Regional Development Centre & Research Office
the link
Ionad Forbartha Réigiúnach & Oifig Taighde
Issue Eight Summer 2011
Novation: gunning for growth • What Hunt means for Research • Succession Planning • Digging Brú na Bóinne
Where Research & Innovation Meets Enterprise
Réamhrá / Foreword Fís Na Todhcaí
Vision Of The Future
Cad a chiallaíonn Tuarascáil Hunt don earnáil tríú-leibhéal? Sin é an cheist go bhfuilimid uile ag machnamh faoi, ó foillsíodh an doiciméad le déanaí, ag leagadh amach straitéis 20-bliain don earnáil.
What does the Hunt report mean for the third-level sector? That’s the question we have all been pondering since the document, which sets out a 20-year strategy for the sector, was published recently. While legitimate questions have been raised about exactly how its recommendations will be funded, there is much to welcome in the report, particularly its backing for: trans-institutional strategic partnerships, increased investment in R&D, and a closer linkage between research and teaching and enhanced engagement with the business community. More generally, it recognises that “higher education will play a central role in making Ireland a country recognised for innovation, competitive enterprise and continuing academic excellence”. It also acknowledges the centrality of research in driving the economy forward, describing higher education as the “engine for new ideas through research”. It should be noted that the research and commercialisation agenda across the Institute is already underpinning the visions set out in recent governmental strategies, such as the Smart Economy, Programme for Government and the Hunt report itself. Read more about this on page 7. Furthermore, Hunt gives us confidence that the twin-track approach taken by the Regional Development Centre and Research Office – where research and enterprise go hand in hand – is exactly the right one for the age we live in. For Ireland to thrive as an economy and society we must not just increase employment but rapidly expand the base of smart enterprises that can create sustainable, high-value, rewarding jobs. This doesn’t happen by accident. It first of all requires world-class innovation translated into commercially viable ideas. It then needs a range of supports and programmes to help fledgling businesses through those difficult first couple of years. This is exactly what the RDC offers and you can read about many of our programmes in the following pages. We hope you enjoy this edition of The Link. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding content, or would like to be included on the mailing list, please email anne.tinnelly@dkit.ie.
Cé go n-éiríonn ceisteanna dlistineacha faoi conas go díreach a maoineofar na moltaí, tá mórán le fáiltiú san tuarascáil, go speisialta an tacaíocht atá ann do: rannpháirtíocht straitéiseach trasinstitiúdach, infheistíocht méadaithe i T&F, nasc níos dlúithe idir taighde and múineadh agus caidreamh feabhsaithe leis an bpobal gnó. Le bheith níos ginearálta, aithníonn sé “go mbeidh ról lárnach ag ardoideachas chun go mbeadh Éire aitheanta mar tír tugtha do nuálaíocht, fiontar iomaíoch agus feabhas acadúil leantach”. Admhaíonn sé freisin lárnachas taighde agus an geilleagar á thiomáint chun tosaigh, ag tagairt faoi ardoicheas mar “inneall do smaointe nua trí thaighde”. Ba chóir a thabhairt faoi ndeara go bhfuil clár taighde agus tráchtálaíochta na hInstitiúide ag cur taca faoi na físeanna leagtha amach i straitéisí an rialtais le déanaí, ar nós An Geilleagar Cliste, Clár don Rialtas agus Tuarascáil Hunt féin. Léigh tuilleadh faoi seo ar leathanach 7. Tugann Hunt muinín dúinn freisin go bhfuil cur chuige démhodhach an Ionaid Forbartha Réigiúnaigh agus Oifige Taighde – taighde agus fiontar ag dul le chéil – díreach i gceart don lá atá inniu ann. Chun go mbeadh Éire faoi bhláth mar gheilleagar agus mar sochaí, ní foláir, ní amháin fostaíocht a mhéadú, ach leathnú tapa ar bhonn na bhfiontar cliste atá in ann postanna inbhuanaithe, ardluacha, tairbheacha a chruthú. Ní tharlaíonn sin trí thimpist. Is gá ar dtús nuálaíocht den scoth i bhfoirm smaointe tráchtála inmharthana. Tá gá ansin le réimse tacaí agus cláracha chun cabhrú le gnólachtaí óga le linn na blianta tosaigh deacra sin. Sin é go díreach atá dá thairiscint ag an IFR agus is féidir léamh faoi mhórán dár gcláracha ins na leathanaigh a leanann. Tá súil again go mbaineann tú taitneamh as eagrán seo Link. Má tá tuairimí nó moltaí agat faoin ábhar, nó más mian leat bheith ar liosta na seoltaí, cuir rphost led thoil chuig anne.tinnelly@dkit.ie. Irene McCausland, Bainisteoir Seirbhísí Seachtracha,IFR Dr Tim McCormac, Ceannasaí Taighde, ITDD
Irene McCausland, External Services Manager, RDC Dr Tim McCormac, Head of Research, DkIT
Cover Photo Pictured at the launch of the DkIT DCU collaboration on the Novation Enterprise Platform Programme at the Battle of The Boyne Centre (L-R) Sean MacEntee, DkIT, Michael Brougham, Enterprise Ireland, Professor Brian McCraith, President DCU and Garrett Duffy, DkIT.
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The Regional Development Centre (RDC) is a centre to promote innovation, technology transfer and enterprise in the wider region and is based on the DkIT Campus.
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Great care has been taken to ensure that this information is accurate, but the Regional Development Centre, including its subsidiaries does not accept responsibility or liability for errors or information which is found to be misleading. Regional Development Centre Dublin Road Dundalk Co Louth T +353 42 9370400 F +353 42 9370499 W www.rdc.ie E info@rdc.ie
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Written & edited by Brian Skelly, The Write Business T + 353 86 857 5829
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Technology, Institute of Technology Sligo and NUI Galway. The consortium is led by Dundalk Institute of Technology. “The cases can help enhance the student’s practical understanding of the theory of the entrepreneurship process and new venture development, as they highlight the dynamic process of entrepreneurship, whether this is in a new start-up, a community venture or a long-established business,” she said.
Book editor Dr Cecilia Hegarty: “The cases can help enhance the student’s practical understanding of the theory of the entrepreneurship process and new venture development.”
How Irish entrepreneurs created and developed their enterprises is the subject of a valuable new book produced by the Accelerating Campus Entrepreneurship (ACE) Initiative team.
Included are valuable contributions from practitioners who tend not to publish but have a wealth of experience in working in or with SMEs or charitable organisations.
Entitled “Irish Case Studies in Entrepreneurship”, the book was launched at the Regional Development Centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology in April.
The case studies are suitable for use in entrepreneurship education and training, particularly in higher education in Ireland and in the international context.
Over 100 guests attended the launch, including policy-makers and enterprise educators as well as high-profile entrepreneurship academics from Europe. After Dundalk IT President Denis Cummins extended a warm welcome to guests, the book was formally launched by Dundalk-born entrepreneur Paul Kerley, who delivered an insightful speech on the practical realities of entrepreneurship. The co-founder and CEO of Norkom Technologies, Kerley successfully led the recent sale of Norkom to BAE Systems for €217 million.
The book was edited by Dr Cecilia Hegarty of the HEA-funded Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) Accelerated Campus Entrepreneurship (ACE) consortium – an innovative collaboration between Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, Cork Institute of
Examining practices across almost the entire third and fourth level sector in Institutes of Technology and Universities, ACE aims to develop a range of educational programmes that will produce entrepreneurial graduates who can create indigenous employment or deliver benefit to employers of all kinds. Additional achievements of the ACE initiative include the Student Entrepreneurship Internship Programme; modules at various levels to develop and grow entrepreneurial mindsets and behaviours; and new undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in entrepreneurship in engineering and technology areas as well as non-business disciplines such as early childhood/socialcare education and biomedical engineering. A record of the book launch is available for download at the ACE website ` www.aceinitiative.ie. For more information on the ACE programme please email ace@dkit.ie. If you would like to order a copy of the book please email Oak Tree Press directly: orders@oaktreepress.com.
Afterwards, Dr Cecilia Hegarty gave an overview of the SIF ACE Initiative, while Dr Thomas Cooney of Dublin Institute of Technology spoke about the value of using entrepreneurship cases in enterprise education. In the afternoon, the ACE case writers Michael Walsh and Aisling Conway of Cork IT led an interactive workshop for approximately 20 academics on using the cases in the book. Published by Oak Tree Press, the book contains a unique mix of cases from both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.
At the launch of ‘Irish Case Studies in Entrepreneurship’ were Michael Walsh (case writer, Cork IT); Dr Thomas Cooney (Dublin Institute of Technology); Dr Cecilia Hegarty (ACE initiative/book editor); Paul Kerley (Norkom Technologies); Denis Cummins (President, Dundalk IT); Brian O’Kane (Oak Tree Press); Aisling Conway (case writer, Cork IT), and Irene McCausland (External Services Manager, Dundalk IT).
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Book captures lessons from Irish entrepreneurs
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DkIT President Denis Cummins (left) with DCU President Professor Brian McCraith
DkIT to partner with DCU on NEPP 2011 Dundalk Institute of Technology has announced that this year’s Novation Enterprise Platform Programme (NEPP) is to be delivered in partnership with Dublin City University (DCU). NEPP offers businesspeople and entrepreneurs alike nine months of comprehensive business training and advice. DkIT has successfully run the programme for the past ten years and this year decided to expand the opportunities being afforded to the 15 participants by collaborating with DCU to provide an even greater breadth of experience and opportunity.
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DkIT President Denis Cummins explained the rationale behind the partnership.
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“The Novation Enterprise Platform Programme has been very successful and over the last ten years participant businesses have achieved a cumulative sales turnover in excess of €228 million. This has been achieved with an investment from the HEA of just €1.5 million. “We now want to build further on that success. Working in collaboration with DCU and Invent will afford additional, exciting
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and innovative networking and research opportunities for the course participants. “Together, both Institutes will be in a very strong position to encourage further growth through its participant businesses in both the home and export markets.” DCU President Professor Brian McCraith added his solid endorsement. “Since its inception, DCU has been known for its collaborative engagement with industry. Because of this experience and our extensive network of contacts, we have a lot to offer emerging entrepreneurs in terms of access to intellectual property and to science. Our own Invent centre has firmly established DCU as a leading player nationally in technology transfer and commercialisation. This initiative is a clear example of our commitment to entrepreneurship and we look forward to making a tangible contribution to the regional economy.” The success and track record of the DkIT Novation programme to date is clearly evident in a recent survey of current and past NEPP participants. With total sales generated in excess of €68 million in 2010 (of which exports
comprised almost €20 million) and 65% of participants who have taken part over a ten year period still in business, DkIT is in a strong position to build and expand its current operation. Said programme manager Garrett Duffy, “By the end of 2011 the programme will have generated employment of more than 400. An impressive €53 million has been raised in capital funding to date and the programme has already seen three national winners in the highly prestigious InterTrade Ireland Seedcorn competition.” The next NEPP programme, which will be delivered on both campuses, is open to all graduates operating (or wishing to operate) in the hi-tech sector or are proposing the development of a novel product or service in the sector. Apart from expert business training and advice participants can expect mentoring in a very broad range of areas including business and personal coaching, co-working facilities and shared knowledge in accessing investment funding. The programme starts at the end of June and places have now been filled. For more information: visit www.rdc.ie/nepp or contact garrett.duffy@dkit.ie
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programme. What is expected though, is a deeper understanding of how to go about the process of succession and the impact various decisions can have on succession. By the end of the programme, companies will have developed a succession plan and a clearer idea of where the business could go in the future. Anyone – young or old – can plan for the succession of the family business.
Family business speaker Dermot McNally, Rossmore Furniture
With one set of participants well on the way to completing the programme, the Success Through Succession (STS) initiative is now looking to recruit a second intake of ten companies from the six southern border counties of Ireland. STS is a unique programme designed to help second and third generation familyowned businesses negotiate difficult succession issues. Supported by the EU’s INTERREG IVA programme, STS operates within the border regions of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Western Scotland. The programme is a joint initiative between Dundalk Institute of Technology, Glasgow Caledonian University and University of Ulster, the programme leader.
2011 Programme Launched in Monaghan Family businesses from all six southern border counties along with various stakeholders attended the launch event for the next round of companies taking part in STS programme. During the event, held in the Four Seasons Hotel in Monaghan, potential participants were able to hear more about the programme and the topic of succession planning from
STS was launched in March 2010 and currently has one cohort undertaking the 12-month programme. Operating in a range of sectors from engineering to medical supplies, the companies are drawn from counties Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo. During the programme, the STS team helps family members gain an understanding of the process of succession planning by identifying their own individual needs and understanding how these affect the family business and the family unit. Actual succession is not expected to be an immediate outcome of the
The STS programme involves three face-to-face workshops. In addition, participants can avail of targeted mentoring in the areas of psychology, finance, law and general business/ management. Mentors working with participating companies on the current programme include: • Interventus, based in the North-west Dublin-based Kinchlyons Consulting FPM Chartered Accountants, based in Belfast, Dungannon, Dundalk and Newry • Tierney Tax Consultants, based in Monaghan • JMA Consulting, a psychology based firm in Dublin • Belfast-based Envision Management Consultants. To register your interest in this programme, please email: sts@dkit.ie or phone the programme manager for Ireland, Dr Cecilia Hegarty on t +353 42 9370422.
STS 2010-2011 participants: Amray Medical, Drogheda, Co. Louth Dunview Ltd, Drumod, Mohill, Co. Leitrim STS participant speaker Margaret O’Kane, Glenmore Linens
the STS expert team. The guest speaker was Dermot McNally from Rossmore Furniture. The audience also heard humorous accounts from three previous STS participant companies who have almost completed the programme. These were Margaret O’Kane, Glenmore Linens; Sheila Wakely, Wakely Engineering; and Jim Mohan, Silverstream Gardeners World.
Ferm Engineering, Donegal Town, Co. Donegal Glenmore Linens, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal Matthews Coach Hire, Dundalk, Co. Louth Parkes Garage, Ballisadere, Co. Sligo Silverstream Gardeners World, Silverstream, Co. Monaghan Wakely Engineering, Dundalk, Co. Louth Ward Automation, Finisklin Business Park, Sligo, Co. Sligo Wright Quarry Products, Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan
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STS to recruit more family businesses
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Creative buzz abounds at ICE workshop The first group innovation workshop for the Innovation for Competitive Enterprises (ICE) project was held on 30 March 2011 in the Templeton Hotel, Templepatrick, Northern Ireland. The theme of the workshop was “Ideas in Business” and the creative buzz was certainly palpable on the day among the 20 participating companies. The focus was on how to introduce creativity into the business, how to capture ideas from employees and customers and how to assess and evaluate new ideas before preparing the roadmap. ICE, which has received approximately €2.5 million of support under the EU’s INTERREG IVA Programme with assistance from Scottish Enterprise, is spearheaded by Dundalk Institute of Technology. Also participating in the programme are the University of Ulster, the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University.
near the edge of a cliff to recovery. Peter Richardson, Sales and Marketing Manager of McAree Engineering Ltd, Ballinode, Co Monaghan, related how his company survived by systematically seeking, evaluating and implementing ideas from its employee and customer base.
greatest assets, staff and customers. It is important to put processes in place to identify and capture those ideas so that they can be assessed and implemented effectively.”
Commenting on what the participants can achieve through the ICE, Programme Manager Kieran Fegan said, “Real innovation is about great people generating and then implementing new ideas. Ideas can come from anywhere but more often they can come from our two
For further information visit www.iceprogramme.com and/or contact the Regional Development Centre at DkIT on t +353 42 9370425. Kieran Fegan can be contacted directly on t +353 87 417 4681 or kieran.fegan@dkit.ie.
ICE is recruiting for its second intake of companies.
Participants get creative during the recent ICE programme workshop.
ICE’s mission is to enhance the innovation capacity of local businesses through an intensive 12-month practical programme. The three-year project will enable 90 company participants to develop new business models, products and services. The first speaker at the workshop, occupational psychologist Ruth Thompson from Team BDS, the programme delivery partner, focused on creativity: where it comes from, how to improve it in a business context and how to create the appropriate environment so as to maximise the potential for “good” creativity.
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Her colleague Malachy Mooney then introduced methodologies for brainstorming and idea creation in the context of the overall strategy for a business. He went through practical techniques for exploring possibilities and pushing creative boundaries, before rounding off this session by showing attendees how to evaluate ideas for business needs and to perform rough and detailed evaluations.
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After lunch, there followed a group exercise in which participants, faced with real business issues, had to practise techniques of brainstorming, idea creation and idea evaluation. There was plenty of head-scratching and birochewing as they applied themselves to the task. The companies then presented their innovative solutions to the scenarios posed. The day closed with a real-life case study – one company’s journey from
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Tragic death of John Delaney, founder of RDC tenant company Intrade John Delaney, founder of RDC Incubation company Intrade, an online software provider for the prediction market, which allows users to bet on world political, entertainment and financial events, died tragically on the 21st of May while attempting to summit Mount Everest. He was 42 years of age. Carl Wolfenden, Operations Manager at Intrade, said it had been John’s lifelong ambition to climb Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak.
“A keen mountaineer who had scaled several of the world’s highest peaks, John was on his second expedition to Everest, having been beaten back by bad weather on his first attempt five years ago”. The management and staff of DkIT and the Regional Development Centre would like to express their deepest sympathies to John’s wife Orla, their two sons Caspar and Alexander and daughter Hope.
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Head of Research Tim McCormac says DkIT has always had a strategic and focused approach to research.
In tune with the times The research priorities outlined in the recent Hunt report are also those that have been pursued by Dundalk IT in recent years, writes Head of Research Tim McCormac. Earlier this year the Irish Government through the Department of Education and Skills published the Hunt report entitled, “National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030”. Its principal aim is to provide a roadmap for the development of the Irish higher education sector towards 2030 with an emphasis on ensuring that it can meet the social, economic and cultural challenges that will lie ahead for Irish society. In terms of the research agenda, the report follows on from previous key policy documents which have advised policy makers, funding bodies and higher education institutions on their research direction. The Institute’s strategic direction in terms of its research, innovation and knowledge transfer activities has always been informed and guided by both its internal environment and these key policy documents, and the recent Hunt report is no exception to this. The report discusses various aspects of the higher education system, such as teaching and learning, research, engagement with the wider community, system governance, internationalisation and a future funding model for the sector. Associated with each of these areas the strategy group have highlighted a series of key recommendations. On the research front these include: • Ensuring Institutions build research capacity through a prioritised approach which informs teaching • Establishing a national PhD educational framework • Ensuring that all research-performing institutions interact both with the private sector and society at large, thereby underpinning knowledge transfer
• Embracing the arts, humanities and social sciences. Given these priorities, it is clear that the Institute’s current strategic approach to research, innovation and knowledge transfer is on the right path. Specifically, having a focused and strategic approach to research where critical mass and sustainability can be achieved in selected prioritised areas of regional, national and international importance has always been the primary driver of our research agenda. To this end the Institute has in place internationally recognised research teams who carry out research of a translational nature which impacts upon society and the economy, in areas such as health, ageing, energy, environment, creative arts, software engineering, humanities and social sciences. Since 2005 over €35 million in research funding has been secured from both national and international funding sources. We believe the future sustainability of our research is principally due to the Institute’s ability to secure both recurrent and capital research funding from a wide base of national and international sources. Hunt also recommends that Institutes of Technology “participate in regional clusters with partner universities in order to deliver on a range of national policy outcomes”. This is already happening, with Institute researchers being formally aligned with several national strategic research collaborative programmes involving both university and industrial partners. Hunt prioritises, in addition, the conversion of publicly-funded research into commercial returns. This is based upon the higher education Institutes having effective technology transfer processes and
Hunt also clearly articulates the importance of having a research-informed teaching and learning mission. The Institute is committed to ensuring that this is the case at both third and fourth level. How this is being implemented on the ground includes: ensuring all research active academics are embedded within their academic schools and that they deliver directly on undergraduate programmes; having a research-informed curriculum such as taught masters programmes across a broad range of disciplines, which have been developed directly by the Institutes’ research centres; and exposing undergraduate students to the Institute’s research agenda through targeted initiatives, such as the Summer Undergraduate Research Programme, whereby undergraduate students undertake six-week research projects embedded within the Institute’s research teams. The Institute has a history of being involved in fourth level PhD education within its prioritised research areas. Key to this has been ensuring that PhD researchers attain a high level of education and training so as to allow them to exit the Institute possessing both disciplinespecific and generic “transferable” skills. This structured approach to PhD education has been achieved, and will continue to be, through direct partnerships with university partners such as through the recently announced Structured PhD programme within the area of Bioanalysis and Therapeutics (BioAT) led by Dublin City University (DCU) (see report on page 8). As can be seen from the above, not only does Dundalk IT have a vibrant research programme but the Institute prides itself on ensuring that the research conducted here is attuned to the needs of modern society and the smart economy. The publication of the Hunt report gives us great confidence that the research capability built up here over many years has real relevance and value and that we can continue to make a valuable contribution to national progress over the coming challenging years.
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established collaborative relationships with industry. In this regard it should be noted that over 30% of DkIT’s secured research funding since 2005 has been awarded by Enterprise Ireland so as to underpin our commercialisation agenda. This has led to the establishment of two applied research enhancement centres within the areas of ageing and health, whose primary role is to support indigenous industry. This injection of funding has allowed our researchers to enhance their intellectual property (IP) portfolios substantially, thereby strengthening partnerships with industry at both a regional and national level.
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DkIT joins groundbreaking PhD programme Dundalk IT has been confirmed as one of the five partner institutes on a new structured PhD programme in the area of Bioanalysis and Therapeutics (BioAT). The four-year programme, which begins October next, is being led by DCU in partnership with DkIT, IT Tallaght, NUI Maynooth and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). DkIT’s involvement in the programme will be primarily through its researchers from within the Institute’s internationally renowned Smooth Muscle Research Centre. Funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) under the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutes (PRTLI) 5, it will initially support 29 students. What makes the programme unusual, according to programme director Dr Christina Loscher, is its integrated nature. “This means that students in the programme will have full access to graduate modules across all of the partner institutes. That’s one of the key advantages of the programme: it gives students access to expertise outside of what their own institution can offer them.
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“There is a wide range of research areas in which each institution would have expertise; by collaborating we can make those research areas a bit stronger.”
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Traditionally, PhD students have been allocated a supervisor within their own institute and have worked solely with them right through their doctorate studies. Under the new scheme, a
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student registered on the structured PhD programme in DkIT, for example, will now have the opportunity to train with and learn from researchers in, say, NUI Maynooth, in areas related to their research interests, thus enhancing the quality of their training. The type of research that students on the programme will be engaged with will range from diagnostics and biomedical devices to cancer and cardiovascular disease. As well as offering students a wide range of technical/scientific modules to choose from, a very important aspect of the programme is enabling students to polish their commercial skills, too. “One of the key aims of the PhD programme is to prepare our graduates for entry into the commercial and clinical environments. So we offer transferrable skills modules, which have been developed in consultation with industry,” said Loscher. “These offer training in commercial awareness, patent and licensing, innovation and entrepreneurship, leadership in the research environment and professional development. These equip students with what we call ‘graduate skills and attributes’. We want graduates at the end of this programme who are not just excellent scientists but who can function within leadership roles in industry.” It is understood that, initially, PhD research students from within the School of Health
and Science who carry out research within the areas of bioanalysis and therapeutics will participate in this programme. They will be drawn from the Institute’s Smooth Muscle Research Centre and Electrochemistry Research Group. Dr Tim Mc Cormac, Head of Research, Dundalk Institute of Technology, said: “We are delighted to join this structured PhD programme. The collaboration fits well with our approach of working with other higher education institutions as the entire sector responds to the challenges set for us by the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 published by Government earlier this year. The programme also underlines the postgraduate opportunities that are increasingly available at Dundalk as we build our presence at fourth level in line with the drive towards the northeast being central to the ‘Smart Economy’.” Loscher believes the programme will not only benefit the participating students from DkIT but will also strengthen the research links between DkIT and partner institutes. “Certainly DkIT has really embraced coming into the programme this year and we’re delighted about that.” Dr Declan Raftery, Director of Research Support Services at DCU, says “We are delighted that DkIT will be joining the BioAT programme. This collaboration will build on our relationship with DkIT and strengthen our collaborations along the eastern corridor.” More information about the programme can be found at www.dcu.ie/bioat.
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Dr Conor Brady: going back on- site at Rosnaree this summer.
Unlocking more secrets of Brú na Bóinne By the nature of their work, most researchers spend a lot of time digging for new information but few do so as literally as Dr Conor Brady. A lecturer in landscape archaeology within the Department of Humanities, Brady spent last summer leading a dig at Brú na Bóinne (‘Palace of the Boyne’), Co Meath – home to Newgrange. “My research interests centre on Brú na Bóinne, the prehistoric settlement, and the landscape around it. I did my PhD research down there and I’ve been doing various pieces of follow-up research there since then, culminating in the excavation last summer,” he explained.
Sifting through the evidence at Rosnaree.
doing apart from building and using monuments?” he says.
The starting point for this research was a well known archaeological But rather than attempt to uncover technique known as field-walking. more monuments, tombs or “You walk agricultural fields shortly passageways – which is what this after they’re ploughed. Stone tools UNESCO World Heritage Site is famous that might have been used in the for – Brady took a quite different tack. Stone Age will remain in the soil and “A lot of focus is on the monuments a certain number of them are turned on the site but my particular angle was to the surface every season after to look at the so-called ‘blank spaces’ ploughing takes place. Systematically between the monuments to see what collecting these and plotting their type of settlement and land-use activity location allows distribution maps was going on. Basically I was asking to be drawn up. Where you get what else were the people in the area clusters of artefacts occurring that’s
Based on the cluster patterns he uncovered, he embarked on a three-year project funded by the Heritage Council to
discover whether the cluster of tools found had a corresponding human settlement nearby. This meant using a number of geophysical surveys using hi-tech equipment that could ‘see’ underneath the soil and map structures or other features. Although he came across no evidence of housing in several of the locations, some sites were suggestive of human habitation and warranted further exploration. It was one of these – at Rosnaree, on the banks of the River Boyne – which was the focal point of last summer’s dig. The primary aim of the work, which was grant-aided by the Royal Irish Academy, was to find some organic material at the site which could then be radiocarbon-dated in order to find whether or not it dated back to the Stone Age. While no evidence of a Stone Age settlement was found, artefacts dating from the early medieval period were, suggesting that the initial Neolithic settlement had been built on several thousands of years later. Brady is planning to return this summer to do a second dig at the site – or as he puts it to “have another bite at the cherry” – to see whether he can find that elusive evidence of Stone Age structures. Helping him will be a number of Archaeology students from Dundalk IT, who, he says, will have a chance “to get hands-on excavation experience which has been difficult to get these last few years.” Brady developed a serious interest in archaeology while working as a tour guide at Newgrange. He did a BA in Archaeology at UCD, which he followed with a research masters there. He joined the lecturing staff at Dundalk IT in 2002, completing his PhD in 2007. Last summer he kept a diary of the Rosnaree dig in the form of a blog which he says was a good way of letting people know how it was moving along. He plans to resurrect the blog again this summer. Readers can follow his progress at http://rosnareedig.wordpress.com.
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a good indicator that there may have been a settlement of other activity at a particular location,” he explained.
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Student Profile: Nargis Anwar, Electrochemistry Research Group One of the buzzwords in research today is “mobility” – the ability for researchers to train and work anywhere in the world and the benefits it confers not only on the researcher but also on the host organisation/country. Nargis Anwar personifies the new breed of international researcher, who is willing to travel to further their education and career. Raised and educated to degree level in Lahore, eastern Pakistan, Anwar came to Ireland four years ago in order to pursue a career in electrochemistry. She was awarded a scholarship to do a postgraduate research masters in chemistry within Dr Tim McCormac’s electrochemistry group at IT Tallaght. When he moved to Dundalk IT two years ago as head of research, his three PhD researchers, including Anwar, came with him. Now a dissertation-stage PhD student, the main focus of Anwar’s work is the
development of novel immobilisation strategies of polyoxometalates onto both metallic and semiconducting surfaces for applications in molecular electronics and sensor technology. “Polyoxometalates are a particular type of chemical compounds which have specific properties that make them suitable for use in electrochemistry,” she explains. “That’s my main area of research.” Anwar has spoken at a number of high-profile chemistry conventions, including the Chemistry Colloquium in Belfast last year and the recent Eirelec ’11 – Electrochemistry of the Future conference in Limerick, at which she shared the latest findings of her research. Separate to her PhD work, Anwar is also involved in an EU Framework 7-funded industrial project which is concerned with inspection of leaks – in for example refrigeration units – for environmental purposes. This experience, which involves a
number of European companies, has allowed her to see how research is commercialised for the benefit of private sector. Anwar has no ‘typical’ working day – her routine depends on what she’s working on at the time. Sometimes she is in lab conducting experiments or at the computer, analysing results and writing up her findings. Other days are taken up with working on the EU-funded project. Looking to the future, Anwar says she wants to continue to develop her career in research as a postdoc and lecturer – although, she acknowledges, opportunities for lecturing are relatively scarce in the current funding environment. Ultimately she would like to run her own research group. “I love research and want to be in research for the whole of my life.”
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Cross-border eco-survey
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Dundalk IT’s Centre for Freshwater Studies is to play a key role in a new multi-million-euro geo-environmental project that will carry out extensive survey work in the border counties over the next three years.
According to Centre Director Dr Suzanne Linnane, wetlands are a key natural resource in that they support a diverse ecology as well as lock in carbon. The new project should add greatly to our understanding of them, she says.
The €5 million Tellus Border project aims to maintain or improve the condition and management of soils, stream waters and ground waters across the border counties and in Northern Ireland. The project builds on the award-winning Tellus Project in Northern Ireland, which produced new environmental maps and digital data of soils, rocks and stream waters of the whole of Northern Ireland.
“Wetlands are often not well understood, particularly their hydrological processes – the water movement through them. Changes to the surrounding land use, through agriculture and planning for example, have impacted the wetlands over time. We’ll be looking at how they have reacted to this land use and what state they’re now in.”
The new project - a joint initiative between the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI), the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI), Dundalk Institute of Technology and Queen’s University, Belfast - has a number of research strands, one of which is the hydrological, hydrogeological and hydrochemical characterisation of representative wetlands. This strand will be led by the Centre for Freshwater Studies.
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Studying the wetlands will produce the data needed to improve their stewardship over the long term, as Linnane explains. “If we understand the link between the ecological characteristics of wetlands and the hydrogeology we’ll actually be able to do more cost effective and intelligent monitoring of the wetlands system.”
Field samples from Northern Ireland being analysed in the lab.
Researchers doing fieldwork as part of the first Tellus project.
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class” for the treatment of a condition of incontinence known as ‘overactive bladder’ (see panel). After almost two years and two patent applications it appears the team is close to success. Like many drug discovery programmes that originate in academia, the original basis of the discovery was serendipitous, and led to an extensive effort to identify the minimum essential structure, optimise the drug design for specificity to the target and reduce observable interactions that could lead to side effects.
PhD student Bernard Drumm collects images of calcium movement within cells to determine their reaction to drugs.
An exciting project that has taken a multidisciplinary approach to creating intellectual property shows all the signs of being commercially valuable, writes Dr Mary Earle. Drug discovery is often associated with large multidisciplinary teams working in corporate settings on defined drug targets known to be involved in specific disease processes. Teams of people spend years and vast sums of money attempting to develop compounds that are “first in class”, with a new mechanism of action that can result in added benefits over current treatments. In particular, the industry seeks medications with fewer side effects, more potent activity or greater tolerability. However, large pharmaceutical companies have repeatedly failed to achieve these goals and, as they begin to retreat from this area, it is now increasingly becoming the role of academia to embark on early stage drug discovery where there is focused knowledge of a specific target and capacity for greater risk, creativity and innovation. An Applied Research Enhancement Centre, funded by Enterprise Ireland at Dundalk Institute of Technology, has been working on an exciting project that has taken a multidisciplinary approach to creating intellectual property that shows all the signs of being commercially valuable.
The Ion Channel Biotechnology Centre (ICBC) comprises approximately 20 scientists encompassing a multitude of disciplines including physiology, electrophysiology, molecular biology and chemistry. Led by Prof Noel McHale, and principal investigators Drs Mark Hollywood, Gerard Sergeant and Keith Thornbury, the result is a team that develops, synthesises and tests new chemical entities against precise biological targets for applications in diseases where there is a real unmet need. ICBC has synthesised and tested over 80 compounds that are activators of a specific ion channel called ‘BK’. (Ion channels are pore-forming proteins that are critical in mediating cell and tissue relaxation, contraction and secretion, influencing many bodily processes and involved in organs and tissues such as the bladder, the lungs, blood vessels, nerves and the gut.) BK channels vary in their structure and function, depending on the tissue in which they are found, and therefore drugs affect these structures and tissues differently. The goal of the team at the ICBC is to generate a drug candidate that is specific for BK channels found in smooth muscle of the bladder in order to develop a drug that can be effective and “first in
The data contained in the patent applications has been generated with the support of Enterprise Ireland ARE funding. Further commercialisation funding is now being sourced, in addition to investigating licensing out the drugs and their patent applications to interested companies for later stage development. The team at ICBC believes it has a recipe for drug discovery. “Multidisciplinary teams bring new and valuable perspectives to the drugdiscovery process and enables us to reach conclusions faster through a well controlled iterative process,” states Prof McHale, director of the ICBC. Dr Mary Earle, MBA, is Centre Manager, Ion Channel Biotechnology Centre.
What is ‘overactive bladder’? ‘Overactive bladder’ is a condition where the smooth muscle lining the bladder becomes hyperactive. It requires a solution that will facilitate quietening of this muscle and subsequent relaxation of the bladder leading to alleviation of the sensation of needing to urinate, despite a zero or limited volume of urine in the bladder. The condition is not well treated medically and as such requires intervention using a new class of drugs, such as those being developed at the ICBC.
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ICBC team “close to success” with bladder drug candidate
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Dundalk research repository goes live An online research bank which can store thousands of academic papers, published articles, book chapters, patents, PhD dissertations and many other types of research output has been unveiled by DkIT. Dundalk Repository (http://eprints.dkit.ie) allows researchers to upload their academic work and share it free of charge with the national and international research community as well as members of the public. Commenting on the repository, DkIT President Denis Cummins said, “The establishment of Dundalk Repository is an extremely important milestone in the Institute’s overall research strategy. While the benefits of research for learning and teaching and the impacts on society are well understood, these impacts can be only be realised through the public dissemination of research.
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Since it has only recently been completed, the Repository contains only a small number of items but this is expected to grow significantly as researchers learn about the system and start to use it. The library is running workshops throughout June to explain how the system works and show researchers how to upload their work. Once it has been populated with a critical mass of content, the Research Repository will be integrated with the national research repository, Rian (rian.ie), which already contains thousands of research papers from across the university sector. Dundalk will be only the second institute of technology (after DIT) to have its research output available on Rian. For more information about Dundalk Repository contact Nicola Hanlon, DkIT librarian (nicola.hanlon@dkit.ie). http://eprints.dkit.ie.
• Health and Ageing • Energy and Environment • Music and Creative Media • Entrepreneurship To view current projects on offer please visit www.dkit.ie/research/ undergraduateresearch2011. The paid placements will include an official welcome and induction on research at DkIT. In addition, experienced research supervisors will talk about the research that’s under way, while current research students will relate their experiences. There will also be workshops on areas such as ethics and intellectual property. Students will actively participate in a research team and be invited to showcase their work at a special event to mark the end of the placement scheme.
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“Developing a repository has a number of benefits. Ease of access is one: by having all your research in one place you can find what you need very quickly. Secondly, because the repository is open access, ie, visible to the world wide web, there is a higher chance of your paper being cited – in fact a survey last year showed a 60% increase in citations for papers that were on open access. Thirdly, it’s a source of prestige for the Institute because it
Dundalk Repository is powered by an archiving system called ePrints, developed by the University of Southampton, but the user interface has been substantially modified for the benefit of local users by Andrew Clarke of Computer Services.
The different research groups/ centres within the college devise the projects; students then apply to ones they are most interested in. There are 20 projects in all, falling into the following categories:
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Nicola Hanlon, assistant librarian at DkIT, says the repository is in keeping with a global trend among third-level institutes to open their research output to a wide audience and reap the associated benefits.
She adds that the trend towards online repositories has been embraced by academic journals, the vast majority of which (92%) allow researchers to upload a pre-print version of their article to a repository.
This summer, Dundalk IT is running a Research Summer Placement Programme aimed at giving students exposure to a wide range of research projects taking place within the college.
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“This repository greatly enhances the dissemination process and will, in time, build to be one of the most important resources for researchers, not just in DkIT but also nationally and internationally.”
showcases the research being produced here. Finally, journals are becoming more and more expensive every year and the more research that’s on open access the less we’re reliant on these journals and the Institute can save money [on subscriptions] as a result.”
Research Undergraduate Summer School