer to see if it comes from new, or old, well established trees. ‘Pollen is not the way to go for high resolution,” remarked Prof Haslett.

“There are other sources of information, such as tree rings, or the Greenland ice cores.” The more data we can look at the better, he said. “We don’t really know what the climate was like,” he said, “all we can talk about is degree of probability.”

The Greenland ice cores go back much further in time, and as Prof Haslett remarked, “our study at Glendalough concerns the last little bit.” Even so, the Greenland ice cores show that variability was a significant feature of the more distant past and the present era of stability is highly unusual. “The last 10,000 years,” said Prof Haslett, “has been astonishingly smooth, and astonishingly warm.”

In the past there was not just one, but a whole series of ice ages, and if the long term pattern is anything to go by, the current interglacial is due for a change. As the study at Glendalough suggests, a swing from one type of climate to another, completely outside human control or intervention, could occur much faster than we expect.

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Making and breaking The impact of climate change on society Traces of a vanished people, driven out of the Sahara by climate change

C

limate has an enormous impact on how and where we live, and we have to look no further than County Mayo to see how an extensive prehistoric settlement dwindled as conditions deteriorated, allowing peat to cover abandoned farmland.

Many of the population movements in the past were probably caused by climate change,

and some archaeologists believe that global warming may have been the trigger for the emergence of city states.

Brian Fagan, emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of California, in his book, How climate changed civilization, argues that prolonged drought put people from small farming villages in Mesopotamia under pressure to share precious resources, such as water. This, in turn

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 15

led to the emergence of bureaucratic structures and centralised power with all the attendant trappings of civilization. Thus climatic change could have led to the emergence of early cities, such as Ur, and the growth of power in Egypt, the Indus Valley, north central China, and the northern coast of Peru.

While climatic change may have had a positive side, forcing people

Some of the animals recorded by the Western Sahara project team, and below, the landscape as it is now. to share and manage resources, the usual impact is more likely to have been negative. For some time, archaeologists have wondered why images of birds and water-loving animals occur deep in the Sahara.

Archaeologists from Norwich, investigating one area of desert in the western Sahara, have found lots of evidence to show that a humid climate flora and fauna once existed there, and that traces of human settlement could be traced back 150,000 years. Under the Western Sahara project, directed

by Nick Brooks, Maria Gaughnin,

a PhD student from the University of Edinburgh has been recording outlines of animals cut into flat stones at Sluguilla, a site extending over a length of 26 km. Although the area

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 16

is now dry desert, the images of giraffes, elephants, rhinos and other animals stand out as evidence that the region must have been a rich hunting ground.

After thousands of years climate change forced the original inhabitants to move or starve. No one yet knows what became of these people, but one of the team, earth scientist, Ann Mather, from the University of Plymuth, hopes to determine a date for their departure by looking for sediments covered by the first drifts of sand.

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SCIENCE SPIN

Choosing SCIENCE

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

That’s Life It's in the genes

The Maynooth Experience

Dr Shirley O’Dea Dept of Biology NUI Maynooth

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

go.nuim.ie

Science FOR LIFE

Scientist and writer, MarieCatherine Mousseau, talks to some of those who have moved on into rewarding careers.

Mads Haahr is a scientist who likes to look at the bigger picture.

What science is about

The word science is derived from the Latin word scire, meaning “to know.” Accumulating knowledge — knowledge about ourselves, other living beings, our planet, the Universe — is the fundamental objective of science. Many of those who chose to study science, and regardless of the field they got into, originally shared the same passion for understanding.

About knowledge and creativity

Siobhan Mitchell who studied Pharmacology in UCD before doing a PhD in Molecular Medicine describes her attraction to science by “the ability to question, unravel and finally understand”. She explains: “For me, science has and will always enter every aspect of my life. Science presents you with a multitude of challenges and questions; it brings you on a continuous quest for knowledge and it ignites a sense of adventure that can only be addressed by teasing out every step and process.”

Mads Haahr is from Denmark and has been studying in TCD in a completely different area, computer science. But when talking about his passion for science his language is similar: “science is really about knowledge of the world, about how everything works, and I think that is intensely fascinating.”

But science is not only about knowledge; it is about coming up

with innovative ways to use this knowledge. With the fascination for understanding goes the passion for innovation that stimulates those young scientists to come up with new ideas about how to apply their knowledge: “Science allows an immense amount of creativity, not just as part of the work that scientists do (which I think is very creative but requires a lot of perspiration too) but also in terms of what can be done with the knowledge once it has been acquired.

Understanding things is hugely enabling. It allows us to build all sorts of things, solve all sorts of problems,” Mads says.

That’s where scientists’ attitude may diverge, depending on the path they choose. Oliver Mason and John O’Brian both studied maths because they like the idea of applying maths to solve problems: “the relevance of mathematics to so many applications in the world around us is a very strong motivation,” says Ollie.

“Among the sciences, geography and geology, astronomy and in particular meteorology have always interested me; but the application of mathematics to understanding how things work was, and still is, the sweet spot,” says John.

For those in the life sciences, the motivation might come from their medical applications. “I like the mix of science and medicine and I have always wanted to maintain the interest I have in both,” says Siobhan. You can use scientific knowledge and

apply it to questions in medicine, such as processes underlying particular diseases. Science teaches you to tease things apart to a minute level of detail, but medicine ensures that you never forget the bigger picture.”

Aoife Crowley chose her study path for similar reasons: “In my final year at school we had a talk on biotechnology and how important it was going to become in the future. I decided then and there that it was what I wanted to study. I loved the idea of using biology in the production of medicines and foodstuffs.”

Mads, however, prefers to retain the bigger picture, in the old tradition of the great scientists who founded modern science: “Scientists tend to box themselves in a little bit these days, which I think is a pity. I really consider myself a multidisciplinarian, a scientist sort of in the Renaissance tradition if you will, which I think is a little unusual.”

Building a career

How can this passion be maintained when the mundane tasks of career building become paramount? Well, there are many ways by which it can.

The same spark can open up a broad range of career possibilities.

Some choose to pursue their quest for knowledge by remaining in academia. “I think I always was interested in academic life,” says Dave Malone who studied pure maths and computer in TCD. “My work today is mainly research, which probably

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

School of Science in GMIT Department of Mathematics & Computing Computing now pervades nearly all aspects of our everyday lives.

Computer experts/specialists are found in every walk of life Retail, Manufacturing, Education, Research, Administration, Medicine, Distribution, Insurance, Banking, Film/Game/Video/Music Production, Public and Civil services. Few, if any, modern businesses could survive without computing.

A career in computing is exciting but it is demanding and will involve continual learning of new technologies.

Courses at GMIT reflect the job environment and we have a high reputation for satisfying the needs of the marketplace. We constantly review our course content and regularly update our syllabi. This is reflected in the introduction of a new degree course in Business Computing and Digital Media that gives the student a broad base in modern computer skills and positions the student for potential entry to a wide range of employment opportunities.

The entry-level courses start at the fundamentals of computing.

We offer two ordinary Bachelor of Science Degrees.

1. Bachelor Degree in Business Computing and Digital Media Subjects studied include multimedia development, network computing, digital photography, computer forensics, applied modelling and simulation.

Graduates of this course have great career opportunities in the area of business computing, digital media and IT training and support.

2. Bachelor Degree in Computing (Software Development).

Subjects studied include systems analysis and design, operating systems design, software quality management, graphics, programming, database systems.

Graduates of this course will function as computer professionals in all areas of software design, development and maintenance.

We also offer two one year “add on” Honours level Degree courses which deepen the knowledge level and broadens the skill set the primary degrees.

The Bachelor Degree in Business Computing and Digital Media leads to: 1. B.Sc. (Honours) in Information Technology for Business.

The Bachelor Degree in Computing (Software Development) leads to — 2. B.Sc. (Honours) in Software Development.

Job placement for these courses has been very successful with many of our students receiving offers prior to leaving college.

The Software Development courses have a heavy emphasis on practical programming whereas the business/ media-oriented courses are directed towards the provision and deployment of computer-related solutions, presentations and products.

At post-graduate level the School offers a modular M.Sc.in Computing.

This course was carefully designed in close collaboration with local industries. It is ideally suited to existing I.T. professionals and features a range of advanced subject modules as well as a convenient course delivery schedule.

Graduate profiles Kenneth Kirrane

Kenneth is originally from Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, and graduated from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in 2001 with a B.Sc. in Software Development. After his final exams, Kenneth journeyed “down under” to Australia to spend a year working and travelling in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. Upon his return in June 2002, Kenneth joined VistaTEC in Dublin in a QA role. VistaTEC is a leading Irish-owned provider of Localisation and Globalisation services. In November 2004, Kenneth returned to Galway and to the GMIT to undertake a Research Masters working on the “Billing4Rent” project, an Enterprise Ireland funded “Innovation Partnerships” project.

At the end of the Masters project,

Kenneth joined Vulcan Solutions; a leading provider of Business Applications and Custom Software Solutions to the Financial Services sector.

Sabrina McNeely

Sabrina is a Mayo native, hailing from Knockmore, near Ballina. Sabrina graduated with a B.Sc. in Software Development from the GalwayMayo Institute of Technology in 1999.

Upon finishing her B.Sc., Sabrina was employed by Nortel Networks. Nortel Networks are a leading developer and supplier of Telecommunications products, serving both service provider and enterprise

customers. Sabrina worked in Nortel’s Galway office for 2 years, before transferring to the Nortel Melbourne office in 2001 for 8 months. Upon leaving Nortel, Sabrina travelled throughout Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia, before returning to Ireland to join Celerity, a leading Irish provider of EDI and supply chain automation solutions, in January 2003. In November 2004, Sabrina also returned to Galway to undertake a Research Masters on the “Billing4Rent” project. At the end of the Masters project, Sabrina joined Storm Technology, a renowned Galway based provider of solutions for the Financial Services, Public Sector, Construction, Manufacturing, Engineering and Transport sectors.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

Department of Applied Sciences DkIT Department of Applied Sciences delivers high quality, relevant, science programmes in a friendly and supportive environment.

Further information on our website

www.dkit.ie or contact Head of Department, Dr. Breda Brennan (042 9370200) or breda.brennan@dkit.ie

YOUR FUTURE AS A SCIENTIST STARTS HERE Dundalk Institute of Technology DkIT Department of Applied Sciences is committed to providing high quality science programmes at a range of levels, with a strong emphasis on endowing graduates with the knowledge and skills that allow them to contribute to Ireland’s growing economic and technological success. The Department has completely overhauled its suite of programmes over the last few years to meet the challenges that our graduates will face in the 21st century. We are continuing with our roll-out of new programmes with the following currently under development: B.Sc. (Hons) in Environmental Biology (due to commence in 2008) B.Sc. (Hons) in Sustainable Agriculture B.Sc. in Veterinary Nursing M.Sc. in Sustainable Aquatic Science

Five good reasons to do Science at DkIT:

1. All of our standard science programmes lead to B.Sc. (Honours) level degrees. There are also opportunities to continue your studies to Masters or Doctoral level in one of our highly successful research centres, the National Centre for Freshwater Studies and the Smooth Muscle Research Centre.

2. All of our graduates are in employment or further studies and the vast majority of our graduates are in full time employment and on an exciting career path. We have graduates working in

Pharmaceuticals Biopharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Food/Drinks Industry, Agriculture, Chemicals, Biotechnology, Research and the Environmental Sector.

3. Although our department has grown significantly over the past five years and continues to grow, we are still ‘small and friendly’. This means that students to get to know each other and their lecturers very quickly and allows us to give students a great deal of individual attention and support.

4. Most of our programmes include an accredited work placement module.

5. DkIT has a large, vibrant campus with an array of top-class student facilities such as a new restaurant, crèche, student accommodation and sports facilites.

The following programmes are currently on offer.

All programmes have a modularised, semesterised structure.

Higher Certificate in Science in Agriculture (2 years) B.Sc. in Agriculture (1 year) B.Sc. in Applied Biosciences (3 years) B.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Science (3 years) B.Sc. in Food Science and Health (3 years) B.Sc. (Hons) in Food Innovation (1 year) B.Sc. (Hons) in Biopharmaceutical Science (1 year)

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

isn’t what I originally had in mind when I was thinking of academia, but I enjoy it.”

Dave is now a research fellow at the Hamilton Institute in NUI Maynooth. The Hamilton Institute is a research institute that has a mix of engineers, computer scientists and mathematicians working on applications of mathematics in computer networking, biology, computer science. “The Hamilton Institute is a lively place to work as there is a lot of different research that I can understand going on there,” Dave says.

Ollie also works at the Hamilton Institute, as a senior research fellow.

His daily activities would be similar to Dave’s or any research fellow there, including “a lot of reading to stay abreast of the most recent developments in my fields of interest; a combination of numerical and theoretical work to hopefully develop new and useful results; the preparation of publications and presentations for journals and conferences; helping with the supervision of students”.

Ollie comments: “I certainly enjoy my current position and feel extremely lucky to have a job that gives me the freedom and opportunity to work on topics that genuinely interest me.”

Freedom is actually one of the key advantages cited by those who managed to get a foothold in the academic arena. “My supervisor helped me to find good problems to work on, but I had a lot of freedom, as I had managed to get my own funding to cover my PhD. I think I enjoyed the freedom to pick problems,” says Dave.

But this also means discipline in managing this freedom.

“Learning to manage your time as both an undergraduate and postgraduate is important. Third level students typically have a lot of freedom, including the freedom not to finish their degrees!” he adds. Ollie shares the same view: “It is very important to appreciate that, while the career allows you great freedom, with this comes a need for considerable personal discipline.”

Teaching

Teaching is another possible academic path allowing lovers of science to keep abreast of

Ollie at the Hamilton Institute, continued to work in research. scientific developments. That’s the path Noel Cunningham chose. Noel studied applied physics in DCU and did a MSc in science communications in DCU/Queens before becoming a science/physics/applied maths teacher — a position that suits him very well. “I am interested in physics and also get on well with students so this combines both.” But he agrees that teaching is not the most natural way to go for those who think of their scientific area as their primary interest.

“Communication and physics are two rather different fields, and it’s unusual to find people with an interest in both,” he explains.

Breedette moved on from research into a career within the insurance business.

Additionally, teaching might not appeal to those keen to advance further in their field of expertise. This is Dave’s case. “I used to think that I would like to teach in secondary school, but in university I learned so many interesting things that I reckoned I couldn’t do it.” He explains: “Most of the maths that you learn at college isn’t relevant to secondary school students, but it is very interesting. I think I would have found it frustrating to have learned such interesting maths, but to not have a chance to teach it if I had been a secondary teacher.”

Noel reckons that the content of the syllabus might be one of the reasons putting many students off studying ‘hard’ sciences such as maths and physics. “The syllabus needs to be changed dramatically to incorporate ‘cool’ science: evolution, quantum physics, nanotechnology, global warming, big bang, astronomy etc,” he says. “I think I’m on safe ground when I say these are the topics that students are most likely to be interested in. The evidence is to be found by looking at what sells in the popular science section of bookstores, but good luck to you finding any of this on a science syllabus”. He adds: “Interestingly many of these topics are on the religion syllabus.”

However, there is the option to stay in academia while teaching more challenging topics: that is by becoming a lecturer.

Mads is now a lecturer in computer science in TCD and Course Director for the MSc in computer science (mobile and ubiquitous Computing). “I give three courses a year in Trinity College, all at masters level.

Most of the courses I teach are quite cutting edge, so there are few or no textbooks available, which means that preparing for the lectures is really like writing the textbook,” he says.

He continues: “The preparation work is really to organise the material in your brain so that it makes sense to yourself and the students. This is good fun, because to teach something well, you really need to understand it well too.” He concludes: “Teaching a course is also a learning experience.”

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

           

 what is physics?

Physics is a key part of science and technology; it deals with how and why things behave as they do.

Physics is used to solve problems and understand how the world works in every detail at the deepest level. An understanding of physics helps to solve environmental, social, health and technological challenges. Physics is in the tiniest building blocks of all materials up to the largest scales possible: in elementary particles, nuclei, atoms, molecules, macromolecules, living cells, solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, living organisms, the brain, complex systems, supercomputers, the atmosphere, planets, stars, galaxies and the universe itself. For careers in engineering and technology physics is essential. In all other careers physics is seen as highly valuable due to the training in logical thinking, abstract concepts and problem solving that can be applied.

physics helps discover

some of the job areas for physicists

how does ‘cling film’ cling? materials scientist, SMART materials how can we get cheap energy from sea waves? environmental physicist, waste management how can we save premature babies from dying? medical imaging, radiation treament how do contact lenses work? optics, nanotechnology why are the skies blue and sunsets red? nuclear science, atomic physics how can we improve the hearing of the nearly deaf person? research physicist, aeronautical engineer how do lasers help produce a hologram? silicon chip development, laser technology how does chaos theory apply to the financial markets? financial analysis, quantum computing how does an atomic clock work? low temperature physics, satellite design, space science how can we predict earthquakes? meteorology, oceanography how did the universe begin? astronomy, telescopes, particle physics

if you decide to become a physicist then in your training you will learn to work in teams to think logically to design experiments to explain your ideas to others to solve problems and think creatively to understand statistics, risk and error in measurement to use mathematics and computers in real life situations to observe events and ask sensible questions about them

Listing of all Physics courses in Ireland and career profiles http://www.iopireland.org/activity/careers/index.html Institute of Physics in Ireland c/o School of Physics, UCD, Dublin 4 T 01 7162216 F 01 2837275 alison.hackett@iop.org W www.iopireland.org

Another good thing about teaching in university is that it does not prevent you from running research projects as well. For example, one of Mads’ current projects is funded

by Enterprise Ireland and concerns sensor-based sports-training and entertainment. “There are many good things about being an academic. You get to work with smart, motivated students, and you can get to work pretty much on what interests you.

It’s very intellectually stimulating,” he says. “And the academic freedom is very attractive,” he adds.

Travelling

However, admittedly, permanent positions like Mads’ are rarely where you want them to be. “Even if you’re

good, I think you either have to be lucky that there’s a job exactly where you are, or you have to be willing to travel.” But there are bright sides. “Travelling is not a bad thing.

Studying and working in different places is a great way to see the world,” Mads says. David regrets he didn’t do it: “A number of people advised me to go abroad. I think this can often be good advice, as you get to see how different academic systems work and can draw on the best parts of each system.”

Indeed, many young scientists do travel, thanks to science, and get the opportunity to apply their knowledge to different settings around the world.

Breedette Hayes didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity. Breedette did a

John’s advice about a career in investment If you are considering a career in the quantitative investment world and are coming from a science background, I would probably advise completing a PhD or a good quantitative MSc. Because the investment world is constantly changing you need to convey the impression to prospective employers that you are keen on more and more learning. Hunger, intelligence and emotional maturity are perhaps the key attributes an employer will look for when hiring inexperienced people for investment roles — certainly I would not touch an investment role without being able to tick these three boxes.

A post-graduate degree is certainly very helpful and a PhD in a scientific or mathematical discipline is particularly highly valued in the investment industry. Nonetheless, it is perfectly possible to get there with none of the above (like myself) though frequently this may involve proving yourself in a stepping-stone job; in investment, a 3-year professional correspondence course called the CFA is recognised globally as a stamp of competence and doing these exams is a potential route to getting into the industry from outside.

Mad’s advice to students in computer science Computer science is a field with a wide spectrum, and you can do a more mathematically focused degree or one that has a stronger emphasis on engineering. In both cases, you need good maths, but you also need good writing skills to excel. I would encourage anyone who wants to do computer science to work hard and try and shape their degree to do things that they’re really passionate about. I consider computer science an excellent domain for doing really creative work.

With a masters you’re also in a really good position to land a job in industry. So even though it’s hard work, it’s also a really good qualification, no matter whether you want to go the industry route or the academic route or whether you’re not really sure yet. The taught MSc programmes open up both possibilities and give you the knowledge to make an informed choice about your future career.

Our school has a total of six Masters courses, all of which are very popular.

I’m responsible for the MSc in computer science (mobile and ubiquitous computing), which attracts a lot more applications than we have seats every year, so it’s quite competitive. It’s also a huge commitment for the students who get accepted. They work very hard for a full year, but they come away with a lot of extra professional ballast.

PhD in computation statistics before working as a research fellow for Edinburgh University in the area of forensic statistics. “I developed better numeric ways to evaluate forensic evidence,” she says. She explains that her research was mainly of interest to two groups: the forensic scientists and the judiciary, and the fellowship was partly sponsored by the Scottish crime investigation unit. Apparently, she enjoyed it. “The fellowship was interesting because it was very much cutting edge research with real visible benefits.”

Her interest was nevertheless not strong enough to keep her on the academic track much longer. Apart from the difficulties in pursuing a structured career, there were other aspects that put Breedette off. “The downside was that as an academic, I feel that you are never off the clock.

You are always thinking about your research.”

Outside academia

There’s no doubt that academic life is not for everyone. The good news is that whether you are more into life sciences or more into maths/physics/ engineering/computers, there are many ways out of academia. Aoife has just started a job as project officer in the Health Research Board (HRB) and is responsible for managing their programme grants — those that fund research such as the type she used to do. “With three other people we will have to go through 260 applications for the largest available HRB grant, and for each of them we need to find 3 external experts around the world willing to review it,” she explains While Aoife managed to stay close to her primary research interests, Breedette has moved on further away — in business. She is now working as a statistical analyst for Axa Insurance Ireland, and she seems to be happy with her move. “In Axa I also enjoy my work; part of that enjoyment being that I leave my work in the office when I leave for the weekend.

I also know there is real scope for career development both within the company and within industry, which for many reasons can be less the case in academia.” “The downside of Axa would be not always doing jobs you like,” she nevertheless agrees.

Admittedly, it is difficult to have the best of both worlds. But not impossible. John also moved on to

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

A science course at AIT is a route to a rewarding career

Dr Paul Tomkins writes that students have a wide choice of science subjects at Athlone Institute of Technology. hen it comes to choosing a course to study at third level, a number of factors are relevant. A student’s inherent interests, as well as career opportunities and flexibility should all impact on the selection process.

For those interested in pursuing a course in the area of science or technology, the news with regard to career prospects and earnings potential is very encouraging. In numerous studies

by Forfás and other bodies, it has been shown across a range of qualifications from primary degree to PhD level, that graduates in disciplines with a strong science and technology content tend to be better paid than graduates in other disciplines.

Only 3% of humanities graduates and 5% of commerce and business studies graduates earn more than €33,000 in their first year. None of the primary degree law or psychology graduates surveyed earned over €33,000, and only 25% earned over €23,800.

By comparison, 6.7% of chemistry graduates earned more than €33,000 in their first year, as did an average of 6.9% biosciences, 5.9% agricultural sciences, 6.7% nursing, 24.7% environmental sciences and 66.7% paramedical sciences.

W

With postgraduate science and technology qualifications, the probability of rapidly entering the high earning bracket increases significantly, with over 80% of PhD graduates in a range of areas, including engineering and biosciences, earning in excess of €33,000 in their first year.

Significantly, a science qualification also very effectively addresses baseline learning and generic skills which opens up a wide range of employment opportunities both inside and out of science.

The School of Science in Athlone Institute of Technology provides a supportive but challenging environment, in which students can gain the necessary

knowledge and understanding to launch and explore a variety of different career choices and opportunities.

The School has experienced substantial growth since the millennium, and now hosts almost 800 students from higher certificate to PhD. A wide range of degree programmes in areas such as toxicology, biotechnology, chemistry, agricultural science, general and psychiatric nursing, and veterinary nursing are offered.

The ladder system of education, for which institutes of technology are renowned, runs in parallel to the straight ab initio progression route and offers students a genuine choice of study modes.

Within the School, students have the choice of pursuing healthcare programmes such as nursing, dental nursing, veterinary nursing and pharmacy technician, or laboratory sciences including toxicology, biotechnology and chemistry.

The School is also a driver of research activity at AIT and devotes in excess of 1,000 m2 to R&D. The Centre for Biopolymer and Biomolecular Research, for example, undertakes advanced bioscience and chemistry-based research with healthcare and related applications.

Students on programmes at AIT can gain direct experience of advanced technologies, including Raman Confocal Microscopy, Impedance Spectrometry, 3D Bioreactors, Real time PCR, DNA arrays and 2D Gel Electrophoresis as well as advanced clinical and industrial placements, according to programme.

Anyone interested in learning more about science opportunities in AIT, should visit www.ait.ie or contact the School of Science on 090 642 4453.

Dr Paul Tomkins is Head of the School of Science at AIT.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

A recent PhD graduate, Dr Miriam KellyKirwan, with her supervisors, Dr Cepta Brougham and Dr Andy Fogarty.

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Think smart g n i y d u d t n s a f o g n i k Thin e s o o h c ? e g e l l o c n i e c GMIT ! scien The Department of Life & Physical Sciences at GMIT offers the following honours degrees: l APPLIED FRESHWATER & MARINE BIOLOGY

GA 780

l APPLIED BIOLOGY & BIOPHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE GA 781 l CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE GA 782 l PHYSICS & INSTRUMENTATION

GA 783

BE MORE THAN JUST A NUMBER !

While other colleges may have a few hundred students in year 1, we target approximately 100 students for our first year intake for the above courses combined, and furthermore students are in groups of 16 for laboratory work.

This ensures the best of both worlds – the low student numbers provide an excellent teaching environment and help ensure that you are successful in your studies. While, at the same time, you are in a college of over 6000 students in the student capital of Ireland!

DO YOU WANT TO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY ?

In GMIT our courses are unique in that students do project work from year 1 onwards. With many miniprojects and a number of major projects completed over the course of your degree you will learn vital skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and project management – skills much sought after by employers.

Practical work also forms a large element of our courses, and students gain excellent experience in completing laboratory practicals in state of the art

laboratories. Also, with many marks going for lab work, you can have accumulated a large percentage of your final mark before you sit any exams.

Other features of our courses:

WORK PLACEMENT Paid work placement is extremely valuable in providing work experience and job opportunities – many companies recruit the students that they have taken on for industrial placement.

APPLIED NATURE OF OUR COURSES The course material is designed in conjunction with employers and our courses are all applied in nature – giving our students an advantage when starting their career.

MODULARIZED COURSES This allows students more choice in which subjects they study.

FREE CHOICE OF WHICH COURSE YOU WISH TO PROGRESS TO IN YEAR 2 At the end of year 1, irrespective of which course you started, you can switch into year 2 of any of the above courses. This allows you time in year 1 to determine where your interests and strengths lie and to make a more mature decision with regard to your future studies.

More Info?

Phone: 091 742178 E Mail: science@gmit.ie Web: www.gmit.ie/science

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

Experience NUI Maynooth for Science and Engineering Experience More Science and Engineering Science or Engineering degrees from NUI Maynooth give you so much more. This starts with your choice of programme.

You can choose a specialised degree such as Physics with Astrophysics (MH204), Pharmaceutical Chemistry (MH210), or Biological and Biomedical Sciences (MH208), an ideal preparation for graduate entry to Medicine. Alternatively, you may prefer the flexible range of subjects available in the common entry Science degree (MH201). Choosing MH201 on your CAO form gives you the choice of B.Sc. (honours) degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Experimental Physics, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics or Theoretical Physics, but you specialise as you go through the course. Engineers too, have a range of choices in subjects such as Electronic Engineering (MH302) and Product design (MH305). Once again, you can select MH304 on the CAO form allowing you to follow a combined Engineering programme and specialise after you know more about the subject.

Experience a more friendly campus Oillscoil na hÉireann Má Nuad

Experience more choice at NUI Maynooth You have new choices and options at NUI Maynooth. From 2008, you won’t require a third language for entry to our degree courses in Science and Engineering, so you have more routes to starting your career.

For example our new four-year course Science Education (MH212) gives you a first class scientific training but also qualifies you to be a Science schoolteacher in two subjects without the need for additional postgraduate courses! Or why not look out for the B.Sc (Hons) Multimedia (MH211) where you study the fundamentals of media production in studios and labs– camera technique, sound recording, programming and editing. The course is taught by industry professionals and includes a one-year industrial placement.

You can get to NUI Maynooth quickly. The campus is only 25km west of Dublin, in Ireland’s foremost University town. It is the ideal size, and has a unique atmosphere; a place where it is easy to find your way round and bump into friends between lectures. Excellent rail, bus and road links make it very straightforward to travel rapidly to the University. Equally important, NUI Maynooth enjoys an unrivalled student social scene, and excellent accommodation and recreational facilities that include an on-campus swimming pool, gym, sports centre and playing fields. You can choose from over 70 clubs and societies covering every aspect of sporting, cultural and social activity that cater for every interest. Come and experience the friendly campus.

Experience more at go.nuim.ie

Science and Engineering at NUI Maynooth

The Maynooth Experience boosts your career

CAO Code

Degree Subject

You get more support as a Scientist or Engineer at NUI Maynooth. You will work with leading Researchers in worldclass facilities. The Dean of Science & Engineering explains: “Maynooth is the research home for some of Ireland’s top scientists and engineers.

It is our philosophy that students benefit from an early exposure to genuine research. Our top researchers, and industrial partners help make this happen.”

This direct experience of genuine research is supported by some of the finest laboratory facilities in Europe. It is not surprising that high tech industries seek out young scientists who have benefited from the Maynooth Experience

MH201 MH202 MH203 MH204 MH206 MH207 MH208 MH209 MH210 MH211 MH212 MH301 MH302 MH303 MH304 MH305

Science (Common Entry) Biotechnology Computer Science & Software Engineering Physics with Astrophysics Theoretical Physics & Mathematics Genetics & Bioinformatics Biomedical & Biological Sciences Psychology through Science Chemistry with Pharmaceutical Chemistry Multimedia Science Education Electronic Engineering with Computers Electronic Engineering Electronic Engineering with Communications Engineering (Common Entry) Product Design (Marketing & Innovation)

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

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business-applied maths, and found a job which seems to suit him perfectly.

“Recently, I have joined an IFSCbased start-up investment boutique firm — in effect a ‘financial solutions’ provider,” John says. Basically, their role is to assist other financial institutions (banks, insurance companies etc.) achieve their goals.

John gives an example of the kind of job he finds himself doing: “In recent weeks, I have spent some time analysing trends in UK and US life expectancy over the last 50-100 years with a view to understanding what a fair price might be for investing in ’longevity risk‘.”

Working in investment may not be as grim as it might sound.

“The investment world is rich with interesting research and new challenges, many if not most of which have a strong mathematical flavour,” he says.

As project manager with the Health Research Board, Aoife is involved with funding the sort of research she used to do.

Opportunities

And another good thing about investment is that there are lots of opportunities out there for science graduates: “There is a huge number of mathematicians, statisticians, engineers and scientists (especially physicists) employed in the investment profession,” John says.

“And Ireland has a lot of investment job opportunities, in particular for students coming out of strong postgraduate programs,” he continues.

John explains how he came to realise that college mathematics is perhaps more about mental training than about excellence in a particular field; and, “this training is of enormous value in the investment world,“ he says. “Often the best investments nowadays are quite

peculiar and require a good inquisitive mathematical brain to understand.”

Breedette shares the same view about business opportunities: “I think that maths students (or numerate students) will never have difficulty

getting a job from their degree,” she says.

In the computer science area, the story is similar. Mads points out that the majority of their MSc graduates actually go into industry,

Left, Noel with wife to be. Right, Dave and baby.

Noel Cunningham chose to teach. “I am interested in physics and get on with students.”

“I was always interested in research.” Dave Malone

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

Faculty of Science, Trinity College Dublin Explore, Challenge and Discover A - Z of Science at TCD

With a range of specialisations including Astrophysics, Biochemistry, Botany, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Genetics, Geography, Geology, Immunology, Microbiology, Molecular Medicine, Neuroscience, Physics, Physiology and Zoology; Science (CAO TR071) at Trinity College Dublin covers the A –Z of the science world.

At Trinity you have the choice of direct entry to specialised courses in Physics (TR035), Chemistry (TR074, TR075), Physics & Chemistry (TR076) and Human Genetics (TR073) or entry though Science (TR071).

As the only Irish university within the top 53 universities in the world, Trinity has world class scientists, teaching and research staff tackling some of the big challenges of today and tomorrow.

We want you to be part of this Science in Trinity enables you not only to become a scientist, but to be someone who uses their strong multidisciplinary position to initiate change in their world.

We do this by offering a broad course in the first two years. At Trinity you can study subjects you are well versed in and take a new challenge in areas of science previously unknown to you. Throughout your studies you are supported by a dedicated teaching staff. ”I decided to study science in Trinity because I knew I wanted to study environmental sciences but was not sure at the time of my Leaving Cert., which area I specifically wanted to concentrate on. With science in TCD, I got to try out a range of subjects before specialising” Trinity Science Graduate

The flexibility of Natural Sciences at Trinity will enable you to: l l l l l l l

Visit www.science.tcd.ie or www.tcd.ie/Admissions/ for more information on science at Trinity College Dublin including: l l l l l l

The University of Dublin Trinity College

Experience a broad range of science courses Specialise in your subject area of choice for your final degree Discover the interconnections between a range of science disciplines Gain an insight into scientific methods Work with world class researchers and academics Take some courses in other faculties in the university including languages Attain a globally recognised degree from a university with a four-hundred-year history of scholarship

Detailed course breakdown Direct entry courses Admission requirements Frequently asked questions How Science at Trinity is taught Day in the life of a Trinity science student

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

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and they rarely have problems finding jobs. “Many get hired as software developers and get to work with cool new technologies,” he says. Those with an entrepreneurial streak see an opportunity and decide to start their own business. For example, one of the guys who started DAFT (www.daft.ie) did one of our MSc programmes before,” he says. “I also get a continuous stream of emails from recruiters and from past students who are looking for the new graduates, so the opportunities are really good,” he concludes.

Do any of these students have any regrets? Compared to their life science counterparts — those I interviewed about their life-science related career — the answer was a bit more reflective. “Not really but I am fortunate in that the variety I have been able to achieve in work has prevented boredom,“ said John. “If I make a complete change of track, then certainly working in meteorology is something I would really love to do,” he added. “I don’t think I do have any regrets,” said Breedette. “But then again I can usually put a positive spin on most things.” “Not yet! Ask me again when I’m 93”, said Mads. I will.

All this reminds me of my own experience. I did a PhD in neurosciences in Paris, before moving to Dublin to do DCU/Queens MSc in science communication (like Noel did).

Obviously, I’m now writing about science (among other things). And one thing I like most about it is getting to interact with all sorts of motivated people.

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What science is about ?

Gemma (neurosciences): “It’s like a treasure hunt where you are the detective trying to interpret the clues to solve the mystery. “In my area the puzzle was ‘how does the brain work?’. I was always interested in how things work, why people behave the way they do and what happens to us during our lives that affect how we learn and age.”

Daniel (biochemistry, molecular genetic): “I was initially fascinated by chemistry and the structure of the atom, along with fascination at understanding biology at the molecular level. The concept of been able to understand something at the molecular or atomic level was a key attraction.

I liked nature in the broadest sense and studying science gave me a better appreciation and insight into this.”

Siobhan (pharmacology): “the ability to question, unravel and finally understand”. She explains: “For me, science has and will always enter every aspect of my life. Science presents you with a multitude of challenges and questions; it brings you on a continuous quest for knowledge and it ignites a sense of adventure that can only be addressed by teasing out every step and process.”

Oliver (maths and electronic engineering): “The freedom to investigate a problem in your own way and build your understanding has always attracted me.”

Dave (particle physics/maths): “I liked the idea that you could understand the complex world around you by combining basic ideas.”

John (maths): “I was curious from an early age, had a strong interest in figuring out how things worked and absorbed facts & figures.”

Mads (computer science): “science is really about knowledge of the world, about how everything works, and I think that is intensely fascinating.” ”There’s a point quite late in the PhD process where you can literally feel something changing in your brain. That was hugely satisfying. A PhD is like a marathon for the mind.”

Aoife (biotechnology): “I loved the idea of using biology in the production of medicines and foodstuffs.”

Amy (biotechnology): “I liked biology as a subject in school and thought I would like to work in the medical/pharmaceutical area. I decided on biotechnology as the course seemed to focus more on the biology side of science rather than chemistry which I wasn’t a fan of!”

Ollie’s presentation of the New Network Mathematics graduate programme Ollie will be acting as course co-ordinator on the Network Mathematics graduate programme — a new initiative in graduate education funded by the HEA as a joint venture between the Hamilton Institute at NUI Maynooth and the CTVR in

Trinity College. It will run over three years, with the first set of modules being delivered in July/ August 2008. The programme will provide a suite of graduate modules in fields of applied mathematics of direct relevance to applications in the broad area of networks and

communications. “Our aim is to provide graduate students and other interested groups with a solid foundation in core material that they will need to undertake networking research successfully” Ollie explained.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

JOIN THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION—SHAPE THE FUTURE! ACTUAL STUDENT FEEDBACK I thoroughly enjoyed my four years in IT Tallaght, it was very hard work but a brilliant course.—Finola The interviewer was confident in me because the other graduates he had hired in SAP from the IT-Tallaght were of a very high caliber. Rachel

2 Great Programme Streams - Computing or IT Management 1 great Choice—Computing at IT Tallaght

IT Tallaght Computing graduates work in Software Companies, IT Companies, Hospitals, Schools, County Councils, Banks….They work as Software Systems Developers, Game Developers, Network Managers, IT Managers, Business Analysts. Graduates work in Canada, USA, Australia….

B Sc (Hons) Computing—TA322 B Sc (Hons) IT Management—TA323 Barry Carroll, Extreme Blue intern with IBM receives ICS student of the year prize. Barry is now a metaverse developer for virtual worlds with IBM Further information: Dr. B. Feeney (Head of Department), Dept. og Computing, School of Science and Computing, ITT Dublin, Tallaght, D 24. www.ittdublin.ie barry.feeney@ittdublin.ie 01 4042402 Interested in our Web/ Game design competition or Summer school ?

Contact us!

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 3

Science for all all for Science Sean O’Leary, St. Caimin’s Community School, Shannon, Co. Clare writes that when we study science, we should also learn about sustainability. few years ago, scientists meeting at a conference in Sweden, pointed out that development does not have to be accompanied by habitat destruction, poverty, suffering, and disease. Science, they argued, can be sustainable.

As a science teacher in St. Caimin’s Community School in Shannon, I was inspired by this concept of sustainability science. My interest in this prompted me to become involved with Green Schools, an international programme for environmental management and sustainable development education. I thought the holistic, inclusive approach, combining learning with action, made the programme ideal for our school, and it challenged many of my notions about teaching and learning. Because of the inclusive approach, teachers from other subjects became involved, and I witnessed how students with diverse needs and abilities could absorb information, and internalise a complex set of values.

The notion of sustainability challenges the tradition of propagating science as objective and value-free.

This blinkered belief in scientific method is disconnected from culture and human experience, and it ignores the important role of creativity.

A

There is little doubt that the scientific method has provided reliable knowledge leading to human development but is has also lead to weapons of mass destruction and other negative outcomes. It would seem therefore that a value-free scientific method is fatally flawed. Rather than being objective, there is strong evidence to show that science, like many other human pursuits, is being primarily shaped by social pressures and economic interests, rather than responding to real needs. We must realise that science is not a deity, we should not worship it, and we should not see it as totally separate from society.

The idea behind ‘sustainability science’ is that it becomes relevant to people’s lives, and this is indeed acknowledged in the broad junior certificate programme. The junior certificate syllabus aims to promote the development of scientific knowledge, skills, concepts, and attitudes regarded as essential for responsible citizenship. However, the approach taken under the syllabus is based on a high number of ‘learning outcomes’ ranging from simple recall of basic facts to understanding more complex topics, such as the role of chemistry in pharmacology. With 180 learning outcomes for higher level, and 160 learning outcomes for ordinary level students, it is easy to see how promotion of responsibility might get lost. Furthermore, the syllabus is simply a list of learning outcomes, and

as such, runs the risk of only becoming relevant to students and to teachers only in the context of complying with the junior certificate science examination.

Science can appear arrogant but we must remember that the scientific method has its limitations. In reality, phenomena can be non-linear, not adhere to simple cause and effect, or be subject to human interference. While the scientific method can be a useful route into the scientific world. we must be careful not to exclude students from scientific enquiry by adhering too rigidly to the principles of traditional science. We must recognise that science can be relevant to all students, and not just a select few.

Are all of the skills and learning outcomes specified by the science syllabus achieved by all students? The simple answer is no. Certainly, most students do not achieve A grades in the junior certificate examination.

Furthermore, over the past decade, the basic structure of the classroom has changed. Students within a single classroom now vary widely in ability and culture. How can all of them be expected to reach the same learning outcomes?

The Spirit of Investigation

Experiments and investigations form an extremely valuable component of learning about science. They offer students concrete learning experiences, opportunities to develop manipulative skills and safe work

SkillS PathwayS in Planning an inveStigation Skills Planning

Progression Respond to questions

Use some scientific terms

Turn ideas into questions that can be investigated

Use scientific terms regularly

Brainstorm

Ask questions

Suggest variables

Produce a detailed plan of an investigation

Use concrete experience

Identify hazards

Use various sources to find information

Realise the limitations of investigations

Make predictions

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

New Biopharmaceutical Courses for Institute of Technology Sligo A new add-on Honours Degree Programme in Medical Biotechnology has been developed within the School of Science at Institute of Technology Sligo focusing on Bioprocessing and Biopharmaceutical Production.

Biopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced by biotechnology rather than conventional chemical synthesis. They include proteins and nucleic acids used for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes. Human insulin was the first biopharmaceutical approved for therapeutic use which was developed by Genentech in 1982.

Our new honours degree course was developed in consultation with the Biopharmaceutical Industry and the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT). The course was launched in September 2007. Student’s studying on the existing B.Sc. Biomedical Science can now progress on to complete this level 8 qualification.

The course builds on themes in the existing Biomedical Science Degree programme (ordinary degree) which has proven very popular. It includes modules in Cell Culture and Bioprocessing, Validation, Analysis of Biopharmaceuticals, Molecular Diagnostics, Recombinant Drug Development and Engineering,

Protein Purification, Immunodiagnostics, Formulation and Delivery Systems, and Good Manufacturing Practice. It specifically contains a placement for students at the NIBRT facility at UCD. Institute of Technology Sligo is a member of the original NIBRT consortium which also includes DCU, UCD and TCD. Also in 2007 the School of Science launched an M.Sc. in Biopharmaceutical Science which was jointly developed by IT Sligo and NIBRT. This course is targeted at Industry and the workplace, and is available in a blended learning mode. This allows flexibility in module delivery in response to industries needs and requirements.

It is designed to provide students with a comprehensive grounding in critical aspects of biopharmaceutical processing.

Students entering these new programmes will now also benefit from the enhanced facilities at Sligo.

These include a 3 million euro refurbishment of the Science School in 2007 providing modern lecture theatres and laboratories. The School has also been successful in securing funding of nearly 400,000 euro for state of the art instrumentation this year to support the degrees in Medical Biotechnology and Biomedical Science.

And why do we consider that Biopharmaceutical Science is a good choice for our students at IT Sligo? Revenue globally from the Biopharmaceutical sector is predicted to reach $92 billion by 2011 and the annual average growth rate of this sector is predicted at 10.3% per annum up to 2011. The Biopharma sector is one of the most rapidly expanding high technology industries world-wide and one of the most rapidly expanding areas of the Irish economy.

Dr Jeremy Bird, School of Science Institute of Technology Sligo

WHY SCIENCE @ I.T. SLIGO ?

One of the most popular •Schools of Science in the IT sector Wide selection of career paths Excellent academic reputation Student friendly semesterised structures Sligo has something for everyone: Arts; Music; Nightlife; Sport and a modern state of the art campus.

• • • •

Ordinary and Honours Degree Paths Applied Archaeology Ireland's first Archaeological Science degree.

Biomedical Novel careers in the high technology sector Environmental Learn to protect our natural inheritance Forensic Investigation Develop a future in Forensic and Analytical science Occupational Safety & Health Innovate safety in the workplace and protect our workforce.

Pharmaceutical Work in a cutting edge industry.

Health Science Follow a career in Public Health or transfer on to clinical courses

Visit us on: http://www.itsligo.ie/prospective_students/index.htm Telephone Admissions on: 071-9155379 Prospectus from: Admission Office, Institute of Technology Sligo, Ballinode, Sligo

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

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Science at NUI Galway

cience at NUI Galway has a long and proud tradition for teaching and research. Our graduates play a vital role in today’s high-tech, knowledge based society. Our postgraduate programmes are led by world-class scientific research groups.

NUI Galway offers both Undenominated (GY301) and Denominated Science Degree programmes. Undenominated Science is offered to students who wish to pursue a career in science but who have not yet decided on an area of specialism. The Undenominated programme allows students to choose from a broad range of subjects in YEAR 1 and features progressive specialisation in subsequent years.

Denominated programmes allow students to pursue defined courses of study. Current programmes include: • GY303: Biomedical Science • GY304: Biotechnology • GY306: Computing Studies/Mathematical Science • GY308: Environmental Science • GY309: Financial Mathematics and Economics • GY310: Marine Science • GY313: Health & Safety Systems • GY314: Earth and Ocean Sciences • GY315: Physics and Applied Physics • GY316: Physics with Medical Physics • GY317: Physics with Astrophysics • GY318: Biopharmaceutical Chemistry

practices while also encouraging the development of skills in observing, measuring, recording, calculating, analysing, testing and presenting information. Learning to ask questions and to develop these questions into investigations is a highly creative activity. With the introduction of the new junior science syllabus the use of investigative learning has increased in our schools. The involvement of students in planning and design of projects has become an important element in science education, focusing attention on action rather than just learning off facts. This comes closer to real-life learning in the work-place, and it enables students to pursue goals at a pace set by themselves. However, the use of investigation on its own is not enough to include all students.

As a teacher I can see that students have diverse needs and abilities, and that scientific investigative skills cannot be imposed overnight. My

In response to an increasing demand for medical physicists, the College of Science is offering a new B.Sc. in Physics with Medical Physics. There has also been a refocusing of two programmes now entitled Physics and Applied Physics and Physics with Astrophysics. The new denominated B.Sc. in Biopharmaceutical Chemistry will prepare students for the Biopharmaceutical Industry, which focuses on the production of therapeutic drugs by biological fermentation processes rather than by traditional chemical synthesis. Graduates will gain a wide range of expertise tailored to this industry.

We hope to attract students with a particular interest in both Chemistry and Biology.

All programmes equip students to pursue postgraduate research at the highest level.

Entry requirements for science degrees, with a few exceptions, are a minimum of HC3 in two subjects and passes in four other subjects at H or O level in the Leaving Certificate, including Irish, English, another language, Mathematics, a laboratory science subject (i.e., Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Physics with Chemistry (joint) or Agricultural Science) and any other subject recognised for entry purposes.

For more information visit

www.nuigalway.ie/science

approach to accommodating these diverse needs is by differenting the curriculum, providing timely formative assessment, and rewarding progress at whatever level it occurs.

This becomes the student focused skills pathway through the science curriculum. To take one example, the accompanying table shows how I take students through the planning stage of an investigation. The pathway helps me to support the students to extend their skills and knowledge while going through the various stages of the pathway.

The ‘sustainability science’ approach encourages us to take a broader view of science, and the skills pathways attempt to include all students. In a way, this is recognising that learning is a process, not a product. It respects and values all learners. I believe that all of my students can be provided with an authentic and meaningful experience in science where their existing

knowledge and skills are central to the learning outcome. Skills pathways have provided me with a practical tool for including all students in the science classroom.

References Bloom, B.S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. New York: Longmans.

Carter, L. & Smith, C. (2003). Revisioning science education from science studies and futures perspective. ’Journal of Futures Studies’, 7(4), 4554.

Rutherford, F. J. and Ahlgren, A. (1990).

Science for all Americans: A Project 2061 report on literacy goals in science, mathematics, and technology. Washington, DC. [Available online at: http://www. project2061.org/tools/sfaaol/sfaatoc. htm]

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

Study Science at Something for everyone!

- A flexible ladder system of programmes leading to nationally recognised qualifications - Take it at your own pace!

- High employment potential and strong earnings

Requirements

Benefits in ITT Dublin x

x

x

- Honours Maths NOT essential - Leaving Certificate Science subjects are an advantage but NOT essential

Great social life—small class sizes enable you to build a great social life in addition to academic benefits We are committed to all aspects of student life—academic, personal, social, cultural and sporting.

We provide study clinics to help you understand academic issues that may be confusing you or holding you back. We don’t just deliver a course– we support you throughout it!

Choose the Programme Path that's right for you!

TA 321 BSc Hons Pharmaceutical Science

TA 325 Bio analytical Science OR 4 Year Direct Entry to the Level 8 Courses

1 year add-on TA 311 BSc in Bio analysis or Chemical Analysis 1 year add-on TA 301 Applied Biology or Applied Chemistry 2 Year Direct Entry to the Higher Cert

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

College of Science, Engineering & Food Science

Looking ahead?

Then think SEFS @ UCC = (SUCCESS)24u for course and career options as individual as you are Scientists and engineers live on the edge of imagination and creativity. They are explorers and discoverers, illuminating the way ahead, towards an increasingly uncertain future. Why not discover a world where it’s the individual who matters most and where you can truly make a difference? It’s only the beginning of your career path, but a degree in science or engineering is your passport to a much wider world of choice and opportunity.

A-Z Level 8 Degree Programmes offered through SEFS Applied Mathematics & Physics Architecture Astrophysics Biochemistry Biomedical Sciences Chemical Physics Chemistry Chemistry of Pharmaceutical Compounds Chemistry with Forensic Science Civil & Environmental Engineering Computer Science Computer Science & Economics Earth Science Ecology Education in Physical Sciences Energy Engineering Environmental Plant Biotechnology Environmental Science Electrical & Electronic Engineering Financial Mathematics & Actuarial Science Food Business Food Science Genetics Geography Geology International Development & Food Policy Mathematical Sciences Mathematics & Physics Microbiology Neuroscience Nutritional Sciences Physics Physiology Process & Chemical Engineering Zoology

Why Science or Engineering?

• Excellent career prospects and progression routes for SEFS graduates • Employment opportunities in Science & IT sectors well above national average & continue to grow • Wide variety of customised job opportunities to suit a broad range of interests, skills and career plans

Why UCC? • In top 5% of university world rankings according to 2007 Times Higher Educational Supplement • Stunning campus environment • Excellent accommodation/sports/ leisure facilities • Friendly student atmosphere • City centre location • Good transport links • Great clubs/societies & entertainment on offer

Why SEFS? • Leading science & technology research in the state • Strong tradition of student-centred teaching underpinned by cutting edge research • World class facilities • Excellent industry links for graduates • Positive & supportive staff/student relationships • New programmes introduced to reflect market demand • Work placement in many programmes

A-Z sample of jobs obtained by 2006 SEFS BSc/BE graduates Actuary (trainee) Biochemist Biomedical Scientist Blood Tissue Bank Supervisor Blue tooth Development Engineer Business Analyst Biomedical Scientist Chemist Chemical Engineer Civil Engineer Clinical Database Co-ordinator Database Analyst Design Engineer Development Chemist Drilling Engineer E Marketing Manager Electrical Engineer Environmental Consultant Food Technologist Foreign Exchange Rate Manager Games Programmer Generations Engineer Geologist Geoscientist Geo-technician IT Programmer IT Consultant Logistics Manager Medical Laboratory Scientist Microbiologist Network Engineer New Product Development Manager Quality assurance analyst Quality Control Analyst Process Analyst Process Engineer Production Chemist Software Developer Software Engineer Structural Engineer Trading Systems Developer Web Developer Validation Engineer Zoologist

College of Science, Engineering & Food Science, UCC Tel: 021 490 3075 — Email: college-sefs@ucc.ie — Web: www.ucc.ie/sefs SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

SPIN

Hi ! We’ve never met, but …. ….. We are the people your doctor depends on to help make the correct diagnosis of your illness.

We are

Medical Scientists

The FIRST four year Accredited Biomedical/medical Science degree in the country.

B.Sc. HONOURS MEDICAL SCIENCE CAO CODE: GA785

There are only 3 colleges ACCREDITED to teach courses that allow graduates to work as a medical scientist / medical laboratory scientist in the country’s hospitals.

This new 4 year honours degree in Medical Science has replaced our existing Certificate in Medical Laboratory Science.

These colleges are DIT, CIT / UCC and GMIT.

Cell and Molecular Biology, Immunology Medical Microbiology Clinical Biochemistry Haematology & Blood Transfusion Science Cellular Pathology

CONTACT: Seamus Lennon, Head Head of Department.

Email: seamus.lennon@ gmit.ie Phone 091 742081

STUDENTS STUDY:

HOSPITAL PLACEMENT There is a 30 week placement in a hospital laboratory in year 3.

CAREERS

MEDICAL SCIENTISTS: Formerly knowns as Medical Laboratory Scientists, a Medical Scientist works in a hospital laboratory and is involved in the investigation and diagnosis of medical conditions and diseases.

In recent years there has been an increasing demand for medical laboratory diagnostic services and for the development of new services.

There is currently a SKILLS SHORTAGE in this area.

THE ACADEMY OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE

To work as a Medical Laboratory Scientist / Medical Scientist you must study an honours degree which has been accredited by the Academy of Medical Laboratory Science.

There are only 3 such honours degrees – CIT/UCC, DIT and GMIT. The GMIT honours degree is the first 4 year honours degree accredited by the Academy of Medical Laboratory Science

Graduates can also develop careers in the Pharmaceutical and BioMedical sectors and in medical research.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

SPIN

College check list Dundalk Institute of Technology www.dkit.ie

UNIVERSITIES Dublin City University www.dcu.ie

University College Cork www.ucc.ie

National University of Ireland Galway www.nuigalway.ie

University College Dublin www.ucd.ie University of Limerick www.ul.ie

National University of Ireland Maynooth www.nuim.ie

Queen’s University Belfast www.qub.ac.uk

Trinity College Dublin www.tcd.ie

Ulster University www.ulster.ac.uk

INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGY Athlone Institute of Technology www.ait.ie

Industrial Environmental Science, Bioinformatics, Industrial Biology, Biosciences with Biopharmaceuticals and Biosciences with Bioforensics

Blanchardstown Institute of Technology www.itb.ie

Teaching in the department is provided by experienced staff, all of whom are active in research or curriculum development. Our graduates are employed in a wide range of areas such as Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical, Environmental, Education, Analytical, Fitness, Managerial, Sports Rehabilitation and Healthcare professionals.

Carlow Institute of Technology www.itcarlow.ie Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Cheatharlach

At the Heart of South Leinster

At the Institute of Technology Carlow, every effort has been made to combine a stress-free location with top-level tuition and facilities that are the leading edge in a number of key disciplines, including Science.

The Institutes Department of Science and Health hosts: l Level 6 Certificate programmes in Physiology and Health Science, Pharmacy Technician Studies, Applied Biology and Applied Chemistry l Level 7 Degree programmes in Analytical Science and Biosciences l Level 8 Honours Degree Programmes in Sports and Exercise Rehabilitation,

The Department of Science and Health also has a proven record of MSc and PhD research and development in a range of research areas, active at both National and International level. These include Biotechnology & Molecular Environmental Science (BMES), Rehabilitative Sciences Research (RSR), Molecular Ecology & Nematodes, Inflammation and Disease, Mens Health and Biocatalyst Technology research groups.

For further information please visit www.itcarlow.ie

Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art and Design www.iadt.ie Galway Mayo Institute of Technology www.gmit.ie Letterkenny Institute of Technology www.lyit.ie Limerick Institute of Technology www.lit.ie Sligo Institute of Technology www.itsligo.ie Tallaght Institute of Technology www.it-tallaght.ie Tralee Institute of Technology www.ittralee.ie Waterford Institute of Technology www.wit.ie

PRIVATE COLLEGES Griffith College www.gcd.ie HSI College Limerick www.hsi.ie Portobello College www.portobello.ie Skerry’s Business College Cork www.iol.ie/~skerrys The American College Dublin www.amcd.ie

Cork Institute of Technology www.cit.ie Dublin Institute of Technology www.dit.ie

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

LEAVING CERTIFICATE STUDENTS !

Are you interested in Science, but unsure of which Science discipline to study?

If you apply for any of the following courses, you enter a COMMON FIRST YEAR. At the end of first year, irrespective of which course you started, you can transfer into year 2 of any of the other courses.

GMIT offers four HONOURS DEGREE (Level 8) COURSES in: l Applied FRESHWATER & MARINE BIOLOGY (CAO Code GA780; Points in 2007 – 310; Median point level - 375) l CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE (CAO Code GA 782; Points in 2007 – 325; Median point level – 355) l PHYSICS & INSTRUMENTATION (CAO Code GA 783; CAO points in 2006 – 355; Median point level – 355) l APPLIED BIOLOGY & BIOPHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE (CAO Code GA 781; CAO points in 2007 – 310; Median point level – 360).

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATES OF THESE COURSES:

Graduates of Applied Freshwater & Marine Biology: Employment opportunities in: Environmental Consultancy / Management, Marine Biology Research, Marine Fisheries Management, Oceanography, Aquaculture Development, Public Sector Agencies such as Environmental Protection Agency, Fisheries Boards, teaching (this course is recognised for admission to the higher diploma in education, H Dip Ed), Marine Institute.

Graduate, Imelda Hehir: Currently works in the Marine Institute in Galway in Marine Biology Research. “The Freshwater & Marine Biology course is an excellent course for anyone interested in this exciting branch of Science.”

Graduates of Physics & Instrumentation: Employment opportunities in: Biomedical & Pharmaceutical companies, Medical Physics, Astrophysics, Semiconductor Sector, Nanotechnology, Software Development, Biotechnology Sector.

Teaching – this course is recognized for admission to the higher diploma in Education (H Dip Ed.)

Graduate Jacqueline Keane: Currently working with NASA in California – “The common first year in GMIT Science is a great system – it allows one to change their mind after one year in college. My job with NASA involves exploring space, stars and heavenly structures from the NASA base in California.”

Graduates of Chemical & Pharmaceutical Science: Employment opportunities in: Pharmaceutical Sector, Food Industries, Chemical Sector, Biotechnology companies, Biomedical Sector, Research & Development.

Teaching – this course is recognized for admission to the higher diploma in Education (H Dip Ed.). Public sector employers include Public Analyst Lab, Environmental Protection Agency.

Graduate, Peggy McGlynn: “I studied Chemical & Pharmaceutical Science at GMIT and currently work as a Forensic Scientist in the Forensic Science Laboratory in Dublin. I found GMIT a great place to study with a low student / staff ratio which provides a great learning environment.”

Graduates of Applied Biology & Biopharmaceutical Science: Employment opportunities in: Biotechnology Sector, Diagnostic Companies, Pharmaceutical & Biomedical sector. Public sector employers such as Irish Medicines Board, Environmental Protection Agency, Public Analysts Lab. Teaching – this course is recognized for admission to the higher diploma in Education (H Dip Ed.).

Graduate, Bryan Cavanagh: “I had a job before I completed my final exams – as did many of my class mates. My job is in Regulatory Affairs. The day to day work involves project management and people management. I highly recommend this course.”

Further information: Log onto www.gmit.ie/science.

Email: science@gmit.ie Phone 091 742178

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 CHOOSING SCIENCE

Science Foundation Ireland Scholarship 2008 School leavers Deadline for applications is June 27th 2008

Young women in engineering The Dell notebook computer is a powerful workstation class portable PC and is certified to run with a wide range of engineering class software applications.

Additionally, with the latest mobile technology and OpenGL graphics, this lightweight notebook lets you experience genuine workstation power on the move. Office applications like email and Word are available as standard. The notebook comes complete with a backpack and the security of three years next business day onsite warranty from Ireland's largest computer manufacturer.

PART OF A PROGRAMME TO INCREASE THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH IN IRELAND

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) with support from Dell is awarding research driven scholarships to encourage more young high-achieving women into engineering.

Up to 10 scholarships will be awarded in 2008 to women entering designated engineering degree programmes in Ireland.

Scholars will receive an annual award of â‚Ź2,000; a Dell notebook computer; the support of an active researcher as a mentor throughout their undergraduate career; and at least one summer researchinternship in an academic research laboratory or an industry R&D laboratory during their degree.

Full details of the objectives and eligibility requirements, including how to apply for the scholarship can be obtained on the SFI website: www.sfi.ie/scholarship or by e-mailing: scholarship@sfi.ie Completed applications should be sent to the address below for delivery on or before 5pm on Friday June 27th, 2008.

SFI Scholarship - Young Women in Engineering Science Foundation Ireland Wilton Park House

www.sfi.ie

Wilton Place

Dublin 2, Ireland

tel +353 1 607 3200 fax +353 1 607 3201 email info@sfi.ie

The National Foundation for Excellence in Scientific Research

C Y O’COnnOr

piOneering engineer Patrick McConnell writes that a Meath born engineer gave Western Australia a gateway into the continent, and he delivered water to the goldminers. harles Yelverton O’Connor is regarded as one of the greatest engineers to have worked in Australia, although he was there for only eleven years.

While the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is his best-known project, his greatest achievement was probably the development of Fremantle Harbour, which occupied him from 1891 to 1897.

He also greatly extended the railway lines to serve remote goldfield settlements.

Charles, often known as C Y O’Connor, was born in Gravelmount House on 11 January 1843, just two years before the famine. His father John, one of the landed gentry, was overcome by the agonising sights of starving families to be seen everywhere, and did all in his power to provide food for as many as possible. With other local landowners he became immersed in famine relief activities which included setting up a fund to buy meal and sell it at the lowest possible price, remitting the rent of his tenants and hiring many more workers. This cost him his house and farm, and the family had to move to a small house in Waterford where he was employed as Company Secretary to the Waterford and Limerick Railway Company.

Charles was educated in Waterford and was then articled to John Chaloner Smith’s Railway Company. He worked as Assistant Engineer on railways in Tipperary, Westmeath and Kilkenny, and also on several weirs on the river Bann in the north of Ireland. He gained experience in solving problems of drainage, gradients and gauges, the power and limitations of different

C

Charles Yelverton O’Connor engines and rolling stock, rock cutting, tunnelling and building bridges. Due to a decline in railway building in Ireland, Charles emigrated to New Zealand in December 1864.

At first he worked as a surveyor on North Island and then joined the Government Engineering staff of Canterbury on South Island. He surveyed the route for the first coach road through the Southern Alps in extremely harsh conditions and this road is still in use today. Over the following twenty-six years he designed and built railways, roads,

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 41

harbours, water races for mines and numerous other engineering projects. Rising from Assistant Engineer to Chief Engineer and later gaining administrative experience as Under-secretary, he was widely regarded for his railway and harbour building feats. Due to poor treatment from the New Zealand Government, O’Connor was forced to seek financial security for his family elsewhere. In 1891 he accepted the position of Engineer-in-Chief in Western Australia and moved to Perth.

The Premier of Western Australia, John Forrest, informed Charles that his priorities were a harbour for the capital city of Perth and the radical improvement of transport and communications throughout the fledgling impoverished state. Charles set up a works department and immediately started to extend and overhaul the railways from 304 km (189 miles) of loss-making track to 922 km (573 miles) of profitable track in four years.

At the same time he was studying the location of a port to be a gateway to the continent.

Contrary to accepted opinion, which forecasted silting, he proposed an inner harbour for Fremantle port. His thoroughness in examining all factors and his strength in sticking to his guns against all opposition, impressed Forrest and the plan was approved. The plan included removing a limestone bar obstructing the mouth of the Swan river and dredging to a depth of 12 metres, building north and south protective breakwaters over 1,200 m in length out into the Indian Ocean and constructing wharves on reclaimed land. Work began in 1892 and an opening ceremony welcomed the first ship, the S.S. Sultan, in 1897. His design has stood the test of time and is largely unchanged today.

SPIN

Gravelmount House The picturesque village of Castletown Kilpatrick in north County Meath celebrated its most famous engineer Charles Yelverton O’Connor (1843–1902) on Saturday, 8 September 2007 with the unveiling of a plaque at his birthplace, Gravelmount House. Over 200 people attended the unveiling ceremony which was performed by the Australian Ambassador, Anne Plunkett.

The present owners of Gravelmount House, Brian and Eunice McKenna, held a reception prior to the unveiling to honour C.Y. O’Connor’s grand-daughter Mrs Pat Nuttall and his three great-grand-daughters Theresa Rawlins, Claire Delaney and Davilia Bleckly.

The erection of the plaque was the work of the local commemorative committee in association with the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society, and the National Committee for Science and Engineering Commemorative Plaques.

At the unveiling ceremony, from left, Great-granddaughters Claire Delaney, Therese Rawlins, Davilla Bleckley, theAustralian Ambassador Anne Plumkett and granddaughter Pat Nuttall.

Water and gold

Goldfields were to play a major part in Charles’s engineering career after Paddy Hannon’s discovery in Kalgoorlie in 1893 prompted one of the great gold rushes. Thousands flocked by foot to the Yilgarn area where water was extremely scarce, and

conditions harsh. Charles provided transport and improved supplies by extending the rail lines over hundreds of miles to the goldfields, but the water problem was constantly at crisis point. Charles and his staff proposed pumping water from a dam in the Darling Ranges to a reservoir in the

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 42

goldfields using a series of eight steam-powered pumping stations through a 0.762m (30-inch) diameter pipeline 539 km (335 miles) long and raising it 300m. It would deliver 23 million litres (five million gallons) per day at a cost of 3 shillings and 6 pence per 4,545 litres (1000 gallons). It would cost £2.5 million and take three years to build. This was risking twice the amount of the state annual budget on an untried engineering design.

The very magnitude of the project appalled the public and many believed it was doomed to failure. The plan was sanctioned by Parliament in 1898 and construction of the Mundaring Weir, the eight pumping stations and the pipeline began under Charles O’Connor’s supervision. The scheme came under severe criticism from the press and opposition politicians and this continued unabated until completion. His preference for using ‘day labour’ instead of contractors also ensured constant attack by vested interests at any perceived delays in the project. O’Connor’s plans had been examined and approved by expert engineers and the scheme was lauded as the most ambitious of its kind in the world.

In March 1902 O’Connor’s confidence in his scheme was vindicated by a successful preliminary pumping test of six miles of the water main over the most difficult part of the route. However, he was by now suffering exhaustion from work overload and high anxiety from his responsibilities for the scheme, and could no longer absorb the constant personal attacks, and knowing his great work was nearly complete he committed suicide on 10 March 1902.

The grand ceremonial opening of the Goldfields Pipeline Scheme took place on 24 January 1903 in Coolgardie, and later that afternoon in Kalgoorlie with the thermometer reading 44˚C (111˚F) in the shade — a fitting temperature to emphasise the value of the fresh water supply. John Forrest spoke of his sadness that his friend “Charles Yelverton O’Connor had not lived to receive the honour so justly due to him”.

Charles O’Connor could not have guessed the far-reaching effects that his pipeline would have on Western Australia’s economy. He pumped water to the goldfields long before the full extent of the ‘Golden Mile’ mining district was known and

the various projects proved profitable is little short of miraculous. Charles was honest and incorruptible. He was compassionate, fought for the rights of workers and was devoted to his family. He had enormous determination, and upheld the honour, high standards and integrity of his profession right to the end.

Patrick McConnell, Ceng MIMM, is a mining engineer with Tara Mines, Navan.

Bibliography Ayris, Cyril, C.Y.O’Connor — The Man for the Time, Perth 1996.

Evans, A.G., C.Y.O’Connor — His Life and Legacy, Battye Library 2001.

Top: Freemantle as it was, and as it is now.

Above, the C Y O’Connor monument overlooking Fremantle harbour. which is still producing gold to this day, and he could not have envisaged the water being used to develop vast tracks of country. The scheme has been expanded enormously with a tripling of the capacity of Mundaring Weir (now at 77 million cubic metres), and an increase in the pumping rate to 90 million litres (20 million gallons) per day. The pipeline branches 200 km north and south, supplying over 100 towns and huge tracts of farmland covering up to 2.5 million ha (6 million acres).

Charles Yelverton O’Connor’s greatest achievement was his delivery of this mass of infrastructure — Fremantle Harbour, the railways and the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, each depending on the other — during a period of financial and political instability, on borrowed money and on schedule. The fact that

Building the Mundaring weir, with a temporary dam behind to accommodate construction.

The original pipeline was buried in a trench to protect it against extremes of temperature.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 43

Away from the bench

By applying her research experience Gemma Irvine is helping to make Ireland an attractive place to work.

Marie-Catherine Mousseau finds that research can lead on into a variety of longer term careers. id you know that the government plans to double the number of PhD graduates by 2013? This aims to strengthen Irish focus on research, knowledge and enterprise as opposed to manufacturing. This all sounds very good, especially for those committed science students who after their PhD end up fulfilling their quest for knowledge by getting a permanent research position. But what about all those PhD graduates who do not get those positions? Either because they discover they’re not committed enough to research, or they are not good enough, or maybe just not lucky enough. As most students who have tried will tell you, tenured academic jobs are never easy to get and, even if you’re good, there is a lot of luck involved. Avril Kennan, who did a PhD in human molecular genetics in TCD comments that “a long term career in research is only available to a very few PhD graduates.”

The example of Gemma Irvine speaks for itself. Gemma did all her science studies including her PhD in Neuroscience in New Zealand before moving to Dublin in 2004 when she was offered a Research Fellow position at TCD investigating the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease. This may sound like a very positive start in her research career path. However, she explains that as a postdoctoral fellow (first 2 years out of your PhD) or a Research Fellow (2+ years post PhD), you are on a short-term contract. “Being

D

on contract the whole time is stressful, you are always thinking about where your next job will be and so it makes it hard to focus solely on doing research,” she says. “I decided that I didn’t want to live from contract to contract and chase research positions around the world, especially as my partner and I had bought a house and were aiming to settle in Ireland,” she adds.

Co-ordinating research

Luckily for them, Avril and Gemma have made the transition. And even more luckily, their transition has allowed them to stay close to their primary interests, research and health. While Avril is currently Research Manager with the charity DEBRA Ireland, Gemma is now Manager in the Research Programmes section of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in Dublin.

DEBRA Ireland funds scientific research into the debilitating genetic skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Avril explains what her role entails: “My job is to communicate developments to patients and interested parties and to pursue all avenues that may help us to find effective treatments and ultimately a cure for EB.” This means engaging with the researchers on the programmes that they fund and translating scientific developments into lay terms — in other words, helping to get therapies from lab to patients.

As for Gemma, one of her functions is to co-ordinate the implementation, monitoring and assessment of HEA funded research, particularly the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI). Her role also

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 44

has a policy aspect. “I am involved in developing careers for researchers and advise the government on strategies to help make Ireland an attractive place for researchers to come to,” she said. “I also attend meetings in Brussels where I advise on policy and strategic objectives related to research infrastructure from an Irish perspective,” she adds.

Both Avril and Gemma very much enjoy their current positions. “What I enjoy most about it is the interaction with many different groups of people and being part of an organisation where the ethos is about improving people’s lives,” says Avril.

Gemma benefits from similar stimulating interactions: “I can be giving presentations to international delegates on the Irish research landscape, meeting with researchers/institutions and doing site visits to their campus, organising information events and giving talks to promote awareness about upcoming activities, or travelling internationally for meetings or conferences.”

And like Avril, she enjoys the fact that in her own way she still contributes to improving people’s lives: “I enjoy knowing that although I might not be working to find a cure, some of the changes that I’m helping to make in the research environment might make it easier for someone else to find the cure for Alzheimer’s,” she says.

Industrial role

However, both Gemma and Avril agree that, even though this is changing, opportunities for people to make the transition into their specific career path are still relatively small. Until these types of jobs develop further, and for those who’d like to conserve the thrill of keeping track of new advances and discoveries, there are still other ways out of the lab. An obvious one is industry.

That’s the career path Siobhan Mitchel has chosen.

After studying science in UCD and completing a PhD in Molecular Medicine in the Mater Hospital, Siobhan is now the medical director of BristolMyers Squibb (BMS) in Ireland. “This means heading up the medical function of a large multinational pharmaceutical company,” she explains. “It is a very exciting time with 50 new compounds in development; BMS’s pipeline is among the top 2 in the world,” she continues. A lot of her work involves managing this portfolio of investigational products, which includes identifying new clinical trial sites and providing scientific and SPIN

Siobhan Mitchel

medical support in the appropriate and safe use of their medicines.

As with Avril and Gemma, this role entails meeting many different groups of people, disseminating medical information and raising awareness on various health issues. “Daily activities include working together with our healthcare partners providing medical support and education to doctors, nurses and pharmacists,” she says.

And like Avril and Gemma, she enjoys the fact that — as per her research days — she is still part of a process ultimately aiming to improve people’s lives. “I enjoy the ability to take a new molecule from our pipeline and deliver it to patients in need,” she says.

A role that she finds very exhilarating and challenging. “This allows me to question, to unravel, to tease apart, to challenge and to gain an insight into a multitude of disease areas and therapeutics. The world of science and medicine is constantly changing and improving, always expanding, and it is here I am at my happiest,” she concludes enthusiastically.

to understand other ways he could interact and engage together, or funding agencies on new grants and grant applications. He also finds his position very exhilarating; “it gives me a better thrill and adrenaline rush than bungy-jumping.” He explains what makes him tick: “What I enjoy most is seeing the commercial possibility of a new, emerging technology ahead of time, finding companies who might be interested in that and supporting researchers to make that happen.”

No regrets

Daniel O’Mahony

The link

However, scientists who would like to stay abreast of current research and development don’t necessarily have to choose between the two camps — academic research or industry. There is a third alternative: this involves liaising between both worlds.

This was Daniel O’Mahony’s option.

Daniel is Director of Technology Transfer at the National University of Ireland, Galway. One of his roles is engaging with research teams at the university to understand any new breakthroughs or discoveries and trying to determine if there is anything that they could protect through patent application. His job also includes identifying new companies or industries that may take a licence to the identified new technology or patent developed. And sometimes this means creating one by spinning out a new start-up.

Again, Daniel’s role involves meeting with many different groups of people — patent attorneys to discuss new patents, his peers in other universities

Avril Kennan went from research into a career that brings results out of the lab.

Recommendations

When I asked each of them if they had any advice to give to science student who are considering a job outside academia, they all come up with similar answers.

“I would recommend that people considering a job outside research look into many different career options to get a feel for what might interest them. Most people don’t know about all the different career options available to them after doing a PhD. Talk to as many people as possible in a variety of jobs to ask what you might have to do to get into their career and the options available,” says Gemma.

Avril’s advice would be not to undertake a PhD without considering the fact that a secure, well-paid job in university research may not be a longterm option. “A passion for your subject area is a great reason to do a PhD, but be prepared to be flexible and self-motivated in carving out your own career path afterwards,” she adds.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 45

All those I talked to who found their way outside the lab were happily surprised to find themselves in a place they hadn’t expected to be there for them. And when I asked them if they had any regrets about the path they had taken, surprisingly none of them had.

“No, I have no regrets as I made the right choice for me,” said Gemma. “I really enjoy my current position because it is varied and highly interesting.”

“Although I enjoyed the research I was frustrated with the lack of a structured career path,” Gemma said, adding that she was glad to have found a job she could enjoy, and one which she didn’t know could be an option when starting out on her PhD. “I have no regrets about my choices. Doing a PhD was a wonderful experience and thankfully, it has led me down a very interesting path,“ said Avril. “No, none whatsoever” said Daniel. “No,” said Siobhan even more definitely. Daniel summarised his view in a final sentence. “A PhD should be a means to an end. Doing a PhD does not commit you to undertaking research for the rest of your life — it is only a stepping stone that can take many different paths.”

And at the end of the day “it is much better to find something that you enjoy doing as then it doesn’t really feel like work,” said Gemma. It sounds like, in that respect, they’ve all done very well.

How Erratic is Your Block?

C 14 LOS th ING Ma rch DAT 20 E 08

An All Ireland competition for Transition Year and GCSE Geography Students Prizes of €300 to €1000 for students with winning applications Additional prize for overall winner’s school Visit www.planetearth.ie/erratics for detailed information on how to enter and to obtain an official application form

The competition is being organised by the Geological Survey of Ireland, in association with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources; the Association of Geography Teachers of Ireland; the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland; the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment; the Royal Irish Academy; and the Irish Concrete Federation.

Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources An Roinn Cumarsáide, Fuinnimh agus Achmhainní Nádúrtha Geological Survey of Ireland Suirbhéireacht Gheolaíochta Éireann

Geological Survey of Northern Ireland

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 46

SPIN

The dark ring in this Hubble image is taken as confirming the existence of dark matter. The image is a composite with dark matter, in dark blue, superimposed on the Hubble Space Telescope view of the galaxy cluster, ZwC10024+1652. The dark matter image was produced by detecting distortion of light from distant galaxies, known as gravitational lensing. Although dark matter itself is not visible, its gravitational influence on light can be detected. In this example, astronomers believe that this distribution of dark matter was produced by the collision of two giant galaxies.

Image: NASA, ESA, M.J. Jee and H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University)

The Universe is a strange place Marie-Catherine Mousseau asks us to suspend our sense of reality to understand the peculiar nature of our Universe.

The Universe is a strange place.

This is probably no big news for most people. Some might remember their physics classes, packed with a blizzard of strange formulae — the laws of physics — which seemed

to come out of the blue and that we had to learn by heart. Newton’s laws, for instance, tell you how masses attract each other, and why an object you throw into the air will always eventually fall; but they are just models that fit observations, powerless to give you any meaning or purpose. So why bother, you might think; let’s leave them to physicists to sort out and engineers to use.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 47

However, you might be wrong.

When a Nobel Prize winner tries to show you how strange the Universe is, you’d better listen, because you might learn something. You might realise that, in fact, you had absolutely no idea of what he truly meant by strange.

The Universe is not strange; it is amazingly, unimaginably weird.

In the world of physicists, nothing SPIN

Models for particles of matter

To date, science has managed to reduce the laws governing the behaviour of all types of matter and energy we know to a small core of fundamental theories.

A major goal of physics is to find the ‘common ground’, that is a theory that would unite all of these into one integrated model of everything, in which all the other laws would be particular cases, and from which the behaviour of all matter and energy can be derived.

of what we see, hear, feel is real.

Everything is just a convenient illusion that our brain came up with. Our senses are just there to give us a sense of reality that works for us; just what we need to get from our surrounding Universe to survive, to keep us going.

And it took scientists a very long time to figure out what the Universe, including us, and all the objects surrounding us, is really made of.

American physicist Frank Wilczek is co-winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in physics for a discovery that helped unravel the fundamental nature of matter. At the age of 21, as a graduate student at Princeton in the early 1970s, Wilczek was confronting a mystery involving the behaviour of the smallest and most fundamental building blocks of matter, inside the atomic nucleus — the quarks. Frank Wilczek presented his discovery and much more about the profound nature of the Universe at this year’s Hamilton lecture organised by the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) in Dublin.

Quarks and the Standard Model The 27km Large Hadron Collider tunnel extending under the French Swiss borders. Photo: CERN

Particle accelerators

Particle accelerators are used as atom smashers. They use an electric field to propel a proton or another charged particle to high speed and smash it into another particle. Scientists then study what flies off. And as it turned out, a lot of different things might fly off, the existence of which we previously had no idea.

What is the LHC? LHC stands for Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the ‘hadrons’ being matter particles such as protons. Scheduled to begin operation in May 2008, the LHC is expected to become the world’s largest and highest energy particle accelerator. “What makes the LHC so extraordinary is that it squeezes energy into a space about a million million times smaller than a mosquito.” See http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 48

To understand the full implications of Wilczek’s findings, we have to go back several decades before his time, when his predecessors including famous names such as Einstein or Bohr, came up with a description of the main constituent of matter, that is the atom. The existence of atoms had been suspected since the time of classical Greece, but hadn’t been fully proven until Einstein’s calculations. In fact, it was only during the first half of the 20th century that it became known for sure that all ordinary matter is made of atoms, and all atoms contain a nucleus made of protons and neutrons – held together by a fundamental force called the strong nuclear force – with electrons orbiting around.

This model seems pretty straight forward. However, it is also quite restrictive as it doesn’t account for the true nature of atoms. It is only after the first cyclotron*, or ‘atom smasher’ in Berkeley, California was built, that subatomic elements were released and the complexity of matter fully came to light. By the sixties, 150 particles had been identified already, and an estimated further hundred waited to be discovered!

That’s when quarks first made their appearance. Originally, quarks came up as a handy tool to put some order into the chaotic world of subatomic

Standard Model

The Standard Model of particle physics is a theory that describes matter. A total of twelve different types of matter particles are known and accounted for by the Standard Model. Six of these are classified as quarks — namely up, down, strange, charm, top and bottom — which in different combinations form neutrons and protons in the atomic nucleus, and the other six as leptons — electron, two heavier variant of the electron (called muon and tau), and their corresponding neutrinos. Matter particles carry various charges which make them susceptible to the fundamental forces. particles. It was suggested that all particles held by the strong nuclear force such as protons and neutrons (the stuff of matter) were made of quarks – like elemental parts combined together in different ways to make different particles. Then gluons were other types of particles that would hold the quarks together. Altogether, this model made of quarks and gluons (and other particles making the atoms such as electrons and neutrinos – see box), accounting for all ordinary matter, was called the Standard Model.

But soon different problems emerged from that model. A first major problem was that for a long time quarks remained just theoretical; until quite recently, we couldn’t isolate them and therefore be sure they actually existed.

In fact, it required the powerful 27 km long Large-Electron Positron Collider (LEP) in the 90s to separate the quarks and the gluons and eventually prove the existence of the most fundamental unit of matter.

So, why were quarks so difficult to isolate? This is the key question, the answer to which gave Frank Wilczek his Nobel Prize. At the time, how the strong force bound quarks in the atom’s nucleus was something of a mystery.

Wilczek and Gross came up with calculations that reached a surprising conclusion. They determined that the force binding quarks inside the nucleus grows stronger when the distance between them increases (behaving a bit like a rubber band) – getting much too strong for any particle accelerator to release them. By contrast, when very close together, quarks act essentially like free particles, which led the Nobel Prize winners to give this peculiar phenomenon the suggestive name of ‘asymptotic freedom’.

as protons and neutrons can be made with nearly massless quarks and strictly massless gluons — and nothing else? Indeed, when adding the mass of these subatomic components together, physicists came up desperately short, with less than 1% of the actual mass of a proton! Where was the extra mass hidden? The answer actually lies in Einstein’s ingenious equation E=mc2.

Or rather, as Prof Wilczek put it in a humorous way, Einstein’s second law: m=E/c2. Of course the equation is the same, but his point is that you have to be able to play with equations.

While E=mc2 takes energy out of mass, m=e/c2 explains mass in terms of the energy inside. And this is exactly what physicists needed. The missing mass can be accounted for by the huge amount of energy contained in the nucleus and holding it together. The very same energy that made the atomic bomb.

Since Einstein, physics has moved away from mass and matter and energy has become the fundamental ingredient of the Universe. “Energy is more central nowadays in physics,” Prof Wilczek observed. “Energy is what is conserved, not mass.” As he put it, “particles have mass, the world has energy.”

Still, researchers had to prove that their model was coherent enough to fit the observation. What physicists do to pinpoint elements they cannot apprehend is to use equations; and the more rigid the equations (that is the less parameters they contain), the more elegant they are. Physicists thus came up with equations to define quarks and gluons where just three parameters could be fine tuned to account for their extremely low mass. And computer calculations came up with a solution.

The theory was correct!

Missing mass

Music of the void

Though this problem was resolved, the Standard Model raised another nagging question — the question of the missing mass. How come heavy particles such

But if you already think that gluons and quarks are strange (strange is actually the name of a type of quark), hang on, because things get even stranger. What

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 49

physicists learned from this model is that what appears to be an empty space is, in fact, not empty at all. Emptiness is not really emptiness; it is a widely dynamic medium because particles of matter and antimatter are popping into and out of existence all the time. This is called the quantum fluctuation of particles. “We can’t see these ongoing fluctuations, because our time and distance resolution is not short enough,” Prof Wilczek explained. “But we could see them if we were able to resolve very small distances and time.”

Prof Wilczek further explained that a particle arises from this dynamic void once you freeze the empty space in a certain configuration. In other words, you ‘plant’ three quarks in this apparent emptiness and you get a particle. “All particles are patterns of empty space disturbed in various ways,” Prof Wilczek said.

Even more strange, he added that each particular pattern that defines a particle actually corresponds to a vibration. As mass is energy, mass is also frequency. Again this is given by Einstein’s famous equation: m=E/c2, which also equals hν/c2 where ν is a frequency; that makes ν =mc2/h the fundamental relation that links mass with frequency. “This means that masses are tone,” Prof Wilczek said. He added in a poetical note: “this is where the expression ‘music of the spheres’ comes from — it refers to music of the void.”

Thus, eventually and beautifully, scientists succeeded in deeply understanding matter.

Looking for the invisible

However, just when they thought they had unravelled the mystery of what constitutes ordinary matter, physicists realised that this ordinary matter is actually only one tiny fraction of what the Universe is made of. Indeed, astronomers tell us that we need much more matter than what we see to hold the Universe together. According to their calculations, ordinary matter contributes only 5 per cent of what is out there, which means that most of the Universe, a dizzying 95 per cent, we don’t see, we can’t touch, we have no way of assessing its existence apart from theoretical considerations — dark matter as they call it. In fact, as Prof Wilczek pointed out, it is not dark at all, otherwise we would be able to see it. It is rather transparent. Transparent to our senses, totally invisible, beyond our reach and our imagination.

So what do we actually know about dark matter if anything at all? Well, we think that it constitutes 25 per cent of the Universe, and we also think that it is much less dense than ordinary matter. Therefore, contrary to ordinary matter which clumps up as the result of gravity, and thus falls into objects such as galaxies, dark matter does not lose energy and does not make objects. This gives us an interesting new image of our Universe: a Universe which is still formed of galaxies made of ordinary matter, but where as Prof Wilczek put it, “every galaxy is surrounded by a dark matter hollow.”

So, if ordinary matter accounts for 5 per cent and dark matter 25 per cent of the Universe, what constitutes the remaining 70 per cent? Again, the key answer is energy. Indeed, space is not only filled with dark matter, it is also filled with dark energy, and again dark energy, not dark matter, is the driving force of the Universe, accounting for its profound properties. Dark energy is thought to be evenly spread throughout the Universe and responsible for its accelerating expansion. Recent evidence indeed shows that not only are galaxies moving away from us, but they are doing so at an accelerating rate. In fact, this may be ultimately related to the dynamic property of void. The popping in and out of particles pushes the Universe outwards quicker and quicker.

But as we haven’t yet been able to observe any of these dark components of the Universe, all this is still very theoretical. There lies a huge challenge for physicists: to determine exactly what dark matter and energy — that is most of our Universe — are made of. Prof Wilczek remarks that in order to observe something which does not absorb light, there are two possible strategies. The first one is simple: look harder. But the problem is that physicists have no idea what they are looking for. The second strategy might however give them an idea where to start. This strategy consists in trying to expand their equations to come up with new solutions — solutions that could account for not only the ordinary matter that we see, but also the dark substance we cannot see.

The Unified Theory

So physicists set out to look for possible models. To make them happy, these models should produce new particle candidates, but also

Elementary particles of matter Quarks

Leptons

up

charm

top

down

strange

bottom

Electron, Muon, Tau, three corresponding Neutrinos

Force mediating particles Electromagnetic force

Weak Nuclear Force

Strong Nuclear Force

Photon

W+, W-, and Z Gauge Bosons

Gluons

A fundamental interaction or fundamental force is a mechanism by which particles interact with each other. In modern physics, there are four fundamental forces: gravitation, electromagnetism, the weak interaction, and the strong interaction. Every observed physical phenomenon – that is the dynamics of both matter and energy in Nature — can be explained by these interactions of fundamental particles.

These four fundamental forces are mediated by other types of particles which act as agents. These force-mediating particles are photons for the electromagnetic force, gluons for the strong interaction between different quarks, and gauge bosons for the weak interactions (between leptons and quarks). For instance different combinations of quarks are held together by gluons (bearers of the strong interaction) to form protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus.

Almost all experimental tests of the three forces described by the Standard Model have agreed with its predictions. However the Standard Model has not been able to unify the strong force with the electroweak force, thus falling short of unifying all forces as different aspects of one single force. What’s more, the Standard Model also falls short of being a complete theory of fundamental interactions, primarily because of its lack of inclusion of gravity.

SUSY

In particle physics, supersymmetry (often abbreviated SUSY) allows the solution of major puzzles in particle physics, including the unification of the weak interactions, the strong interactions and electromagnetism. These three forces appear easier to unify because they have similar properties: the shorter the distance between particles, the weaker the strength of their interaction (i.e. coupling strength) (cf. the ‘asympotic freedom’ governing the strong force). By contrast, the fourth fundamental force, gravity, doesn’t obey this principle, because in the realm of gravity, it goes the other way i.e. the shorter the distance, the stronger the attraction.

In spite of this, supersymmetry might still make room, given a few corrections, to fit in gravity. SUSY is one of the best studied candidates for physics beyond the Standard Model.

String and Superstring Theories

String theories are also designed to unify the three fundamental forces. Incorporating supersymmetry with string theories results in the theory of superstrings. According to superstring theory, particles are not particles anymore, but they are strings of energy oscillating in 11 dimensions – the three known dimensions, plus time, plus 7 dimensions we don’t know. Superstring theory was invented to hold quantum laws and laws of gravity together. It is thus one of the leading candidates in the quest to unify gravitation with the three other forces. However, physicists have not yet detected the extra dimensions required by string theories; so many do not think superstrings are the answers.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 50

(if possible) satisfy their aesthetical senses and, most importantly, unify their theories. And when it comes to models that could account for a unified theory i.e. an integrated model of everything — the least we can say is that physicists are not short of ideas.

Of a group of possible models, among the most popular are the string theories. While the Standard Model of particle physics describes three of the four known fundamental interactions between the elementary particles that make up all matter — that is the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force and electromagnetism— it falls short of unifying these forces. String theories, on the contrary manage to describe all three forces as different aspects of one single force, an approach which is called grand unified theory.

According to string theories, particles are not particles anymore, but they are strings of energy oscillating in several dimensions — the three known dimensions, plus time, plus a number dimensions we don’t know, up to 26 according to some theories!

A slight problem is that we still have not detected all these additional dimensions.

Another idea among the most promising and best studied is called supersymmetry (often abbreviated SUSY). Supersymmetry is also a unifying theory, which among a multiple of other theories Prof Wilczek seemed to particularly favour. Again, on the contrary to the Standard Model, supersymmetry allows the unification of the weak interactions, the strong interactions and electromagnetism in one single force. In the same way electric and magnetic fields are closely interrelated to form electromagnetic waves that account for the theory of light, gluons and quarks might also be seen as fields closely related and interacting with each others. As

Particles, sent flying from high energy collisions in the LHC atom smasher will help scientists to deepen our understanding of matter.

Wilczek explained, both light and matter would thus constitute one aspect of one single deeper theory.

But SUSY is even more ambitious in fitting theories together. The Standard Model has another shortcoming, that is its lack of inclusion of the fourth known fundamental interaction, namely gravity (see box). It thus falls short of being a complete theory of fundamental interactions.

SUSY is more powerful, because it allows corrections to fit in gravity as well (at least roughly). In fact, string theories and SUSY might even complement each other.

Incorporating supersymmetry with string theory results in one of the leading candidates in the quest to unify gravitation with the other forces.

Its name is superstring theory. We are getting closer to a unified theory of everything.

The Large Hadron Collider

The good news is that new models such as SUSY produce new promising candidates for the dark substance filling the Universe. By expanding their equations into a beautiful set of new equations, physicists can now

come up with a new world of particles, which can be tested to see if some of them might be the much sought after dark matter and dark energy. The bad news is that testing these particles is still some way beyond our experimental capabilities.

Let’s face it, the fact remains for now that we live in a very strange Universe that for the most part we don’t see, and the properties of which are still highly speculative and far from being fully understood.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The time when we will finally be able to go beyond theory to actually test our theoretical models may come sooner than we think. In the European Research Centre CERN in Geneva (the world’s largest particle laboratory), the most powerful particle accelerator ever designed is currently being built. Due to switch on in 2008, it is, as Prof Wilczek put it, “our civilisation’s answer to the pyramids” i.e. a wonderful product of advanced technology, human cooperation and curiosity. According to him, dark energy may be still a way to go, but dark matter is almost within our grasp. Re-using the 27-km LEP ring for an even more powerful machine, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), as it has been called, may well come up with the experimental evidence scientists have been longing for. “We will soon learn if the possibility to understand dark matter and unify our view of the Universe is within our reach,” Prof Frank Wilczek enthused.

Thus, it looks like cutting-edge technologies are finally making their way to come together with beautiful theories that have sprung from ingenious scientists’ brains. “We may soon know if nature is teaching us …or teasing us,” the Nobel laureate concluded on a strange note.

SPIN

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Register your interest with the Irish Science Open Forum.

Major science event planned for late 2008 to highlight the best in Irish research.

See the Science Spin website for details: www.sciencespin.com To register simply email tom@sciencespin.com SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 51

OIL Irish waters could be covering LOTS of oil

A surprise recent finding by a UCD geologist concerning the origins of the sandstones that hold gas in the Corrib Field strengthens the argument of those that believe large oil and gas deposits lie untapped in deep waters off the west coast, writes Seán Duke.

T

he ancient origins of the sandstone deposits that hold and contain the gas at the Corrib Gas Field, off the coast of Mayo, might not be a subject that grabs most people’s attention. But, research into what some might regard as this obscure academic area has revealed information that could be of crucial importance to us all.

Dr Shane Tyrrell is a geologist in the UCD School of Geological Sciences.

He is interested, among other things, in the origins of ancient sandstones, like those that host the Corrib Gas. He would like to find out where such ancient deposits came from, and from that then determine how they travelled to their current position, and what can be learned from that in terms of where ancient continents were located in relation to each other. His work is all about reconstructing the Earth’s ancient geography.

The basins offshore west of Ireland, and the position of the Corrib field. for any academic, or university to bear.

In return, the academic will typically agree to make any data arising from the study of samples available to the industry partner, and this knowledge can then be used for further explorations.

Position of the continents at the time of deposition about 237 million years ago during the early Triassic.

Samples

The story begins with Dr Tyrrell obtaining samples from the Corrib Field courtesy of Shell Oil. This is nothing too unusual, as geologists that work in academic departments are often reliant on exploration companies to provide them with samples.

The cost of drilling is far too high

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 52

In one such arrangement, Dr Tyrrell gained access to samples obtained from drill cores through sandstones at the Corrib. These sandstones were known to be Triassic in age, which means they were deposited about 230 million years ago. The Triassic period was very hot, far hotter than today, a time when there was no polar ice, and the continents we know today were joined together in one supercontinent called Pangea.

Dr Tyrrell wanted to know where did these Triassic sandstones come from and how did they get to the area around the Corrib? It was very much expected, said Dr Tyrrell, that the sandstone sediments would be traced to origins somewhere south of Corrib, perhaps in France or England. The thinking was that there were large scale rivers, at this time, draining over France and England, dumping sediments into the North Sea and the Irish Sea Basin. It was assumed that the Corrib deposits were just part of this.

Surprise

It came as a great surprise to Dr Tyrrell when the samples could not be linked to anywhere in the south, that the “scientific signature” in the individual sand grains proved conclusively that there were not part of any geological system to the south.

The question now was, if they didn’t come from somewhere to the south, where mountains existed in the Triassic, where were they from, and what did it all mean?

It is possible for geologists to pinpoint where individual sandstones come from by making use of the fact that the lead composition of sediments

A photomicrograph of a thin section of Corrib sandstone, shot with cross-polars in order to highlight the different mineral grains present. varies throughout the Earth’s crust in a systematic way. The balance between different isotopes of lead differs depending on the location on the Earth’s surface, and this fact is dependent upon factors like the age of the crust, and when a piece of crust was last melted.

Dr Tyrrell and his team were the first to apply laser analysis techniques to sandstone. Under this technique, a laser is used to drill a small hole into the sand grains, and a stream of gas carries particles out into a mass spectrometer (a machine used to separate and identify molecules based on their mass — or how much matter is in the molecule) which is used, in turn, to measure the different isotopes of lead.

“By sampling with a laser we were able to measure lead isotopes in individual grains of the mineral K-feldspar, a common component in sandstones,” said Dr Tyrrell.

“Lead isotopes in K-feldspar grains have a very distinct fingerprint which they carry with them as they are released from rocks by erosion and are transported to where they form the sandstone under investigation. By linking the sand grains to their source, it is possible to track ancient rivers and pre-historic patterns of uplands and basins.”

“Rocks from different regions on Earth can have distinct abundances of lead isotopes so we could tell that Kfeldspar sand grains from the Corrib Gas Field could only have originated from Greenland and Canada,” Dr Tyrrell concluded.

It had been expected that the Corrib sediments would have a lead isotope

A photomicrograph of Corrib sandstone, showing the porosity (i.e. space between the grains), highlighted in blue.

signature linking them in a continuous pattern with sediments to the south, as it was believed that rivers from there had run over land through the Corrib area. That was found not to be the case. It was clear the Corrib sandstones were from elsewhere — far to the north.

“The lead signature is very, very, very different anywhere to the southeast of the Corrib — very clearly different — and anywhere to the northwest it is very distinctly different from anywhere to the south,” Dr Tyrrell said.

Implications

This surprise finding was important on two levels. Firstly, it was a major step forward in terms of an academic understanding of the ancient position of continents, and ancient seas and rivers, in relation to one another in the Triassic period.

At the time the river deposits were laid down, the area around Corrib was, therefore, on land. This area was part of Pangea, and the Atlantic Ocean had not yet opened up.

The fact that these deposits were laid down by a river system coming from the north, not the south, totally changes the perspective of those such as Dr Tyrrell that are trying to reconstruct what this part of the globe looked like 230 million years ago.

The finding was also important, on a more practical level, from an exploration point of view because it meant that the Triassic Sandstones at Corrib, were likely to be part of the same family of sandstones that lay further out to sea in the deeper waters

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 53

of the Rockall Basin. They were all now likely to have been laid down at the same time.

If one sandstone held gas, could its relative further out to sea, not hold gas, maybe oil?

“It means that the same sorts of sands that we see in Corrib, probably occur in depth out here (Rockall Basin) as well,” said Dr Tyrrell. “Now, whether they contain oil and gas we can’t say, but they are the perfect place to find oil and gas.”

The Corrib sandstones, given their origins in Greenland and Canada, must have been transported large distances to be deposited in the Irish offshore. Ireland was closer to Greenland and Canada in the Triassic, but still, the deposits must have been moved at least 500km and perhaps up to 1,000km, maybe even more, said Dr Tyrrell.

How did they get here?

A large ancient river system emerged as the clear suspect. The sedimentary structures seen to be occurring every day in modern rivers can be studied by geologists. A very distinct set of structures build up at the bottom of a river that indicates clearly that the sediments were deposited by a river.

Rivers will deposit sediments, for example, in an asymmetric pattern, as the flow is always in one direction.

That is a river’s telltale sign and this manner of deposition is reflected in the deposition structures.

These river-borne structures are seen in the ancient Corrib sandstones too, and the precise nature of the sediments indicate that the deposits

were laid down by quite a powerful river system, perhaps on the scale of the Ganges or the Indus rivers today.

some have suggested using the Triassic Sandstones as a place to store the unwanted gas.

There are many technical obstacles to be overcome, said Dr Tyrrell, but this could be possible in future. But, if sequestering is to be attempted in Ireland, he said, the only rocks that could be used to perform this technical task on any meaningful scale would be the Triassic Sandstones.

Treasure

The Triassic Sandstones of Ireland, which occur in slivers on land in Northern Ireland, but are mainly located in offshore waters, are the only sandstones (apart from the relatively small Kinsale Gas Field in the Celtic Sea) that have been proven to have significant hydrocarbon reserves — at the Corrib Field. That makes them very important indeed, and, perhaps, in time, they will be regarded as a national treasure.

These rocks have been shown on land in the North to be a good and important aquifer for groundwater. If they hold water on land, and gas at sea, could they not also contain oil at sea? Many geologists would answer yes, and in time they could be proved right.

Certainly wherever the Triassic Sandstones occur, there is a good reservoir of one sort or another, said Dr

A scanning electron microscopy image of a K-feldspar grain, showing the track which has been drilled by the laser.

Tyrrell. The geological reason for that is that these sandstones have lots of spaces between their grains. This space could host water, gas, or oil.

But, that’s not all that these rocks could host. In the future, perhaps decades into the future, these rocks could be used to ‘sequester’ carbon dioxide. Ireland has a serious problem dealing with its emission of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, so

Future

The next step that Dr Tyrrell and his colleagues would like to take is to take a more detailed look at how modern river systems behave in terms of how it transports its deposits. Achieving such a greater level of understanding could provide more insight into the workings of large scale ancient river systems, millions of years old.

Meanwhile, the search for oil and gas in the Irish offshore is set to intensify.

SPIN

The fourth year of Discover Primary Science is now well and truly under way. We are delighted to hear from many of you about the wonderful science activities your school have already been doing this year. Be sure to keep an eye on the mail box as well as your Christmas stocking as our next newsletter, delivered to all registered DPS schools during December, which includes details of exciting new activities.

494 schools attended our Awards of Science Excellence held during the month of June with 15 ceremonies at 7 different locations throughout Ireland. We have just issued photographs from the ceremonies to award winners across the country.

Don’t forget to register for the Awards of Science Excellence 2008 before 31st March for your schools chance to win an award and this year your teacher could be in with a chance to receive an award too.

There are plenty of things you can do to earn an Award of Science Excellence this year like visiting one of the 26 Discover Centres, taking part in the Greenwave project, getting involved with BT Young Scientist or logging on to www.steps.ie and trying out some of their fun science and engineering activities!

Lunchbox Challenge Log onto www.primaryscience.ie and play the lunchbox challenge for a chance to win some cool prizes.

Check out our new flash activities online and see how Molly and Spidey figure out the wonders of science.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 54

The Hamilton Institute

Where BIOLOGY and maThemaTIcs meet

Design of a new algorithm to unblock the internet; overcoming the challenges to the wider use of wireless in the home; saving time and money in drug design; safer car design; and finding better ways for devices and humans to interact. It’s exciting stuff, and it is all happening at the dynamic Hamilton Institute at NUIM, writes Seán Duke. he Hamilton Institute at NUI Maynooth began life in 2001 with the mission to conduct research at the interface between biology and mathematics. The boundaries between traditional science departments were beginning to break down and Hamilton reflected the emerging multi-disciplinary trend perfectly.

Researchers were recruited from the areas of pure mathematics, computer science, engineering and biology and this helped create a vibrant working atmosphere.

Since its inception, said Director of Hamilton, Professor Doug Leith, the Institute has grown rapidly, from two staff and two PhDs to 35 researchers and 15 students.

Prof Leith pointed out that the Institute has won approximately €24 million in competitive research funding since 2001, the bulk of which came from SFI.

T

Prof Leith, director of the Hamilton Institute.

Two senior appointments under the SFI Stokes Professorship and Stokes Lectureship will be made in 2008, while €3.2 million from the HEA’s PRTLI round will support the creation of a new graduate programme in mathematics to be run jointly with TCD. There are strong industry links too at Hamilton, said Prof Leith, with projects underway that are directly funded

by Cisco, Eircom and Bayer Schering.

There is also a large SFI-funded research cluster with Intel as a partner, while outside of Ireland, Hamilton is involved in some EU projects jointly with Daimler.

Net congestion

One of the key areas of research at Hamilton is in the area of internet congestion, which is becoming an increasing problem as more people use the networks.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 55

Prof Leith explained that TCP, or Transmission Control Protocol, is the most common internet protocol that carries traffic over the internet. It is essentially a piece of software that is located on people’s computers and manages their connections to web servers, such as Eircom or BT and all the other providers, as well as their email.

One of the main roles of TCP is ‘congestion control’, which means roughly matching the rate at which data is sent into the network to the available network capacity.

This congestion control is a limiting factor to providing everyone with very high speed connections all of the time, but it is done to avoid flooding the network, which could lead to a ‘congestion collapse’ such as happened in the late 1980s before TCP included a congestion control function in its software.

The current TCP internet congestion control algorithm performs poorly as internet network speeds increase, and this is becoming a significant problem.

This situation was first noticed by physicists transferring large amounts of data between Europe and the USA, but it is now becoming a problem for all users trying to shift large amounts of data across the internet.

Hamilton researchers have been working to try and deal with this issue.

Prof Leith explained: “Initial proposals for changes to TCP have run into difficulties because of the complexity of interactions between competing flows sharing internet paths.”

“At the Hamilton Institute we have been developing new mathematical models and analysis that have led to real breakthroughs in our understanding of how flows interact. One outcome has been the development of a new TCP algorithm called H-TCP, which is now available in Linux.”

Wireless

SFI recently awarded Prof Leith and Professor Robert Shorten €2.7 million for work that relates mainly to wireless networks – another key area for Hamilton.

Wireless, as we know, is becoming more ubiquitous for connecting computers in the home and elsewhere, and it is a trend that seems very much set to continue.

There is, for example, great interest in using wireless to distribute television, video and music within the home

as part of an integrated phone, broadband and TV service.

Aside from providing the possibility of lots of new services, wireless is also advantageous in the home, as it doesn’t require re-wiring or installation of an aerial.

However, before wireless is used throughout all our homes, there are significant technical issues that must be overcome, and Hamilton is working on some of these.

One of the biggest problems is signal interference. The wifi wireless that is used in our homes uses public radio spectrum signals, and these do not have central control.

This can lead to interference, so Hamilton researchers are looking at ways for devices to dynamically adapt their spectrum range to avoid damaging signal interference.

Quality of service is another important issue with wifi. New bundled services such as phone and video make very different demands on the network from web and email.

For example, said Prof Leith, even quite small delays of a few tenths of a second, can make it virtually impossible to hold a telephone conversation.

Also, one service should not interfere with the other. For instance, suppose someone checking their email upstairs, led to an interruption of a big match live downstairs?

Such interruptions on wirelessly distributed television would be highly unpopular, said Prof Leith, so we are looking at ways to protect wifi voice and video traffic.

Drugs

Pharmacokinetics is concerned with how a drug disperses within the body. A key issue in drug design, said Prof Leith, is to understand how a drug reaches the target organ and, in particular, to understand whether a sufficient quantity of the drug reaches the target and stays there for long enough to have a therapeutic effect before being broken down by the body.

“If a drug doesn’t find its way to the target in sufficient quantity for sufficient time, the drug will be ineffective,” said Prof Leith.

“This is of real interest to drug companies as it is one of the main reasons for failure of prospective drugs in later stage trials in humans.”

The drug companies are very interested in how Hamilton is using mathematical models to attempt to

Looking for new ways to interface with mobile devices predict the behaviour of the drug in the body at a much earlier stage in the drug development process.

This would enable the drug company to narrow down its range of prospective drug candidates, and achieve a much higher success rate. This would save time and money and accelerate the development of new drugs.

The savings to the drug companies here could be vast given that some estimates suggest that the average cost of developing a new prescription drug are as high as $800 million.

Hybrid Systems

These systems, which are another area of research focus at Hamilton, explained Prof Leith, enable computers to interact with the physical environment in real time.

Schools

For example, the electronic braking in a car has sensors that measure the car motion and actuators that control brake pressure. A piece of software takes the sensor measurements and uses them to make decisions about when and how to apply braking force.

In modern cars there are numerous such systems, including the engine control unit, braking, traction control, electronic stability (for controlling steering), and so it is also important to understand how all these separate systems work together.

A key issue, for example, in a car context, is that of safety. As cars get more complex, it is hard to exhaustively test behaviour in every eventuality. Also, it is hard to design systems unless scientists have good insight into the safety implications of different design choices. Prof Leith would like to be able to mathematically analyse a system even before a prototype is built to prove that the overall system will be safe.

This would save the car manufacturers a lot of money and time, as again, systems could be tested and analysed in detail before they get into the expensive prototype stage.

Computer interface

Hamilton scientists are looking at new types of interface for mobile phone handsets, and have projects underway that are funded by Nokia and Samsung.

New handsets such as the iphone are already instrumented to detect motion of the handset, said Prof Leith.

This creates the possibility of interacting with the handset simply by moving it. For example, moving the phone to your ear might automatically answer a call.

“This is potentially a major change in the way we interact with devices, with it becoming more akin to driving a car, or flying a plane where there is continuous feedback and interaction between user and computer,” said Prof Leith.

SPIN

“We have been running a very successful schools competition for three years now,” said Prof Leith. This year more than 3,000 school children and 35 schools in the Kildare and Dublin areas have taken part. The competition consists of mathematical puzzles that children answer each week over a 10-week period. The winner from each school gets an ipod and the overall winner a laptop.

This year’s competition has just finished and we will be announcing the winners soon. The aim is to raise awareness of mathematics as a career option. Although people have an idea from television of what work as a doctor or lawyer might involve, most people are less clear about what a mathematician might do on a day-to-day basis.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 26 Page 56

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