Autism Special Interest Group @ UL

The Autism Special Interest Group at the University of Limerick (Autism@UL SIG) is an interdisciplinary group of people with a focus on autism: researchers, therapists, family members, as well as representatives of autism family organisations in and around Limerick. Within UL the group includes senior Principal Investigators, early career researchers and PhD students from across the University’s faculties and institutions including the Bernal Institute, CSIS, Education, Health Research Institute, the School of Allied Health, KBS and PESS.

The Mission of the group:

-           Develop a collaborative multidisciplinary network of research active academics focused on advancing the vision of Autism@UL SIG,

-           Creating a UL autism-friendly campus and a UL autism-friendly work environment;

-           Organizing and campaigning for autism-related events and initiatives;

-           Attract National and International funds as well as activate international collaborations to research autism;

 -          Foster highly trained PhD graduates.

You can find more information here

 

Leaving Cert Biology Students at our Department

Pictured at University of Limerick running experiments on Photosynthesis are Scariff Community College's Hazel Mosbacher, Grainne Colhoun and Yolanda Ramirez Picture: Arthur Ellis

Hundreds of Leaving Certificate biology students got practical experience in state-of-the-art laboratories at University of Limerick last week. Over 450 second-level students were given the opportunity to carry out laboratory practical experiments set on the Leaving Certificate Biology curriculum at UL.

A group of over 80 leaving certificate students from Clare and Galway were at the University (8th January) where they carried out 18 of the mandatory Leaving Cert biology practicals – including dissecting a sheep’s heart, DNA extraction, food and plant-based experiments and more.

Sinead Holland, biology and maths teacher at St Killian’s College, New Inn, Ballinasloe, said it was “the right time, just before the mocks, to give them the perfect revision of all the experiments, which is a major part of the Leaving Cert exam. It gets them really focused into the exam. They are getting the practical, hands on experience and see what a university is like and sometimes when you do experiments in isolation, they kind of forget them, whereas when it is a full day of it, it really concentrates on the practicals and we will have a test in two days’ time to concentrate the mind,” she laughed.

Teacher Noreen Meagher from Scariff Community College said it was a “great experience” for her students and “a really good reminder of all the experiments that they would have done through the last two years”.
“They are getting a chance to do them in a university setting, with suitable equipment. It is a great experience to get them done all in one day, with experts in the field that will go around and assist and support them with questions as well,” she added.
The Leaving Certificate Biology Practical Sessions have been taking place at UL for over a decade. Jackie Kennedy, Chief Technical Officer in UL’s Department of Biological Sciences, said: “The fact that we have students coming into us is very important because they are getting to experience what a laboratory setting is like in third level. We have state of the art labs here, which we are always delighted to show off. On average we have 400 to 500 students here for a week at this time of the year, from different schools throughout the region". 
"Many biology Leaving Cert students throughout the country do not get the opportunity to actually carry out and practice the experiments included in their course work and a lot of secondary school laboratories simply don’t have the facilities to allow this.  Our biology laboratories have the most up to date experimental equipment to facilitate in depth research and experimentation. It is a great opportunity for secondary school students to practically engage with the University also,” she added.

The department’s technical team, as well as postgraduate students and final year BSc Ed students who will be qualified as second level biology teachers at the end of this semester, are present in the laboratories to assist students throughout the week and instruct them in conducting the experiments.

The biology students will also be given information on UL programmes offered by the Biological Sciences Department and the Faculty of Science and Engineering at UL.

Over 450 students from schools in Limerick, Clare, Galway, Tipperary and those from Access programmes and further education are due to attend over the course of the week.

Newsletter No 1 - December 2019

TY students (December 2019)

In collaboration with the SSPC education and public engagement program, the department of biological sciences hosted transition year students from across Limerick for biology practical’s this week. 

We made the practical’s personal with the students growing microbes from their hands overnight and measuring each other’s hearts rates before and after ‘jumping for science’. 

We also showed them the diversity of organisms in sea shore samples and introduced them to how we determine disease in horses using molecular biology.

Thanks are due to Patricia Cusack, Tara Murphy, Ian Coughlan, Andrew McGovern and all our dedicated Technical team.

 

MSc in Nutrition and Dietetics : a healthy and tasty meal

The 2019 intake students of the course with their mentors at the background

The MSc in Human Nutrition and Dietetics commenced in UL in 2018. 

It is an interfaculty course with the School of Allied Health and the Department of Biological Sciences. The course has recently completed the CORU accreditation review process and is awaiting the outcome. The first cohort of students will graduate in July 2020. Students undertake subjects such as Food Science and Food Skills where they develop innovative food products and lead and participate in Healthy Food challenges with head chef of Limerick Clare Education Training Board.

Last Tuesday (26th Nov 2019), the students prepared a super meal, healthy and tasty ! Well done to all the students and their mentors!

The menu list was informative and inviting, the 0.0 EtOH wine was great!

Professor of Food Science (closing date 22 Nov 2019)

The University of Limerick (UL) with over 15,000 students and 1,400 staff is an energetic and enterprising institution with a proud record of innovation and excellence in education, research and scholarship. The dynamic, entrepreneurial and pioneering values which drive UL’s mission and strategy ensures that we capitalise on local, national and international engagement and connectivity. We are renowned for providing an outstanding student experience and employability and conducting leading edge research. Our commitment is to make a difference by shaping the future through educating and empowering our undergraduate and postgraduate students. UL is situated on a superb riverside campus of over 130 hectares with the River Shannon as a unifying focal point. Outstanding recreational, cultural and sporting facilities further enhance this exceptional learning and research environment. Applications are invited for the following position: Faculty of Science + Engineering Department of Biological Sciences Professor of Food Science - Multiannual Salary Scale: €117,904 - €151,476 p.a. Informal enquiries regarding the post may be directed to: Dr Ioannis Zabetakis Head Department of Biological Sciences University of Limerick Email: Ioannis.Zabetakis@ul.ie The closing date for receipt of applications is Friday, 22nd November 2019. Further information for applicants and application material is available online.   Applications must be completed online before 12 noon, Irish Standard Time on the closing date. Please email erecruitment@ul.ie if you experience any difficulties Applications are welcome from suitably qualified candidates. The University of Limerick holds a Bronze Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advancing equality in higher education. The University is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to selection on merit welcoming applicants from all sections of the community. The University has a range of initiatives to support a family friendly working environment, including flexible working. “The University of Limerick has implemented a “Smoke and Vape Free Campus Policy”. Smoking and vaping in all forms is prohibited.”