Spin 20

ISSUE 20 JANUARY 07 €3 including VAT £2 NI and UK

SCIENCE

SPIN

IRELAND’S SCIENCE WILDLIFE AND DISCOVERY MAGAZINE

Looking good on the dance floor

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A display to impress the potential mates, one of the oldest tricks in the animal kingdom.

3 Images of research 6 At UCD researchers came up with UPFRONT

winning pictures

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

Mary Mulvihill describes a jelly bowl building

What makes the brain tick?

Seán Duke finds that UCD researchers are finding how the brain works

The universal science

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Mathematics describes the world

11 Books from Coford Bog treasures

12

Shane Leavy reports how peat is preserving the past

Noticeboard

44 46

Kilbeggan distillery

16

What’s that hole in the ground?

48

Paul Lyle explains why engineers want rocky roads

Ancient brittlestars

19 Seán Duke gives some guidelines on

Embroidery

52

Virtual trip

Proofing Aisling McLaughlin

28 Tom Kennedy reports that research

54

Printing Turner Print, Longford

Science for all

Design and Production Albertine Kennedy Publishing Cloonlara, Swinford, Co Mayo

Contributors in this issue: Tony Bazley, Shane Leavy, Paul Lyle, Mary Mulvihill, Karen Nickell, Robert Quinn.

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.

SUPPLEMENT

COLLEGE CHOICE where to study science

Critical mass

is on the rise as a career

37

Sean O’Leary wonders if we can handle it

Engineered, a week of wonder

41

Looking good on the dance floor

43

Robert Quinn wonders what the display is all about

SPIN

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 1

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Tony Bazley describes some of Ireland’s unusual fossils

Karen Nickell finds inspiration in rocks Visitors to the the north west can start off with a virtual tour

Getting to the roots of infection

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Claire O’Connell reports that the search leads around the world

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UPFRONT Where do they go?

MOST of those leaving college have found jobs within nine months. The HEA carried out a survey on where graduates go after leaving college, and it was found that only two per cent were still looking for work after nine months. The numbers going into jobs quickly was already high, but the survey revealed that those with masters and PhDs are doing better than ever before.

Compared to 86 per cent employed in 2004, 90 per cent of the PhDs found employment within nine months.

Commenting on this, HEA Chief Executive, Tom Boland said the performance is impressive. “In all, over 90% of university and DIT award recipients are in employment or pursuing further study – 83% of them in Ireland.”

Dublin is a popular first stop, and although this is where most of the graduates come from, here is a shortfall. Dublin employs 90 per cent more graduates than it produces. As other survies have shown, graduates tend to settle down in the regions where they went to college. According to the HEA study, 77 per cent of the Dubliners remained, 57 per cent of those from Cork were retained, 52 per cent stayed on in Galway, and 41 per cent remained in Limerick.

Old bees BEEs have been buzzing around for a long time, longer in fact than anyone had thought. The latest discovery, from northern Myanmar in Burma, of a bee embedded in amber, pushes the appearance back to 100 million years ago. This is 65 million years before any other known bee fossils. The discovery, reported in the US journal Science, was made by Bryan Danforth, Cornell Associate Professor of Entomolgy, and George Poinar from Oregon State University.

The 16,000 species of bee that we now have are grouped into seven families, but experts are not sure of which came first. The latest discovery suggests that the Melittidae family were the first to emerge. Because bees and flowering plants are so closely linked, scientists believe that bees must have evolved about 120 million years ago.

Winning writers SECOnDAry students from around Ireland took up the theme, ‘Who wants to live forever?’ in a writing competition organised by the regenerative Medicine Institute at nUI Galway. The judges were pleasantly surprised at the number of students who took a well informed and balanced view of hotly debated issues, such as those surounding stem cell research.

The first prize went to Paul Kelliher, from the Intermediate School, Killorglin, Co Kerry. Paul was regarded by the judging

Healthy move A MEDICAL school, shared between the University of Ulster at Magee, and nUI Galway is being planned. Apart from creating more opportunities in the broader north west region, one of the expected benefits is that many of those who go through the school are likely to remain on in the west as GPs. Professor Gerry Loftus, Dean of Medicine and Health Science at nUI

Bio-power AS An alternative to conventional batteries, researchers at nUI Galway aim to develop biocatalytic fuel cells for use in medical devices. At present batteries, made using lithium, are bulky, expensive, and not really suitable for delicate implants. The research team, involving partners from a number of countries, is being headed by Dr Dónal Leech from the nUIG Chemistry Department. natural catalystic reactions are to provide the power, and it may even be possible to harness the body’s own chemicals. Implant batteries could end up using blood and other body fluids as their fuel. Dr Leech believes the opportunities opened up by biocatalytic fuel cells is enormous. In the not too

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panel as showing great promise as a talented writer. The runner up was Sarah Grace, from Loretto Secondary School, Dalkey, and honourable mentions were awarded to Caoilfhionn ni Chonghaile from the Sacred Heart School in Westport, Co Mayo, and Sraid McCarrick from St Attracta’s Comunity School, Tubbercurry, Co Sligo.

The competition, was sponsored

by Medtronic, and the prizes included laptops, iPODs, and school science bursaries.

More details about the competition are at: www.remedi.ie

Galway, said the development will strengthen the position of the universities and provide a wider range of education and research opportunities.

Over the coming years 160 undergaduate and graduate students are expected to enter the School.

Professor Bernie Hannigan, Pro-Vice Chancellor for research and Inovation at the University of Ulster, welcomed the development as solving problems for communities on both sides of the border.

Dr Donal Leech

distant future a whole range of medical devices, such as pacemakers and insulin pumps could be powered from biofuel cells.

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UPFRONT Scientific Adviser

At the award ceremony, Prof Mark Keane, Director General, SFI, Dr James O’Donnell, President McAleese, Dr. Emma Teeling and Dr Oliver Blacque.

President Awards

ThREE young researchers, Dr Emma Teeling, Dr James O’Donnell, and Dr Oliver Blacque, were presented with President of Ireland awards, worth over €1 million each.

Dr Emma Teeling from University College Dublin is working on the molecular evolution of sensory perception in mammals, using bats as her model. By examining the genetic factors involved in key sensory areas, Dr Teeling hopes to identify the genetic factors leading to loss of hearing and blindness in humans. Dr Teeling’s research will also cast light on the evolutionary development of senses.

Dr James O’Donnell from Trinity College Dublin is examining a common inherited disease affecting

blood clotting. A deficiency in what is known as the Von Willebrand Factor, VWF, prevents proper coagulation of blood, and is implicated in thrombosis. Dr O’Donnell aims to gain a better understanding on how this process works.

Dr Oliver Blacque from University College Dublin has been examining, cilia, the tiny, hair-like structures that give cells a degree of mobility. a number of health problems are understood to be caused by defective cilia, including cystic kidneys, retinal dystrophy, and certain bone abnormalities. Dr Blacque’s research will lead to a better understanding of how cilia function, and what genetic factors influence development.

Are you up for it?

ThaT’S the challenge being presented to school students in a bid to increase interest in technology. according to the Information and communications sector elecronic, enginnering, and related skills are in short supply. The sector is enjoying a boom, but major companies have warned that without an increased number of students studying these subjects, they could find it hard to stay in business. Over 300 overseas ICT companies operate in Ireland, so the demand for electronic, computer, and software engineer graduates is high, yet many Leaving Cert students

do not choose to take these subjects at third level.

Margie McCarthy, who is involved in the campaign to attract more interest, believes that many students are not really aware of the opportunities in the ICT sector. In support of the campaign, people from the ICT industries are acting as ‘champions’, going into schools and giving advice to students.

In 2006, said Margie McCarthy, the number of ICT jobs increased by 32 per cent.

To participate in the campaign visit the website: www.areyouupforit.ie

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PROF Patrick Cunningham, a pioneer of genetic evaluation in cattle, has been appointed Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government.

Prof Cunningham, originally from Waterford, graduated in agricultural Science at UCD in 1956, and he obtained a PhD in animal Genetics from Cornell University, USa, in 1962. at Teagasc he became Deputy head of Research in 1980, and his work there on genetic evaluation won international recognition. When the Genetics Department was established at TCD, Prof Cunningham became Professor of animal Genetics there, and following this he became Director of animal Production and health at the Food and agricultural Organisation, FaO, based in Rome. During this time he directed the Screwworm Eradication programme in North africa, believed to have been the largest biological control campaign ever undertaken. his research on genetic diversity eventually unravelled the history of animal domestication. The genetic evidence led to the discovery that cattle had been domesticated separately in two separate regions, India, and africa with Europe.

On a different front, Prof Cunningham was involved in the development of DNa traceability for the meat industry, and he is currently Chairman of IdentiGEN, the company established to apply this technology in Europe and the US.

Off to the USA TriniTy graduate, Donnchadha Quilty, is one of the 27 recipients for the new Fulbright Science and Technology Award. Many of ireland’s most distinguished scientsts were able to study in the US with the help of Fulbright awards which have been in existence now for over fifty years. in the US Donnchadha is to study for his PhD in elementary particle physics, and following this he is keen to work in Ireland in the field of physics.

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UPFRont

Constant?

How constant is constant? one of the assumptions in physics is the mass ratio between a proton and an electron is constant. why this should be bang on 1836 is another matter, but now there is some evidence to show that the ratio can change.

The Institute of Physics reports that wim Ubachs at the Free Univerity of Amsterdam has found that the ratio, known as mu, in ancient hydrogen is not the same as in hydrogen from the lab.

By looking into distance space, wim’s group gathered data on hydrogen as it existed about 12 billion years ago. Using extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy they also examined hydrogen in the lab. They discovered that the spectral signatures, that depend on the value of mu, were not the same. From this evidence, the group concluded that the value of mu may have decreased by 0.0002 per cent over 12 million years.

Crowning glory IF mAny waterford residents have their way, the impressively horned Bilberry goat may yet become an icon for the area. The long time residents of waterford’s Bilberry Rock are now regarded as unique, and a campaign to protect the herd has strong local support. Conor Kelleher, writing about the goats in Irish wildlife reports that members of the Bilberry Goat Herd Protection Trust are acting as caretakers for the 28 strong herd.

The goats have unusually long hair, and no other breed has such long curving horns. The goats are believed to have arrived in Ireland with Huguenot settlers about 1693. while the Trust wants to see their future secured, Conor Kelleher reports that housing developments are eating into the 14 acre Bilberry

Rock area. Officially the area is commonage, but recently, waterford County Council sold part of the land for housing. originally the goat herd was larger, and their home area was also more extensive. These are not the only concerns. with just eight breeding females, the herd is in real danger of collapse. According to the Trust, the goats should be allowed to stay, but neither the Bilberry Rock area, or the goats themselves, have the sort of status needed to ensure protection. Thousands of people from the area have signed a petition to save the goats, and undoubtedly they could become one of waterford’s attractions. The Irish wildlife Trust has suggested that the goats become ‘official’, and they claim that it would be quite easy for the local council to make Bilberry Rock into a Special Amenity Area.

Paradise lost

AFTeR discovering several new species, including twenty previously unknown frogs, scientists are worred that they have opened the door into one of the world’s last areas of wilderness. The Australian Geographic magazine, reports that, Steve Richards, a biologist with the South Australian museum, spent years trying to get into the remote Foja mountains of north west new Guinea. eventually Steve and a team of 12 dropped into the unexplored area by helicopter — taking care to proble the ground below first with a long pole.

One of their first finds was a honeyeater, the first new species of bird from new Guinea to be names in over 70 years. So far, five new palm species have been discovered, and as the identification of specimens continues, the list if going to expand.

According to the Geographic, many of the specimens will go to Indonesia’s natural History museum at Bogar. now that the area has been visited by scientists, fears have been expressed that the poachers and the loggers will follow. The region is a hot spot for diversity, but it also has a bad reputation for indiscriminate exploitation and logging.

Steve Richards, however, claims that knowledge about the discoveries will swing public opinion in favour of long-term protection.

Pulsating cells Red blood cells are far from static, and they have been observed to pulsate and change shape. These changes appear to be normal interaction with the environment, and it is thought that a high degree of elasticity is essential for them to function properly.

A team of researchers at massachusetts Institute of Technology, mIT, has been looking at these fluctuations using a powerful imaging technique.

The technique, known as quantitative phase imaging, goes way beyond electron microscopy because it can be used to examine living rather than dehydrated or frozen cells.

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michael Feld, who heads the Spectroscopy Lab at mIT said that after a long period of fine tuning, images with a resolution of just 0.2 nanometers can be produced. This is extremely high resolution compared to the 8 micron (8,000 nanometer) size of an average red blood cell.

Cell shape has a big influence on function, and with red blood cells there is the example of how sickle shaped cells are associatd with anemia. other researchers with the group are looking at nerve cells. Chris Fang-yen has noted that neural membranes undergo tiny deformations when a signal travels by. Fang-yen believes that these mechanical deformations could shed light on now networks function.

Quantitative phase imaging depends on interferometry to build up an image. In essence, the waves of light passing through a cell are compared to reference waves to produce an interference pattern. The technique is successful, and in time, michael Feld expects it to offer the same sort of resolution as electron microscopy.

Brain power

OUr body is a complex engine, and the tiny mitochondria within cells provide the power. according to researchers at TCD’s School of Biochemistry, we all carry around about 7 kg of these tiny power packs. The power is cleverly packaged into a reversable reaction. Molecules of aTP deliver the power to muscles and other sites where energy is needed, and release it only when required. Normally we produce enough aTP to keep us going, but if anything happens to damage our mitochondria, our muscles and organs cease to work properly. energy is not just needed to keep us moving, our brain and nervous system also make heavy demands.

The researchers at the School of Biochemistry and Immunology have just been awarded €1.2 million to investigate the connection between neurodegeneration in the brain and mitochondria. The researchers believe that defective functioning of mitochondria could be linked to some diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and it is possible that lack of energy could be involved in cellular ageing processes.

With funding under the Marie Curie programme, five postdoc researchers from abroad will join the TCD team, and Irish researchers will travel to institutions in Britain, Germany, Italy, and Turkey.

7

Framework seven THe seventh european Framework programme, setting the agenda for eC funded research, has been launched with an overall budget of €50 billion. Under the Framework programme support is given to areas of research regarded as having strategic importance for europe.

Originally funding was awarded to a wide diversity of projects, and Irish researchers were among those to benefit the most from earlier Framework programmes. The Framework objectives are now more tightly focused on a limited number of strands, and almost without exception, researchers are expected to work within large trans-european teams. at present Irish researchers are involved in over 500 partnerships with institutions and companies throughout

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UPFRONT europe, and one of the big advantages for researchers is that they have become more mobile.

Perhaps the most significant new development in Framework is the formation of the european research Council.

The Council, which has a budget of €7.5 billion, will make awards to researchers on the basis of scientific excellence Dr Imelda Lambkin has been appointed to act as the National Director for Framework 7 in Ireland. Dr Lambkin, working out of enterprise Ireland, is to supervise a number of contact points, and researchers who want to participate in Framework projects will be provided with advice and assistance in making submissions.

Heat exchangers

SOMeTIMeS heat exchangers in power stations suddenly melt, and until now no one really understood why this happens. However, as Cadim Nikolayev and his colleague at the ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles in Paris have found, vapour acts as a very efficient barrier, so as hot water becomes steam, heat transfer stops, and the heat exchanger melts. a similar process can be seen on the kitchen stove, where drops of liquid can fizzle around for a while instead of evaporating rapidly.

Old myth We are often told that our ancestors died young. Hitting forty was quite an achievement, or so we have been led to assume. One anthropologist, Michael Gurren, from the University of California, casts serious doubts on this view.

Together with Hillard Keplan, from the University of New Mexico, Gurren has been gathering life-span data from the hunter-gatherers of Bolivia. In studying ten different groups, the scientists found that half the population was dead by 15, so staying alive is not easy. However, once someone has survived to 15, their chances of reaching 65 reach 40 per cent, and the prospect of reaching 70 are no less than they are for people living in the affluent west. as the researchers admit, these are modern, not Stone age, people, but given that their life style may match that of our ancestors, we should look again at our assumptions, which, after all, are based on very little hard evidence.

Not alone did the antropologists question longevity; they also drew attention to the positive side of age. 20 year olds were at their physical peak, but the most skilled hunters were 40 of over. Old hunters then turned to cultivation, and those in their 50s had the highest productivity. according to the researchers, this process of change continues into the 70s.

Not only do these findings run counter to many of our notions about careers and employment, but they suggest that discarding 20 or 30 years of experience may be just a modern fad.

www.marine.ie

Foras na Mara

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

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 5

PICTURE THIS

Images of research Researchers in UCD showed their talent for photography, with 420 images, some of them of very high quality, submitted to a competition entitled ‘Picture This’.An independent selection panel that comprised experts from the arts and digital media worlds, judged the images for technical excellence and aesthetic merit.

The overall winner was Noreen Barron, School of Irish, Celtic Studies, Irish Folklore & Linguistics for her photograph of St John’s Night, at Scruwaddacon Bay, Ross Port, Co. Mayo The evening of June 23rd, St John’s Eve (or Bonfire Night) is celebrated in many parts of Ireland with the lighting of bonfires. One custom associated with this day was to take burning embers from the bonfire and spread them on a potato crop for a good yield that year.

Elizabeth Shotton, School of Architecture, Landscape & Civil Engineering was awarded second place for her ‘Foreign Bodies, Grand Canal Locks’. The photograph was among those taken for a comprehensive survey of the Liffey from Islandbridge to the Poolbeg Lighthouse.

Yolanda Alvarez, School of Biomolecular & Biomedical Science, came third for this colourful image of blood vessels overlying the inner layers of the retina in adult zebrafish. The endothelial cells forming the walls of the vessels are green (EGFP) and the nuclei of all cells are blue (DAPI staining).

Foreign bodies, photograph of the Grand Canal Basin by Elizabeth Shorron.

Blood vessels over inner retina layer of zebra fish by Yolanda Alvarez

Gold nanoflowers, by Amro Sati, Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Applying gold to nanoparticles results in the formation of regular structures, 0.5 to 1 micron in size.

Right: Scanning electron micrograph of spore bearing conidophores from a fungal pathogen of barley. Mike Cooke, School of Biology and Environmental Science.

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Bonfire on St John’s Night, Noreen Barron.

Right: Crystals of anti-leprosy Clofazimine in cells, by Raphael Darcy, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology,, CSCB and Conway Institute.

Iimage of hexaphenylcyclohexane, a sterically crowded molecule, by John Grealis, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

Electron micrograph of fern spores by Alfonso Blanco, Conway Institute.

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SPIN

The Universal Science of How Things Work

L

atin may have been the universal language of the Middle Ages, but mathematics is the universal language of today. If you are a gambler, mathematical principles can tell you more than whether it is possible to win; they can tell you how often you are likely to win. It’s called probability, and it doesn’t always have to be about horses.

Let’s say there are 20 pens in a box. Nine are blue and 11 are black. If you randomly select a pen your chances of picking a blue pen are 9 out of 20 or 9/20. Your chances of picking a red pen, on the other hand, are 11 out of 20 or 11/20. The thing is, all games of chance are governed by the probability, or likelihood, of something happening.

So, if you understand probability, you have a much better chance of winning or succeeding, or in deciding whether it’s worth the gamble at all.

But enough about gambling for now; let’s move on to loftier topics like the weather or high finance. Can we predict, for example, tornadoes and tsunamis? Can we predict price variation on the stock exchange? Again, with mathematics we can, and Science Foundation Ireland’s Mathematics Initiative, launched in the spirit of recognising this very mathematical diversity, will encourage mathematicians to work closely with researchers from industry, finance, economics, engineering, and other academic disciplines.

It’s all about promoting high quality mathematical research that both advances Ireland’s mathematical reputation and improves the interactions of Irish mathematicians with

Galway races, Source Photographic Archives

enterprise. It’s also about demystifying mathematics by emphasising its practical applications through outreach and educational programmes. Rather than being a specific type of mathematics, applied mathematical modelling is about asking how things work, the emphasis not being on the mathematics itself, but on the use of mathematics to understand an aspect of the non-mathematical world. Famous mathematicians like Archimedes, Newton and Kelvin would have fallen into this category of using mathematics to understand how things work.1

Prof. Stephen O’Brien, MACSI, University of Limerick

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Applied mathematics explains how gadgets work, how substances behave and why some things appear as they are. How does a widget in a can of stout work? How quickly does spilt fuel on an airport runway migrate through the underlying soil towards the water table and how is this mathematically connected with the problem of cooking hamburgers without burning them?2 These, and countless more, are the type of questions asked by applied mathematicians – the type of questions that span and cross the disciplines and explain life as we know it, whether it is meteorology, stocks and shares, cardiac care, oil drilling or building construction. In fact, you could describe applied mathematics as the one stop shop that describes the way the world works.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micháel Martin recently announced a Science Foundation Ireland investment of €7.84 million in two Mathematics research projects under the SFI Mathematics Initiative.

The two successful projects are the Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry (MACSI)3 , headed by Prof.

Stephen O’Brien at the University of Limerick, and the Claude Shannon Institute for Discrete Mathematics, Coding and Cryptography, headed

by Dr. Gary McGuire. MACSI will receive €4.34 million over five years, the largest single award ever made to mathematics in this country, while the Claude Shannon Institute, which involves

Calculating the odds is not just confined to gambling ... collaboration between UCD, UCC, DCU and NUI Maynooth will receive €3.5 million over five years.

Proposals were invited in all fields of mathematics that would promote co-operation between mathematicians, scientists and engineers in academia with their peers in the world of work, especially in the prioritised areas of ICT, BioScience and BioEngineering.

It was deemed important that the proposals would identify high quality mathematical research that advances Ireland’s mathematical reputation on the international stage. This would mean targeting and addressing disparities in mathematical expertise and engaging in initiatives to enhance mathematics education in Ireland.

“Our goal is to engage with areas of mathematics that have the potential for high scientific, technological and economic impact”, said Dr. Gary Crawley, Head of the Frontiers Engineering & Science Directorate at SFI. “The two awards will help identify and fill gaps in mathematical expertise required by Irish-based enterprises and the global R&D centres that Ireland needs to attract.”

MACSI will establish an interdisciplinary collaboration between Irish mathematicians and enterprise partners with a view to forming an expert group in mathematical modelling and simulation of real processes in industry, science and engineering. The enterprise partners will include Analog Devices Limerick, Dell Computers, Diageo, Waterford Crystal, Boston Scientific, Kostal, and Transitions Optical.

This resulting infrastructure of mathematicians, engineers, computer scientists and business will work together to tackle the mathematical problems facing the communications industry.

MACSI will also develop a graduate programme to produce mathematicians with expertise in the area of applied mathematical modelling.

MACSI is currently in the process of interviewing for a project facilitator and research fellows, and UL is configuring new research space for the MACSI group. “Although we are still in the start-up phase, MACSI projects have begun in financial mathematics, numerical techniques for problems in the electronics industry, mathematical education, modelling of biosensors, and (possibly) modelling diffusion of drugs through polymer coated stents”, said Professor O’Brien.

The Claude Shannon Institute for Discrete Mathematics, Coding and Cryptography4 is an inter-disciplinary group of mathematicians, computer scientists and engineers, formed to combine efforts in the twin fields of coding theory and cryptography. “When SFI announced the Mathematics Initiative programme, I started thinking about all the people in Ireland that I knew working in these areas. I felt that we had enough people to form a large and cohesive

Mathematics enables us to understand how everything works — from modelling molecules to asking how long does it take hamburgers to cook? community, and with organisation and support we could then develop the work going on in Ireland,” said Dr. Gary Maguire. His own project, LDPC Codes in Communications Systems, will cover a wide range of aspects of algebraic geometry and its applications to cryptography and coding.

Still in the very early stages, the Claude Shannon Institute has already hired a few postdoctoral fellows, and next year it will enrol a number of PhD students on a four-year programme which includes taught modules in various aspects of mathematics and communications, and participation in many workshops where all members of the institute will meet. “This should be seen in light of the new Fourth Level Ireland that the government is talking about - we believe we are already there”, said Dr. Maguire.

“Another of our aims is to host major conferences. We have just succeeded in attracting the annual conference on Elliptic Curve Cryptography to be hosted by the Claude Shannon Institute at UCD in September 2007.

This kind of public key cryptography is now becoming common in industry since the US National Security Agency purchased some licensing rights from Certicom. The conference usually attracts many people from the industry.

Indeed, the Claude Shannon Institute is very

Garry MaGuire is keen to encourage the development of a mathematical community

interested in working with the communications industry in Ireland and internationally.”

The EU commissioned project ‘Tuning Educational Structures in Europe’ identified the ability to mathematically model a situation as a key skill which every mathematics graduate should acquire. With this SFI Mathematics Initiative, applied mathematics is now being recognised for its diverse uses in an Irish context.

It will be interesting to watch how the projects develop to help Irish enterprises in the coming years.

1 and 2 Applied mathematical modelling at the University of Limerick: A new era in Irish mathematics 3 www.macsi.ul.ie www.shannoninstitute.ie 4 Newsletter of the European Mathematical Society, September 2002, pp.26-28)

Participants from UCD, NUIM, and DCU recently took part in an interdisciplinary seminar and further collaboration is planned.

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SPIN

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UPFRONT

Killing tumours BRAIN tumours are rarely observed in young people, and at the recent ESOF event Prof Kettenmann from the MaxDelbruch Centre, Berlin, explained why. For some reason tumours attract stem cells. Normally these adaptable cells migrate to the olfactory part of the brain, but when a tumour starts to form they are diverted to the problem site. Self-destruction of the tumour follows, so a person may not even be aware that they have been ‘cured’. However, in older people, stem cells are less active, so there is less protection, and a tumour may continue to grow.

Prof Kettenmann’s aims are to determine what lures the stem cells to the target, and to find out what triggers self-destruction of the tumour.

Road kills A FEW generations ago anyone suggesting that we might, one day, be able to travel overland at over 100 kmh would have been dismissed as daft. As for heading towards each other along the same track, the idea was absolutly mad. Indeed, who else but a maniac engineer could have come up with such a crazy notion, yet that is what we are trying to survive with now. Hard enough for us humans to cope with, but for pets and wild animals the situation is a real killer. Busy roads have carved the countryside up into a series of islands, and crossing from one to the other is often lethal.

Dundalk AT A conference about economic development in Dundalk, Pat McArdle, Chief Econmist at the Ulster Bank, remarked that the town has a lot to gain from cross-border co-operation.

Situated between Dublin and Belfast, Dundalk is well placed to benefit from positive developments. One problem, however, is transport. The travel time between Dublin and Belfast, he said, needs to be cut by half.

Cool rooms

Nano game

IN MANY buildings rooms are either too hot or too cold, but not often enough just in between. Researchers at BASF have come up with a smart way to average out the temperature.

Microcapsules of paraffin wax, incorporated into wall coatings, absorb heat by melting, cooling the room. When the temperature drops, the paraffin was solidified, releasing the heat to warm the room. The phase transition phenomena is well known in chemistry, but the novelty comes from its application.

The chemists at BASF developed waxes to melt at specific temperatures, and according to the company, walls incorporating the capsules are effective in maintaining comfort levels. Walls incorporating the microcapsules, claims the company, will also help in construction of energy efficient buildings.

PlAYINg is often a way of learning, so it makes good sense to make learning into a game. One of the more recent games to be launched is all about nanotechnology. Released in time for Science Week, NanoQuest, produced by Discover Science & Engineering in collaboration with CRANN, the nanotechnology centre based in TCD. All secondary schools should have received their copy of NanoQuest by now, and in January 2007 a new game, Journey through the cell, will be released.

Many educators now see electronic games as a potentially serious teaching tool.

Nanotechnology has been singled out as an area of rapid development, and as Peter Brabazon, Director of Discover Science & Engineering commented, the impact on Ireland is going to be high. Playing NanoQuest will help young students understand the significance of nanotechnology.

In another move towards education as entertainment, a six-part animated programme on science, The Resistors, was launched during Science Week.

Developed by a telecommunications research centre at TCD in collaboration with science teachers involved in the SFI STARs scheme, it features computer generated superheroes who use their scientific knowledge to defeat the nasty ‘hackerdets’. The Resisters is to be broadcast by Tg4, and it is being made available as a webcast for viewing anytime. The site is at www.theresistors.com

It’s a universal problem, and the Australian Geographic reports that the impact on native animals is high.

Over 7,000 native animals are being killed on the roads every day in Australia. Over in Tasmania, about a quarter of a million marsupials, birds and reptiles are wiped out every year, and among the hardest hit are the rare Tasmanian Devils. They venture out onto the roads to feast on roadkills, so end up as the next victim.

Australian biologists have mixed feelings about road improvements.

In one area, where corners were taken out and the surface improved, the local population of eastern quolls was extinct after only 18 months.

Representatives from various sectors and institutions were in Dundlk to discuss its future, and Dr Ed Walsh, Professor Emeritus of the Univrsity of limerick, advised the planners to think big. Dundalk has a relatively small population of under 30,000, so plans for the future would be more effective if they focused on one big project. A lot of resources could be frittered away on small projects, but governments, north and south, could not afford to ignore something with a big enough ‘wow’ factor, he said.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 10

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New forestry publications from COFORD COFORD – the National Council for Forest Research and Development – is an agency of the Department of Agriculture and Food, and is responsible for co-ordinating and funding forest research and development in Ireland. This includes the transfer of technology and information from the research and development arena to the public domain where it can be adopted and implemented.

The technology transfer effort is a key component of COFORD’s activities, and includes development and maintenance of the websites, the production of publications and hosting of workshops, seminars and conferences.

The latest publications from COFORD include: • Brackloon - the story of an Irish oak wood

by Deirdre Cunningham • Small-scale forestry and rural development - The intersection of ecosystems, economics and society.

Edited by Sarah Wall • Forest Research and Development in Ireland 2004 - Underpinning industry Development. Edited by Eugene Hendrick • Carbon sequestration and Irish forest ecosystems. Editors: Kevin G Black and Edward P Farrell • The socio-economic contribution of forestry in Ireland by Áine Ní Dhubháin, Marie-Christine Fléchard, Richard Moloney, Deirdre O’Connor and Tim Crowley • Plant quality – a key to success in forest establishment. Edited by Lauren MacLennan and John Fennessy • Handbook on structural timber design to Eurocode 5 (IS EN 1995-1-1) rules by James Harrington, Malcolm Jacob and Colin Short Sarah Wall (GMIT), editor of the proceedings of the IUFRO conference on small-scale forestry and rural development, with Minister Mary Wallace TD, at the launch of the conference and publication in Galway. Photo: Mike Shaughnessy At the launch of the reports “Carbon sequestration and Irish forest ecosystems” and “The socioeconomic contribution of forestry in Ireland” were Dr Richard Moloney (UCC), Dr Eugene Hendrick (COFORD Director), Deirdre O’Connor (UCD), Dr Kevin Black (UCD), Minister Mary Wallace TD, Dr Áine Ní Dhubháin (UCD), MarieChristine Fléchard (UCD) and Prof. Ted Farrell (UCD). Photo: Declan Corrigan

• A review of forest recreation research needs in Ireland by Michael Cregan and William Murphy • COFORD Annual Report 2005 COFORD Connects is series of practical information notes, which review various aspects of forestry. The notes are produced on an ongoing basis and presented in a purpose-made folder. Emphasis is on practical recommendations to facilitate the implementation of research findings.

The notes are available online and also in hardcopy, free of charge.

Forestry and Wood Update is a free monthly e-newsletter containing information about COFORD activities as well as articles of general interest to the forest sector from local and international sources – to subscribe go to www.coford.ie

Authors of the Eurocode 5 handbook, Malcolm Jacob, James Harrington and Colin Short, review the booklet with Dr Eugene Hendrick, COFORD Director (2nd from left). Photo: Declan Corrigan

Hardwood Matters is a catalogue to co-ordinate the sale of hardwood timber in Ireland, and is produced

by COFORD every six months.

It features ‘for sale’ and ‘wanted’ sections and is used by producers and buyers at no charge.

All COFORD’s publications can be ordered on-line at www.coford.ie. Many publications can be downloaded as pdf’s free of charge.

The COFORD website – www. coford.ie – contains information about the research projects currently and previously funded

by COFORD under the National Development Plan 2000-2006.

It contains the bookshop where publications can be downloaded or ordered, as well as a calendar of events. Bookmark the site to keep up to date with what’s planned in the near future.

COFORD also manages www. woodenergy.ie which contains information about the wood energy industry, and has a free on-line advisory service.

Woodspec is the guide to designing, detailing and specifying timber in Ireland. It is available in hard copy and also in full on the website managed by COFORD - www.woodspec.ie. This site also features a free on-line advisory service. The hard copy version of woodspec has been revised and will be made available early in 2007.

For further information, contact: Lauren MacLennan, Technology Transfer Coordinator, COFORD - the National Council for Forest Research and Development, Arena House, Arena Road, Sandyford, Dublin 18. Tel: +353-1-2130725, Email: lauren. maclennan@coford.ie; http://www.coford.ie Pat Doody, Dr Conor O’Reilly, John McCarthy, John Fennessy and Dr Kevin Black –contributors to the plant quality conference - discuss the proceedings. Photo: Declan Corrigan John Fennessy (COFORD), Aeneus Higgins (SIF), Kevin Collins (Forest Service), William Murphy (Coillte) and Michael Cregan (Consultant), members of the working group responsible for the review of forest recreation research needs in Ireland. Photo: Declan Corrigan

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 11

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P

BOG TREASURES

erhaps one dark night around 800 AD a monk hurried over Faddan More bog away from his monastery with a gang of raiders closing in behind him. In his arms he grasped an expensive Psalter, a book of psalms, handmade with intricate detail on vellum. Finally he stopped to catch his breath, dug a hole in the peaty soil and inserted the book on its spine into the gap. The monk piled sphagnum moss over the hole and hurried away, never to return.

Faddan More had then already long been a bog and over the next 1,200 years or so, another metre of peat would grow up over the treasure. Bogs are formed when dead vegetation, in particular sphagnum moss, is unable to fully decay due to acidic conditions and so accumulates as peat over the centuries. Buried under this wet, acidic soil, the vellum decayed very, very slowly.

“The low levels of oxygen present also inhibit decomposition,” says Eamonn P Kelly, Keeper of Irish Antiquities in the National Museum.

During World War I, sphagnum moss

Said to be of “staggering importance”, the Psalter, above, discovered in the bucket of a bulldozer in a Tipperary bog this July has stunned the archaeological world. The first fresh Irish manuscript of any consequence to be found in hundreds of years, and the first historical book ever recovered from a bog, Shane Leavy explores the scientific process that preserved it and those now being employed to restore it. was used as a wound dressing to prevent bacterial infection.

Around the world

Irish peat bogs are not the only ones to have preserved historical artefacts. The Windover archaeological site in Florida is a “muck pool” where remains of 160 individuals were recovered in the peat at the bottom of the water. Dating from 6000 to 5000 BC, these bodies were so well preserved that brain tissue was sampled and DNA from the finds has been sequenced.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 12

Bog bodies have been found in Britain, Germany, Sweden, Holland and Denmark. In one case in Scotland’s Cladh Hallan, archaeologists think that a man who died around 1600 BC and a woman from around 1300 BC had both been buried in a peat bog for 6 to 18 months to deliberately mummify the bodies, before being exhumed and set permanently inside a house.

One forensic technique used in Cladh Hallan was based on the fact that when an individual dies, the bacteria in their gut start to attack the skeleton of the body, riddling it with holes. Archaeologists took a piece of bone, measured its volume and placed it into a container of a known volume.

Mercury was then forced into the container under pressure and filled these tiny holes. After measuring how much mercury has entered the holes, scientists could tell that the bacteria must have been only eating for a day or two before being stopped by the sterile bog conditions.

Peat bogs are not the only places with naturally preservative conditions, though they may be the best known.

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“The very high levels of preservation at Wood Quay result from the fact that there is an iron pan layer which has built up on top of the subsoil which has inhibited drainage,” says Eamonn. “So you have conditions which mirror those in bogs to a certain extent. In fact in the 19th century some of the writers of the period wrote that Dublin was built on a bog, but what they were commenting on were the preserved archaeological deposits of medieval and Viking Dublin, which they presumed to be bog.”

The inks

As the Faddan More vellum very slowly decomposed, something strange happened to the letters written on the pages.

As Rolly Read, Head of Conservation at the National Museum explains, the ink was prepared from iron and oak galls. Oak galls are marble-sized growths produced by trees in response to an insect parasite.

Apart from their use in making ink, oak galls were also used for tanning leather.

“So we think that the letters have partially been tanned by the ink and preserved, while the vellum around them has rotted. The letters are floating in a mush.”

Other inks did not fare so well.

Any green ink would have come from unstable copper sulphate which washes out in an acid environment.

The reds have become discoloured.

A golden colouring called orpiment which comes from yellow arsenic sulphide has been discovered in letters on the front page.

Buried under a metre of peat, the Psalter remained for over a millennium until Eddie Fogarty noticed it falling open in the bucket of his bulldozer while working in the bog. Thus began another task – the retrieval and conservation of this remarkable find.

Recovery and bog bodies

As soon as he had noticed the book, Eddie carefully covered it with moist peat. This was not the first time that artefacts had been dug out of Faddan More bog and he immediately recognised that it was of importance.

A leather satchel and a wooden keg, discovered in 1999 and 2002 respectively, came from a similar time period as pollen core tests showed.

Above, and previous page: after hundreds of years the Psalter is remarkably well preserved but restoring more of the text, visible here, will be difficult.

The pollen core shows what major plant types were growing and releasing pollen in Ireland at the time that the layer of peat was laid down and can be compared with other samples to determine a rough date for each stratum of peat.

“There is a good level of consistency between what is happening in one part of the country to another,” explains Eamonn. “So by looking at the pollen cores, you can say, ‘Well that looks like the Bronze Age horizon, that’s the Iron Age horizon’ and so on. The present material in Faddan More is all coming out of the same sphagnum horizon which is turning up early medieval material.”

Rolly Read and Carol Smith supervised the safe removal of the manuscript, wrapping the whole artefact plus peat in cling film before bandaging it in plaster-of-Paris to form a protective, waterproof shell for transporting to the Collins Barracks laboratory.

Here the manuscript is now being kept in refrigeration in 100% humidity.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 13

Eventually it will be dried out under carefully controlled conditions.

The National Museum has another example of a bog discovery whose unwise dehydration caused the artefact serious damage. In 1821 the Gallagh Man was discovered in a Galway bog in “exceptional” condition. However, the experts of the day simply dried it out to conserve it, causing it to shrink and distort.

The Gallagh Man is just one of many corpses discovered in Irish bogs. The tanning action which helped preserve the vellum manuscript also affected these bodies to an extraordinary extent.

Skin, hair and even stomach contents are maintained.

Tissue samples taken from the bodies have been used to estimate the normal diet of these men and women.

“Literally speaking you are what you eat,” points out Eamonn. “Your hair and your fingernails contain the residues of what you eat so by examining the molecular structure of the hair it can indicate whether you have been dining on a high-protein diet or a high-vegetable diet. If your diet changes through the year and you have a sufficient length of hair to examine, we can see the fluctuations in diet.”

The bodies are often found to have been brutally murdered and dumped along the boundaries of different regional territories, leading historians to believe that they had been ritually killed as part of pagan ceremonies.

One, the Old Croghan Man, had identifiably manicured fingernails and the condition of the hands told archaeologists that this was not somebody who had to engage in manual labour – a member of royalty perhaps? His nipples had also been mutilated, a symbolic gesture perhaps since the sucking of nipples had been a way of showing fealty. Archaeologists were even able to tell that his final meal had been wheat and buttermilk by observing the preserved contents of his stomach.

Though of a later era, the Faddan More Psalter is also being looked at with somewhat of a detective’s eye for clues as to its origin.

“We think the book was deliberately concealed in the bog, with the intention of recovery: whether by a monk fleeing from a monastery under attack, or by a raider with a posse of angry monks in hot pursuit – we can’t really say,” says Eamonn. “But it would have been a very valuable object. It takes a lot of dead calves to make one of these books, so it indicates a certain level of wealth. Also the materials used in making the book are costly, as are the time and training to make it.”

Conserving the Psalter

“The problem is that nothing like this has ever been found before, so there are no parallels,” says Rolly Read.

“Normally when we’re preserving things in an archaeological context there is always something that has been found before that is similar. We know how different things have been treated and what the results have been like. But in this case we’re dealing with something without any precedence.”

The conservation team will have to invent totally new techniques to conserve the Psalter. One example is the series of preserved letters who have lost their vellum matrix upon which they were written. This is a completely unique problem, but one Rolly is already considering.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 14

“I suspect we are probably going to end up facing the letters up while they are still damp with some sort of very flexible, very strong material, maybe something like goldbeater’s skin (the treated outside membrane of the large intestine of cattle used in the repair of vellum manuscripts) and then lifting each layer off one by one. It’s going to be a very, very complicated task.”

Before the team goes anywhere near such tricky problems they are systematically recording it and working out a work plan.

“At the moment we have the Psalter in cold storage. We’re restricting access and making sure it stays in the fridge to keep mould growth out of the picture,” says Rolly. “We are fully recording it and doing some basic investigations on it so that we know exactly what we have and that we have squeezed as much information as we can out of it.

“The next stage, when conservation starts, is almost like an archaeological excavation of the book, in that the process is destructive. To be able to take the book apart to conserve it, we have to destroy the way that it is currently bound. The type of binding that it is in is not one that has ever been found before in an Irish context, because practically no Irish books survive with their original binding. We will probably get it scanned, and we are getting it 3D photographed.”

Over the next few years Irish archaeology will be experimenting with totally new scientific techniques on the Faddan More Psalter. The research will involve a diverse team of specialists from around the world. In any case, the find is practically miraculous, courtesy of the preservative effects of Irish bogs.

“We always had a joke within the museum: ‘What’ll we do when the illuminated manuscript turns up?’” laughs Eamonn. “Certainly, when I got the phone call saying that a book had been found in a bog, I thought it was a leg pull. It was only really after I spoke to the landowner and he said, ‘Oh yes, it’s like the Book of Kells’ that I realised…

“Nobody has ever faced this precise situation before so there will be a high level of creativity in the process. They will need to see what works and they will pretty well need to get it right first time.”

SPIN

The perfectly preserved and carefully manicured nails of Old Croghan Man add to the mystery of why his body was apparently dumped after ritual killing.

All photographs courtesy of the National Museum of Ireland.

NOTICEBOARD For inclusion contact Alan Doherty at 01 2842909 or email: alan@sciencespin.com

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SCIENCE College choice A REVIEW OF WHAT THE COLLEGES HAVE TO OFFER

SCIENCE SPIN

Ireland’s science and discovery magazine

SPIN

Science careers

Graduates have never had it so good There is an enormous range of interesting and well-paid careers open to students that graduate with science qualifications. Seán Duke examines some of the options.

very stimulating and rewarding careers.

Never before have so many options been opened up to students of science, and in this issue of Science Spin we look at some of the possibilities.

cience is exciting, and it offers a much wider range of job opportunities than most people think. For example, for those interested in research, and many of us are interested in finding out how things work, the outlook has never been so good, with the Irish government and the EU investing millions to encourage more research activity. Research and Development, R&D, is set to boom here, and there will be a huge demand in coming years for science and technology graduates that can work in large research teams.

The high-tech end of industry is booming too, so traditional science jobs there – generally involved with making production processes run smoothly - are still widely available.

Elsewhere, there are a number of growth areas emerging, and these include biotechnology – which, after a slow start, looks like becoming one of the most important sectors in the Irish economy. One of the specialities is bioinformatics. where biology and IT expertise is combined, a fast moving field underpinning many of the new developments in medicine.

The government is also committed to supporting more research in agriculture & food, health, environment, the marine and energy - good news for people interested in these areas.

Science teaching is another excellent option, as it can be rewarding, far better paid than it was in the past, and there are, of course, those fantastic holidays.

Those with a science subject as their degree are more likely to get the jobs, as there is a shortage of science teachers, and this is particularly true of those with Chemistry and Physics.

There are other perhaps more unusual options out there that in the past might not have even been considered by science graduates. These areas include journalism, publishing, technical writing, public relations, sales and marketing, or perhaps working in a patent office or starting up a business - all potentially

Good management of high technology processes has become the cornerstone of many industries, and this requires the application of graduate skills. In fact, up to 20 per cent of science graduates end up in the field of industrial production of one form of another, whether that is in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, chemical, plastics, metals or food and beverage sectors. These are all sectors that are growing and developing fast here, so there is a high demand for lots of bright young science graduates.

In a factory situation, where something is being made, the entire process must, these days, involves incredibly detailed planning, and then monitoring to ensure that the process is working properly. Mistakes can be costly, but a good production manager, can be invaluable for a company as such a person can save them money through introducing new and better ways of doing things, and also looking for improvements.

The larger companies tend to allocate specific roles to staff, while in a small company the scientist can have responsibility across a wide number of areas.

Some of the companies recruiting science graduates are among the biggest employers in Ireland. These big names include Intel, Eli Lilly, Glanbia, Hewlett Packard, Proctor and Gamble and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Production managers can start on relatively low salaries, but, within a few years. with more experience, they might be earning up to €40,000. In many cases, the larger the organisation, the larger the potential salary. However, in smaller companies, the opportunities to participate in decision making can be more rewarding. Follow-up studies have shown that a majority of small to medium-sized firms started to expand after taking on science and technology graduates. Many of the graduates who go into small and medium-sized firms end up in senior management positions.

S

Industrial production

R&D

The future is very bright for science graduates interested in research and development. The government is committed to investing huge amounts of money and resources into developing a knowledge-based economy. It has always been the case that many of the best science graduates regard R&D, either at third level, or within industry, as the reason why they wanted to do science in the first place. These are the kind of people that the government is interested in encouraging.

A sign of the Irish government’s commitment to supporting R&D came in June 2006. That’s when the government announced an enormous €3.8 billion allocation for R&D in the universities and within industry over the period 2006 to 2013. The strategy is to double the number of PhDs over that period, and to create 350 significant new research teams.

All of this research is going to be done either in third level institutes, or – increasingly – in industry, whether that be Irish companies, or foreign companies based here. In very general terms, the difference between working at third level or in industry is that industrial research tends to be more applied, that is, more goal directed from the start. Research at third level can be more ‘basic’ meaning that the first priority is the pursuit of knowledge.

A post-graduate degree is generally required to gain entry to a career in R&D, and a PhD is the gold standard qualification. It can take about four years on average to complete a PhD and when that is added to the four years it takes to do a BSc, this means that it can be eight years, at the very least, before a full-time R&D post is achieved.

These are very sought after jobs, so there is no guarantee that a PhD will automatically lead into an R&D job. The best thing is to remain open minded as to where the job opportunities might be, and if current trends continue, those opportunities will increase.

For a number of reasons, links between research groups working in the universities and those working in industry are becoming more common.

Industries have become more reliant on

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

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R&D and many companies outsource all or part of their research to the colleges.

This means that scientists have become more mobile, so the move into industry is not so big a jump as it was in the past.

Research has also become more international, and most researchers now work in large multi-disciplinary teams, often across many countries or continents. This makes for a stimulating work environment with exchange of ideas the norm, and a top researcher can expect to live in many countries during their working career.

Many of the large multinational companies are starting to locate R&D wings in Ireland, and this is a major change from the past. Top names such as Bell Labs, for example, have decided – with encouragement from the Irish government – to set up here, and this is part of a strategy to make Ireland an R&D base for the multinationals.

For the multinationals, this is a good deal because Ireland is already a hightech manufacturing country, and now Irish scientists can help the companies develop new products.

Medical

Graduates from genetics or other life science backgrounds might consider working in a clinical laboratory setting.

Clinical scientists working in a medical environment use their skills to help doctors to diagnose diseases.

Graduates interested in working in a clinical setting, might, for example, end up working at the National Centre for Medical Genetics in Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin, though it must be said that posts are few here, and competition is intense. Even so, other opportunities are starting to open up.

The first step for graduates interested in working in this area is to train as medical scientists. In order to qualify for such training it is essential that the graduates have a life science component to their degree. That means they should consider specialising in subjects like Biotechnology, Pharmacology, or perhaps Zoology.

The public laboratories in Ireland that would hire medical scientists include the Virus Reference Laboratory, based at Belfield, and the Blood Transfusion Service.

There are also a growing number of private hospitals around Ireland, and these could represent additional opportunities. Certainly, there are not enough medical scientists to fulfil the needs of public and private laboratories

in Ireland just now, and this is likely to be an area that will experience some growth in jobs in coming years.

Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics combines the life sciences with information technology, and this has proved to be a powerful combination.

Information technology has not only helped crack biological codes, but it has given biologists access to molecular structures, and in health care we see the emergence of smarter devices. There is a growing need for scientists who know how to combine biology and information and computer technology.

Public and private laboratories also require people that are specialists in bioinformatics to make sense of the information pouring out of research projects. One example of where bioinformatics is being used today is in the field of genetics. Scientists now know the entire genetic code for human beings, but that’s only the beginning.

The next stage is for scientists to make sense of the code, and to understand how the various genes combine to make us all up, how they interact together and why things can sometimes go wrong, leading people to suffer from disease or premature death.

Bioinformatics is very important for pharmaceutical companies, as they require specialised people that can help them with drug design. Design of drugs is very expensive, and the traditional method has been to slog through hundreds if not thousands of drug ‘candidates’ that might help treat a particular disease. Bioinformatics can speed the process up, by very quickly narrowing down the likely number of ‘candidates’. This can save drug companies millions of euro. That is why they are keen to employ people trained in the field of bioinformatics, and good careers and salaries are available here.

Keep in mind, however, that bioinformatics requires taking a fourth level qualification following on from a BSc, the latter preferable in a biological related subject area. However, such is the growth in this area, that it is an option well worth considering.

Biotechnology

This is an exciting area that is finally looking to deliver on its long-held promise for the Irish economy, both north and south.

Biotechnology involves the control and manipulation of biological processes, traditionally a sector

dominated by brewing. Through biotechnology, insulin to treat diabetics, and cholesterol reducing foods are being produced, and it is an expanding area, highly relevant to many sectors of the Irish economy including drug development, food processing, agriculture and the environment. There are a range of indigenous, fast growing and dynamic Irish companies involved in research in areas such as cancer, disorders of the immune system, and infectious diseases.

There has been substantial investment from the Irish government into supporting the growth of indigenous biotechnology companies, and there have been moves to create an all-island ‘cluster’ involving the north and south.

There are a large number of ways to enter into this sector. Many of the most successful people involved in biotechnology in Ireland have started life working in the university and then moved into industry, generally seeking to develop their research into something that can be commercially viable. These are the biotech entrepreneurs.

There are over 40 companies, some of them very large, engaged in biotechnology activities in Ireland and many of these have been hiring in significant numbers in recent years, and that trend appears set to continue. Some of the better known names in this sector in Ireland are HiberGen, Biotrin, Trinity Biotech and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Teaching

The opportunity to teach at second or third-level is an attractive option for many science graduates. Taking second level first, the primary requirement is a BSc., which takes three or four years.

Then it is necessary to complete a Higher Diploma in Education, which takes one year, and involves practical teaching practice in a school, as well as lectures.

There is a lack of science teachers entering the system, and in recent years there has been a particular shortfall in teachers that have Physics or Chemistry as their main degree subject. Students with those subjects going into teaching would be highly sought after as a result, and would have a strong chance of securing full-time employment.

The salaries for teaching have improved in Ireland in recent times, and added to that there are good holidays, with a lengthy summer break, as well as Christmas and Easter proving attractive

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to many graduates. There are also opportunities to take ‘career breaks’ once a full-time position has been secured, but generally science graduates are slightly better placed than other graduates to get full-time teaching jobs.

Teaching at third-level is generally conducted by full-time academic staff with PhDs. These positions are highly sought after and very competitive, but once an initial position is obtained, there is a very good career structure and opportunities to advance.

Aside from the universities there may be teaching opportunities in the Institutes of Technology, and the PostLeaving Certificate colleges, that are open to science graduates.

Microelectronics

Jobs in this field are generally limited to science graduates that have specialised in physics and mathematics. These highly sought after ‘problem solvers’ are considered to be of great value in areas such as telecommunications, precision engineering, and software sectors.

These areas were growing at incredible speed up to a few years ago. There has been something of a slowdown, but the signs are that the telecommunications and software sectors are making a come-back. Salaries are good in these fields, and a postgraduate degree is an essential requirement for many specific areas within the sector.

Environment

There are a growing number of jobs available to science graduates interested in what can loosely be called the environment. Researchers are needed to investigate climate change, the impact of carbon-dioxide emissions, fossil fuel usage, the benefits of renewable energies (non polluting energies such as wind and wave power), and water pollution.

Ireland, having signed the Kyoto Protocol on reducing carbon dioxide emissions, is committed to supporting research into renewable energy sources.

At present, Ireland does not have enough engineering graduates to work in this area, and this year, additional research grants are being made available to support energy research.

Industry is no longer allowed ignore its impact on the environment, and experts are needed to ensure that processes are clean and safe. Before

Communications

an industry can set up a plant, it must submit a detailed environmental impact report to the planning authorities, who will then independently assess that report. If the company receives permission to build its production plant, it must then make sure that it is not excessively polluting local water supplies or soil.

Qualified scientists are required by industry to ensure they meet environmental regulations, and they are also required by the planning authorities to ensure that industry meets its obligations under the planning laws. So, what’s good for the environment is also good for science graduates in search of an interesting career.

Patents

Aside from teaching, science graduates get jobs in the civil service. Some, although numbers are small, go into the Patents Office. This job, which is highly varied, centres around obtaining, protecting and granting legal monopolies on new products and processes, so that the people with the original ideas, or ‘intellectual property’ can benefit from protection.

The work includes drafting of plans relevant to a patent specification, understanding the patent application process, patent strategy and patent control.

Because new ideas are so important commercially, scientists are being encouraged to understand the need for patent protection. All universities have set up commercial offices that provide advice to researchers on whether their research could be developed into something with commercial merit and be protected.

This is another source of future jobs, as it is likely that third-level institutes will expand their commercial arms in coming years, in line with the government’s wish that more research in the university is translated into something that is economically valuable.

Although attractive, the number of opportunities to use science in communications are limited. Most of the large institutions and universities now have outreach programmes, involved in promoting science, particularly among schools, so there are a few jobs there for science graduates with experience or a qualification in communications.

A small number of science graduates go into writing or journalism careers.

Technical writing, as required for instructional manuals and reports, or scientific abstracts, can be well paid, but it is a small niche.

While a number of science graduates, with good communication skills have gone into mainstream journalism in print or broadcasting, very few manage to specialise as science writers.

Compared to the UK, Europe, or the US, our population is low, so the market for science journalism is small and, in spite of the high profile of science here, only one newspaper in Ireland employs a science correspondent. One of the reasons why Science Spin was established was to provide an Irish outlet for science writers.

Sales and Marketing

Scientists are valued by pharmaceutical and healthcare companies for their ability to explain how drugs, medical devices, or healthcare products can benefit people.

Some science graduates may decide that they don’t want to work in a laboratory setting, and might be keen to use their people skills to good effect. For these graduates – with lots of get up and go - there are ample opportunities to get into sales and marketing, and while it can be a pressurized job, requiring the regular meeting of sales targets, it can be rewarding, and well paid.

Most companies will provide their representatives with a good new car, and a decent salary starting off, so these graduates can be the envy of their friends. However, remember that this career is not for everyone, and those choosing to go down this road must work very hard to make their way up the corporate ladder.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

LEA

CER

What if …

What if we told you that our science graduates have developed dynamic careers including - astrophysics research with NASA; marine biology research; creating life saving medical devices within the biomedical sector; and working with government agencies such as the Irish Medicines Board to ensure the safety of our medicines.

What if we told you that we have revised, improved and modularised our science courses?

GMIT offers honours degree (Level 8) courses in: • Applied FreshWater & Marine BioLogy (CAO Code GA780/CAO points in 2006 — 305: Median point level - 365) • cheMicaL & PharMaceuticaL science (CAO Code GA 782/CAO points in 2006 —290: Median point level — 340) • Physics & instruMentation (CAO Code GA 783/CAO points in 2006 — 330; Median point level - 355) • aPPLied BioLogy & PharMaceuticaL science (CAO Code GA781/CAO points in 2006 — 305: Median point level — 350) Five good reasons to apply for these courses: 1 Last year, in some of these courses, over half the class had JoBs before their final exams. Overall we have an eXceLLent eMPLoyMent rate for our graduates. This employment is typically very well paid and in current skills-shortage areas.

2 Most of our courses include a period of industriaL PLaceMent.

3 High content of project, practical and field work, which help students develop skills such as teaMWorK, PLanning, criticaL thinKing – skills much sought after by employers.

4 Courses are ModuLarised - this means that the courses are more student-focused and flexible, and students have greater choice in what subjects they study.

5 There is a coMMon First year for the following courses - Freshwater & Marine Biology, Biopharmaceutical Science, Chemical & Pharmaceutical Science and Physics & Instrumentation. This means that if you choose any of these courses, at the end of first year you can switch into year two of any of the other courses. This allows students to make a more mature decision about where their strengths and interests lie at the

STU

VIN

TIF

ICA

DEN

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TE

TS

!

end of first year.

What if we told you that there is no need to have studied any particular science subject for your Leaving Certificate as the basic fundamentals of all science subjects are covered in year 1?

Apply for these courses and you could soon be starting on an academic path to a brilliant career. numbers are limited. Due to the high content of project work, practical work and field trips (which vary from marine biology research in the Algarve to visits to biomedical companies) and because most of our courses have industrial placement we limit our intake of first year students.

We also offer an Honours degree (Level 8) in MedicaL science (CAO Code GA 785 / CAO points in 2006 – 390). This is the only four year honours degree course in the country which is recognised by the Academy of Medical Laboratory Science as enabling graduates to work as Medical Scientists in Hospital Laboratories.

Further information: Go to www.gmit.ie/science or phone 091-742081 or 091 742178 or E Mail: science@gmit.ie

coMPuting courses: We offer the following courses

• Bachelor Degree in Business Computing & Digital Media (CAO Code GA776) and an add-on one year honours degree in Information Technology for Business.

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.

• Bachelor Degree in Software Development (CAO Code GA775) and an add-on one year honours degree in 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.

Full details on www.gmit.ie/science.

E mail science@gmit.ie.Phone 091 742178.

College check list UNIVERSITIES Dublin City University www.dcu.ie National University of Ireland Galway www.nuigalway.ie National University of Ireland Maynooth www.nuim.ie Trinity College Dublin www.tcd.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 as Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical, Environmental, Education, Analytical, Fitness, Managerial, Sports Rehabilitation and Healthcare professionals.

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 and Biocatalyst Technology research groups.

For further information please visit www.itcarlow.ie

Cork Institute of Technology www.cit.ie

University College Cork www.ucc.ie

Dublin Institute of Technology www.dit.ie

University College Dublin www.ucd.ie

Dundalk Institute of Technology www.dkit.ie

University of Limerick www.ul.ie

Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art and Design www.iadt.ie

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

Galway Mayo Institute of Technology www.gmit.ie

Ulster University www.ulster.ac.uk

INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGY

Letterkenny Institute of Technology www.lyit.ie Limerick Institute of Technology www.lit.ie

Athlone Institute of Technology www.ait.ie Blanchardstown Institute of Technology www.itb.ie

Sligo Institute of Technology www.itsligo.ie Tallaght Institute of Technology www.it-tallaght.ie

Carlow Institute of Technology www.itcarlow.ie 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: • Level 6 Certificate programmes in Physiology and Health Science, Pharmacy Technician Studies, Applied Biology and Applied Chemistry • Level 7 Degree programmes in Analytical Science and Biotechnology: Food Quality Management • Level 8 Honours Degree Programmes in Sports and Exercise Rehabilitation, Industrial Environmental Science, Bioinformatics, Industrial Biology, Biotechnology with Biopharmaceuticals and Biotechnology with Bioforensics

Tralee Institute of Technology www.ittralee.ie The School of Science & Computing in IT Tralee has four departments, Computing & Mathematics, Chemical & Life Sciences, Health & Leisure Studies and Nursing & Health Care Studies. The courses on offer include Computing with Games Development, Multimedia or Mobile Computing; Biology, Chemistry and Wildlife Biology is under development; Health Fitness & Leisure Studies and Physical Education Studies; and General or Psychiatric Nursing. The School of Engineering & Construction Studies in IT Tralee has two departments,Agricultural &

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

SPIN

University College Cork College of Science, Engineering and Food Science

Why study Science, Engineering or Food Science?

UNDERgRADUAtE PRogRAMMES there are 34 undergraduate degree programmes on offer in the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science:

IRELAND is at the forefront of international technological innovation in a wide range of sectors such as pharmachemicals, medical devices, biotechnology, food processing, ebusiness, engineering, information communication technologies and international financial services.

Many companies now carry out research and development as part of their operations in Ireland and these industries rely on skilled science and engineering graduates to generate new knowledge, leading edge technologies and the competitive enterprises of the future.

10 Good Reasons to Study Science, Engineering or Food Science in UCC 1

UCC is recognised for the academic excellence and student centred approach of its teaching programmes. In addition to this, the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS) provides dedicated support and mentoring to all First Year students

2

There are flexible entry areas for many of our degree programmes which mean final decisions about degree programmes can be made at the end of Year 1 or even Year 2 for some programmes.

3

Facilities are excellent in state of the art lecture theatres and laboratories located at the heart of the most stylish campus in Ireland.

4

All teaching modules are driven by innovative research led curricula and this research focus underpins UCC’s excellence in attracting high calibre staff and students and in training graduates to their full potential.

5

Almost one third of SEFS undergraduate degree programmes have work placement components built into the course structure.

6

Job opportunities for SEFS graduates are excellent. Latest figures from 2004 show that 64% of SEFS graduates go into immediate employment, while 28% choose to stay on for further postgraduate training.

7

UCC’s research income in 2005 was €62million and the majority of this was generated in SEFS.

8

SEFS specialises in bringing together multi-disciplined research teams in UCC, across Ireland and throughout the world. SEFS also has dedicated research centres of excellence, where postgraduates begin their research careers.

9

UCC was the first Irish university to establish a trading company based on its own developed technology and there are 12 SEFS spin out companies currently in operation.

10

The student experience in UCC is the best in the country, with excellent accommodation, sports and entertainment facilities to cater for every interest.

CK401 Computer Science Computer Science and Economics CK402 Biomedical Sciences Biochemistry Chemistry Chemistry of Pharmaceutical Compounds Chemistry with Forensic Science Ecology Environmental Plant Biotechnology Microbiology Neuroscience Physiology Zoology CK404 Earth Science Ecology Environmental Plant Biotechnology Environmental Science Geography Geology Zoology CK405 Genetics CK406 Chemical Physics Chemistry Chemistry with Forensic Science Education in Physical Sciences CK407 Applied Mathematics and Physics Financial Mathematics & Actuarial Science Mathematics & Physics Mathematical Sciences CK408 Applied Mathematics & Physics Astrophysics Chemical Physics Education in Physical Sciences Mathematics & Physics Physics CK501 Food Business CK504 Nutritional Sciences CK505 Food Science CK506 International Development & Food Policy CK601 Process & Chemical Engineering CK602 Civil & Environmental Engineering CK605 Electrical & Electronic Engineering CK606 Architecture

PoStgRADUAtE PRogRAMMES

SEFS also offers a wide range of taught and research programmes leading to the award of Higher Diplomas, Postgraduate Diplomas and degrees at Masters (MSc/MEng) and Doctorate (PHD) levels. For further information see www.ucc.ie/en/Colleges and Departments

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

SPIN

Manufacturing Engineering and Civil Engineering & Construction.

The courses on offer include Agricultural Engineering, Civil Engineering; Mechanical/Production Engineering; Mechanical & Electronic Engineering; and Construction Studies. Awards offered within each School range from Higher Certificate and Honours Degree to PhD.

Waterford Institute of Technology www.wit.ie

PRIVATE COLLEGES

the shortfall in the computing industry, computing qualifications are a must for anyone who wishes to pursue a dynamic career in an exciting and ever-changing industry.

Our new BSc (ordinary) degree in computing is a flexible three-year full-time programme with an emphasis on practical applications. Students who successfully complete the ordinary degree may do one extra year to qualify for the honours degree.

Alternatively, students who wish to leave after two years can still qualify with a Higher Certificate.

Student life at Griffith is getting even better with on-campus accommodation, extensive car parking, and a new state-of-theart restaurant and auditorium. For further information on all our courses contact the Admissions Office at 01 4150400 or click on www.gcd.ie.

Griffith College www.gcd.ie

HSI College Limerick www.hsi.ie

Griffith College Dublin (founded in 1974) has emerged as one of the leading providers of technology courses in Ireland. With a host of IT courses on offer including a BSc (honours and ordinary) in computing and two MSc’s, there is something for everyone.

Our courses are designed to be exciting, challenging, fun, and relevant.

The BSc (honours) degree in computing science combines full time study (3½ years) with a six-month work placement, making GCD graduates an attractive prospect for any employer. Given

Portobello College www.portobello.ie Skerry’s Business College Cork www.iol.ie/~skerrys The American College Dublin www.amcd.ie/ SPIN

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

The MaynooTh experience for Science and engineering Experience Science and Engineering

A Science or Engineering degree from NUI Maynooth is rocket science! It is also astrophysics, biomedical sciences, psychology, engineering and much more.

When you choose NUI Maynooth to launch your career, you will experience the amazing choices and opportunities available. This starts with your choice of programmes. The table shows your potential Science and Engineering degree options at Maynooth.

You can choose a particular degree such as Physics with Astrophysics (MH204), Pharmaceutical Chemistry (MH210), or Biological and Biomedical Sciences (MH208), an ideal preparation for graduate entry to Medicine, or you may prefer the flexible range of subjects available in the Science degree (MH201). This leads to B.Sc (honours) degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Experimental Physics, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics or Theoretical Physics.

Engineers too, have a range of options leading to the BE (honours) degree in subjects from Electronic Engineering (MH302) to Product design (MH305), or you can choose MH304 on the CAO form that allows you to follow a combined Engineering programme and specialise later on.

Experience the friendly campus

The NUI Maynooth campus is 25km west of Dublin, situated in Ireland’s only University town. Although medieval in origin, it is located in the heart of the modern high technology industries. The University is the ideal size, and has a unique atmosphere, a place where it easy to find your way round and bump into friends between lectures.

Excellent rail, bus and road links mean that it is very easy to travel to the University from most Irish towns and cities. It is also a great environment to learn, develop and achieve your full potential. Equally important are the lively student social scene and the excellent recreational facilities that include the campus swimming pool, modern gym, sports centre and playing fields. You can choose from a range of over 70 clubs and societies covering every aspect of sporting, cultural and social activity that cater for every interest.

Experience real choice

Within all courses there are a galaxy of choices or modules allowing you to study the aspects of Science or Engineering that most suit you. NUI Maynooth keeps doors and career choices open, rather than limiting your options. However, at NUI Maynooth we appreciate that your choice needs careful support and advice. We

take special pride in our dedicated Faculty of Scientists and Engineers who provide extra support and guidance at every stage of your Maynooth career. For example, NUIM provides mentors to help you transition from second to third level. The mentor is a sort of one-stop shop to help you get the most out of University life. There is also an Entrance Scholarship Scheme if you achieve 500 points or more in the Leaving Certificate examination (2007 entry) that is worth €1000 during your first academic year following admission. In addition, you will have a place reserved in the new campus apartments for first year (normal charges apply). If you excel at sports, NUI Maynooth also offers GAA, Rugby, Swimming, Snooker and Golf sporting scholarships to support you while you study.

Experience the launch of your career A major feature of NUI Maynooth is that you get access to leading Scientists and Engineers and their world-class research facilities. The

Dean of Science & Engineering explains: “Maynooth is the research home for some of the 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.”

Former student Karen English confirms this: “I am now a full-time scientist examining how adult stem cells can be transplanted, but my interest grew from meeting the inspirational scientists who advised me at Maynooth.”

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-after all it is rocket science and much more!

Experience more at go.nuim.ie or text “INFO” to 51070 (Std SMS rates apply).

Science & Engineering @ NUI Maynooth CAO course code Degree Subject MH201 Science (Biology, Chemistry etc).

MH202 Biotechnology MH203 Computer Science & Software Engineering MH204 Physics with Astrophysics MH206 Theoretical Physics and Mathematics MH207 Genetics & Bioinformatics MH208 Biological & Biomedical Sciences MH209 Psychology through Science MH210 Chemistry with Pharmaceutical Chemistry MH211 Multimedia MH301 Computer Engineering MH302 Electronic Engineering MH303 Communications Engineering MH304 Engineering (Common Entry) MH305 Product Design (Marketing & Technology) MH402 Finance & Venture Management (with Biosciences or Information Technology)

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

Achieving

critical

mass

We all expect science and technology to deliver a bright future, but what about the researchers themselves? As Tom Kennedy reports, research has to be recognised as one of the careers open to science graduates.

W

ith the massive increase in public spending on science, and a firm commitment to a knowledge economy, the future for researchers is no longer an academic question. Thousands of third level students have already progressed on to what has now become widely known as the ‘fourth level’. Since the IRCSET programme was launched just four years ago, more than 1,000 individual researchers have already been funded, and the plan is to double the output of PhDs by 2013.

While the rise in spending on science, and an anticipated increase in industrial R&D, will open up a range of opportunities, those involved in fostering these developments agree that we should not just assume that a growing population of researchers will simply fit in and find their way into the knowledge economy.

At the end of November, IRCSET, the body responsible for funding this growing army of researchers, held a symposium to discuss this issue and recommend some actions. As many of the participants observed, researchers, at present, have problems making the transition into industry, and most post-docs find it difficult to plan ahead because they are on short-term contracts.

Leading figures from the universities, IRCSET, and the HEA stress that these issues must be resolved quickly. Simply increasing the numbers is not good enough, researchers need to know where and how they are supposed to fit into the grand plan to develop a knowledge economy.

At the recent research symposium, Minister for Education & Science, Mary Hanafin, TD, was presented with the names of over 1,000 researchers who have received funding from IRCSET to date. With the Minister were, from left, Prof Anita Maguire from UCC, Prof Jane Grimson, and IRCSET Director, Martin Hynes.

Michael Kelly, Chairman of the Higher Education Authority, said that while enormous resources have been put into place, we should not forget that all this equipment would be worthless without the researchers.

A number of players are involved in supporting research, and in Michael Kelly’s view, colleges, industry and the funding agencies need to work together to develop a coherent plan for resesearchers. A great deal has already been done, he said, adding that in one way we should look on these problems as growing pains. ”Far better,” he said,”to be dealing with the challenges of success than the consequences of failure.”

To put the change for the better into perspective, Michael Kelly explained that almost 100,000 square metres of research space in 30 different centres has been built with PTRLI funding, 1,600 researchers have been given a base, and the results they produce are of the highest international standard.

However, as he pointed out, we should not assume that everything is as it should, or could be. The change is dramatic mainly because Ireland started from such a low base. In an OECD survey on what proportion of Gross National Product is being spent on research, Ireland was ranked 16, well below the European average.

So, as Michael Kelly said, we have some way to go before satisfying our aspirations. Many other countries share these aspirations, and one of the threats to Ireland is that if researchers are not happy here, they will leave for better conditions elsewhere.

Researchers have become more mobile, indeed mobility is encouraged as it adds to experience, and this makes the career issue very important to Ireland.

Choosing his words carefully, Michael Kelly said the lack of a career structure is not a deterrent, but it is a ‘disiencentive’. This point was emphasised in a recent survey, conducted among 160 researchers at Trinity College. While expressing great satisfaction with the work itself, insecurity about a career was more of a problem to researchers than low pay. This is an important message if we are to understand what researchers actually want.

Michael Kelly urged caution in applying simplistic solutions.

Sometimes well intentioned measures, can backfire. For example, researchers in Ireland might envy the greater security introduced for scientists in other parts of Europe, but as Michael Kelly explained, and whether this was cause or effect he could not be absolutly certain, the numbers on contract actually declined in countries

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

SPIN

Are you

LEAVING interested in CERTIFICATE Science, but unsure of STUDENTS ! 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 2006 – 305; Median point level - 365) l CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE (CAO Code GA 782; Points in 2006 – 290; Median point level – 340) l PHYSICS & INSTRUMENTATION (CAO Code GA 783; CAO points in 2006 – 330; Median point level – 355) l APPLIED BIOLOGY & BIOPHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE (CAO Code GA 781; CAO points in 2006 – 305; Median point level – 350).

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

where researchers were given greater protection. Labs, it seems, were reluctant to take on more obligations.

All our options, he said, should be thought through, and a good start is to ask ourselves, what is it we want? “If we take it that we want a highly regarded research system, underpinned by a set of key principles, including fair treatment and clearer career paths for researchers, then we have something to work back from,” he said.

Avril Kennan, a researcher who reported from one of the symposium workshops, remarked that; ”it seems bizarre to think of building a knowledge economy on the basis of one-year contracts.” As she explained, post-docs work in the institutions, but they are not actually staff, and even when they gain a lot of experience, they still don’t enjoy the status we expect to see in other professions.

Part of this is due to cost cutting, and because there is no provision to bridge the gaps between contracts, cash is often siphoned off from overheads.

Desperate measures, such as this, will no longer be allowed under a tightening up of rules, so something has to be done quickly to resolve this issue.

A related, and equally serious weakness was raised about the true cost of research. Prof John Barlett from Sligo Institute of Technology said that the number of researchers was being ramped up on the assumption that the institutes could accommodate them.

The grants, he said, do not, however, cover all the costs, and the shortfall is being paid for by the colleges. A continuation of this situation, he said, could undermine the whole research system, and as post-doc numbers climb we could get a situation where colleges might have to turn away researchers.

Although such an outcome is highly unlikely, the pressure is clearly there for all the participants to thrash out a comprehensive strategy.

Many elements of a national strategy are already in place, and the colleges themselves have started to make significant improvements. Fairly detailed guidelines on how post-docs should work have been published by the Irish Universities Quality Board, and UCD has taken a lead by appointing Ireland’s first Dean of Doctoral Studies, Prof Michael Ryan.

The aim of his office, he explained,

is to implement good practices right across UCD’s five schools. Many of the guidelines are well known, a lot of the homework has been done, so it is a matter of doing what we know is best.

Best practice, he said, is not just a matter for UCD, and Prof Ryan argues that a national post-doc research body must be established soon. He drew attention to recommendations recently published in the UK, which he said were far too long winded, and had taken far too long to produce.

In Ireland, a clearer, more compact plan for action, he said, could be produced in a much shorter time. As he remarked, Ireland is small, most of the people involved, if not actually at the symposium, know each other quite well, the Government has a clear agenda on science, so a comprehensive plan on how researchers are supposed to work could be produced in months, not years as in the UK. Prof Ryan said that researchers need to work in a more secure environment, and that means helping them to make their way in life. Because of this, all PhD students at UCD now get a top-up in transferrable skills. Before leaving the lab to work in business or industry, they are given the opportunity to learn about marketing, communications, and finance. In addition, a human-resource expert is on hand to give guidance on post-doc career options.

Similar developments have been implemented in other colleges, and the pharmaceutical giant, Wyeth, is said to be very pleased with recruits from DCU because ‘they hit the ground running’.

Most PhDs end up in industry, but students often wonder, where are the additional jobs going to come from?

Martin Hynes, Director of IRCSET, believes that the researchers themselves are going to stimulate demand, and he draws a parallel with computers. How many computers are there in the world today? Millions, and most students can afford to carry around lap-tops. Back in the days when IBM experts were trying to calculate how big the world market for computers was, they concluded, on the basis of all the available evidence, that there might just be a market for 150.

Sometimes, said Martin Hynes, you need to make something to create a demand, and it is the same with researchers. There is a lot of evidence, he said, to show that putting

Great emphasis has been put on the pay-off from research, but as Marion Coy, Director of Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, points out, getting a job in industry, or undertaking a succession of shortterm contracts on applied research, is not the only reason why students choose to follow a career into science. Although the majority of students, when asked where they see themselves in a few years time, expect to be working in industry, Marion Coy is not in favour of limiting the choice of careers. “We must take a broader view,” she said, and backs this up; with a convincing agrument.

“Forty years ago we introduced free education, and look at the benefits.”

What we have now, she said, would never have happened without that move, yet, at the time a large number of people saw no benefit in providing greater access to second level education. The same sort of criticism was made of third level education, when people wondered what is the benefit of spending money turning out graduates, when most of them were only going to emigrate.

Marion Coy said she is ”deeply concerned” about the constant focus on applications. Education, she said, is never a waste. Give people an education and they can expand their boundaries, and what we need to do is provide the supporting infrastructure, and that includes facilities for conducting research. As far as Marion Coy is concerned, “you can never have enough research going on in the State.”

researchers into place is beginning to pay off. Companies, such as Weyth and Bell Labs are recruiting PhDs, and an increasing number of research deals are being signed by the multinationals, such as Intel, with research institutions.

Martin Hynes is confident that this is just a beginning, and besides, the opportunities to continue working in a research setting are on the rise. The traditional gap between industry and the colleges is beginning to narrow, and the researchers who work in places such as the Tyndall Institute, or Conway, are already at the half-way stage. One of the great strengths of these institutions is that they can offer the elecronics, biotechnology, health care and other companies far more than they could ever hope to achieve from their own resources.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

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 ONLY 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 only 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 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

SPIN

ATHLONE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

AIT’s School of Science Growing Through Innovation

T

he School of Science at Athlone Institute of Technology is one of the few science faculties in Ireland to rapidly grow in size, with the number of students trebling since 2000. There are now almost 800 students spread over two departments and four research facilities.

The School has achieved this success through preserving core bioscience/ chemistry disciplines, while growing healthcare areas.

The Department of Life and Physical Sciences offers flexible modular programmes from Higher Certificate (Level 6) to MSc (Level 9) in subjects as diverse as chemistry, biotechnology, toxicology, veterinary nursing, dental nursing and pharmacy technician.

All programmes have virtually 100%

employment on graduation and many show a consistent high translation into postgraduate opportunities.

A new honours degree in biomedical technology, due to commence in September 2007, will provide students with the skills to enter the vibrant and challenging medical devices/healthcare industry. Ireland is Europe’s leading location for medical device manufacturers, with 26,000 people working in the sector and a further 10,000 indirectly employed in the area.

Job prospects for graduates of this course are excellent,’ says Dr Paul

Tomkins, Head of the School of Science.

‘In third year you are sent on an industrial placement and the practical experience you gain will be of considerable benefit in grounding your academic experience in a real-world context. Graduates can expect to find employment in a wide variety of roles in the medical device/healthcare sector such as senior development technologists, validation engineers, project engineers, process engineers, quality assurance managers and in vitro diagnostic specialists.’

The Department of Nursing and Health Science, accommodated in a state-of-the-art building, offers undergraduate BSc programmes in general and psychiatric nursing, as well as postgraduate courses in more specialist areas.

In general,’ says Dr Tomkins, ‘a science qualification offers not only excellent and explicit career pathways in science disciplines, but also represents a valuable enabling qualification, which supports mobility into many other areas of employment.’

Students in the School benefit from ‘exposure to excellent teaching and laboratory facilities, industry and clinical placements, and research infrastructure and environment. In fact the School attracted almost €2m in research funding in the last two years alone,’ he states. Another attractive dimension of studying science at AIT is that selected programmes allow second semester completion in partner institutions in the US. Research is the key to making informed choices about college courses.

Professor Ciarán Ó Catháin, Director of AIT, encourages students to check the institute’s website, to discuss their interests with their guidance counsellor and to talk with others who are studying on courses that interest them.

‘We are always happy to arrange visits to our campus and to facilitate people in sitting in on lectures,’ he says. ‘It is a great way of learning about the institute.’

Anyone interested in learning more about college life at AIT and its courses should contact Denise Dolan, Schools’ Liaison Officer (ddolan@ait.ie and 090 647 1883), or Norrie O’Callaghan, Admissions Officer (admissions@ait.ie and 090 642 4489).

Information about all courses at the institute is available on the web at www.ait.ie. Dr Paul Tomkins can be contacted at ptomkins@ait.ie and 090 642 4453.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

SPIN

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, 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 (TR074, TR035), Chemistry (TR075), (TR076) and Genetics (TR073) or entry though Science (TR071).

As the only Irish university within the top 100 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

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

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

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

The University of Dublin Trinity College

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

SPIN

learning to create a better future

university of limerick college of Informatics & Electronics Bringing together the inter-related disciplines of mathematics, software, computing, communications & electronics in an innovative and forward looking structure.

The College of Informatics and Electronics at the University of Limerick, houses a major concentration of ICT-related academic activities that are building the knowledge society of the future.

COURSES AVAILABLE - LM051 BSc in Computer Systems - LM058 BSc in Financial Mathematics - LM060 BSc Mathematical Sciences - LM069 BE Computer Engineering - LM070 BE Electronic Engineering - LM080 BSc Electronic Systems - LM083 BSc Applied Computing and Network Technologies - LM084 BSc Information Systems - LM110 BSc Multimedia and Computer Games Development - LM111 BE Medical Electronics - LM112 BE Robotic Engineering - LM113 BSc Digital Media Design - LM114 BSc Music, Media & Performance Technology - LM024 BSc Software Development and Social Change - LM037 BSc Economics and Mathematical Sciences COLLEGE OF INFORMATICS & ELECTRONICS University of Limerick Tel +353 61 202911 Fax +353 61 202561 Email mary.heuston@ul.ie www.ul.ie/~informat

The Old and the New World of Science in Sligo

S

ligo has always punched developed within the School above its weight in Irish and retain excellent links with Science, and Institute industry. Our Health Science of Technology Sligo’s School and Physiology Degree allows of Science has continued this students to either continue on fine reputation in innovation an honours degree at IT Sligo with unique courses in Forensic in Public Health and Health Science and Archaeological Promotion, or transfer to clinical Science.

Degrees. The Pharmaceutical The School of Science at IT Science Honours Degree has Sligo is one of the largest in the been a flagship course for Institute sector. In 2006 the School delivery of graduates into one ran against recruitment trends of the cornerstones of the Irish by increasing student numbers economy. and points in most courses. So what attractions bring students to And what of Sligo’s scientific study Science in Sligo ? past? George Gabriel Stokes Our courses are modern with (1819-1903) from Skreen studied six new degree courses in the last fluid dynamics and mathematical Archaeology student on site at Knockvicar, Co Roscommon. five years focused on employment and physics, and became Professor of of the forensic scientist. Our Applied industry, many of which have placements.

Mathematics at Cambridge University, Archaeology Honours degree is the first, The School places emphasis on ‘Outcome the same job as Isaac Newton and and only, Archaeological Science degree Based Learning’ which focuses on what a Stephen Hawking. Edward Cooper in Ireland. The Biomedical Science student can actually do after finishing a (1798-1863) built an observatory in Degree targets new and exciting career course. This year the school is undergoing Markree and published a “Catalogue paths in the Biopharmaceutical and a 3 million euro refurbishment providing of stars near the Ecliptic” which gave Biomedical device industry, and a new modern lecture theatres and laboratories. the position of 60,000 stars and C.S. honours degree is near completion in Our courses are diverse and focused McMunn from South Sligo pioneered our Medical Biotechnology. on the real world. The new Forensic knowledge of respiratory pigments.

Irelands’ first Environmental Science, Investigation and Analysis Degree has and Occupational Safety and Health proved highly popular, combining Dr Jeremy Bird Honours Degree Programmes were modern analytical science with the role

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 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

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Some of the young students who came to this year’s festival of science at Cork City Hall.

Their eagerness to learn needs to be matched by adequate teaching support otherwise they could end up thinking that science is difficult.

Science for all Can we handle it?

Sean O’Leary, St. Caimin’s Community School, Shannon, makes a case for inclusion in science. Science, he argues, is not just a stepping stone into a well paid career; it is part of our preparation for life.

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his year’s mid-August headlines hinted at a crisis in education.

Government officials, business leaders and journalists were dismayed and disappointed with the Leaving Cert results in maths and science. The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) requested the return of bonus CAO points for maths and a similar incentive for science subjects. They say that urgent action is needed to increase the supply of quality graduates in these disciplines.

If our business leaders and government officials are disappointed, just imagine for a minute how the young students on receiving their examination results feel when after thirteen years of schooling (and considerable effort from themselves, their parents and their teachers), they are met with a fail in maths or a science subject. It doesn’t make sense.

The Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, asked students who performed well in science and

mathematics to think carefully about choosing third-level courses in these areas. The minister also called on third-level colleges to accept pupils of Leaving Certificate foundation level mathematics into their institutions.

The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) said the perceived difficulty was discouraging students from studying science subjects.

We have a situation in Ireland where students are discouraged from studying a science subject or have an increased chance of failing it as compared to other subjects. Dare I ask how students with a special educational need fare in science or maths? This question has not been raised often.

The report of the Task Force on Physical Sciences (2002) expresses the concern that a significant number of students do not study science at Junior Certificate level and supports the argument that science should be made

a core component in the education of all students.

The fuss created by the media and business leaders, while justifiable from an economic viewpoint is creating the myth that the purpose of science education is to provide us with upward mobility and financial success.

This does not cut it in the classroom.

Students want to be challenged in new and exciting ways but most of all, they want to be treated fairly.

Education is not only about knowledge, it is about justice. It is about giving everyone the opportunity to learn and supporting them along the way. How many of us remember the many facts that we learned in school?

One thing we do remember though is how we were treated. The way we learn is more important than what we learn. Educational literature is full of worthwhile theories that promote active hands on investigative learning.

However, much more important is that learning should occur in an environment that is safe, welcoming and respectful.

When people ask me what I teach, I sometimes reply smartly that I teach manners. However, this answer does touch somewhat on the truth. I teach students how to behave by trying to behave well myself. Greek philosophy tells us that the goal of education is about mastery of our individual selves rather than mastery of information.

This idea must permeate all learning situations.

All students can benefit from an education in science. Not only do they learn about the world around them, they also learn about themselves.

There has been a considerable amount of legislation in recent years to ensure the rights of all children.

The Education Act of 1998 requires that every person in the State has access to an appropriate education.

Two years later, the Equal Status Act (2000) further prohibits education establishments from discriminating against students on a range of grounds, including disability.

There has been a growing trend towards inclusion of children with special educational needs in mainstream settings. This has become a statutory requirement since the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act (2004) unless it would not be in the best interests of the child or would disrupt the education of other students.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

I fully support the inclusion of students with special educational needs in the science classroom. It is my experience that developing strategies to support students with special needs in my classroom enables me to be a more effective teacher for all of my students. Reinforcing material, such as safety rules or developing resources that utilise a variety of learning strategies benefits everyone.

Learning in schools is not about the Irish Business and Employers Confederation or the Royal Irish Academy. Nor is it always about getting into college.

Learning, or at least classroom based learning is about engaging positively with students, providing a variety of stimulating activities that students can learn from and appealing to the multiple intelligences that exist in the room. Two strategies that can be employed to accomplish this are differentiation and co-operative learning. Teachers can differentiate lessons by adjusting the content being learned by students, changing the way students access the material and by coming up with different ways in which students can show what they have learned.

At the annual Irish Association of Teachers in Special Education this year, I gave a presentation on using differentiation in the mainstream classroom. At the end of my talk, one teacher remarked to me that differentiating lessons seemed like a lot of work. I could only agree. It is not easy to come up with stimulating lessons that encourage all of your students to learn but the rewards are certainly worth the effort.

Some important benefits that I have experienced in my own teaching are happier students who are achieving well in classroom and in state exams, less discipline problems and increased professional satisfaction.

The greatest skills that a teacher needs to differentiate are flexibility and open-mindedness. Creating good lessons takes preparation and insight.

You can’t just walk into a lesson and do it. Of course, even when you know your students fairly well, large class sizes or a full timetable don’t help.

Mainstream teachers need support to differentiate material.

The way students learn and the environment that they learn in are crucial considerations in establishing a good classroom atmosphere.

Students want to learn in fun and interesting ways where they and their contributions are valued. The inclusion of students with special educational needs is not a threat to any classroom; rather such students create more learning opportunities for all students.

It is a joy to teach in such a setting.

Inclusion is possible in mainstream schools. It is also possible in the science classroom. It can benefit students and may even go someway towards increasing the popularity of science.

Strategies, resources and professional development need to be made available to teachers. Of course, we also need examinations that treat students fairly by catering for the rich diversity of learners that exist in our schools.

Teachers must prepare themselves and their classrooms for the growing move towards inclusion. The rewards are many, not forgetting the fact that it is also the law. There might sometimes be doubt. There may even be difficult situations. Inclusion may not always work in every setting but teachers and educational leaders need to promote the idea that education is not a privilege, it is a right. This simple idea holds the key to a successful future for all of us.

SPIN

Science at NUI Galway With over 1800 undergraduate students and 500 postgraduate students, the Science Faculty at NUI Galway has a long and proud teaching tradition. Our graduates play a vital role in today’s high-tech knowledge based society. We are also a centre for many world-class scientific research groups.

NUI Galway offers two types of undergraduate science degree, i.e., Undenominated Science (GY301) and denominated science. Undenominated Science is offered to students who wish to pursue a career in science but who have not yet decided on the area(s) in which they wish to specialise. The first year of the undenominated programme allows students to choose from a range of subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Mathematical Physics, Computing and Earth and Ocean Sciences. Having sampled different areas of science, students can then specialise in the later years.

Denominated programmes allow students to pursue definite courses of study from day one which will prepare them for careers in particular areas.

There are currently 10 Denominated programmes as follows: l GY302: Applied Physics and Electronics or Experimental Physics l GY303: Biomedical Science l GY304: Biotechnology l GY306: Computing Studies/ Mathematical Science l GY308: Environmental Science l GY309: Financial Mathematics and Economics l GY310: Marine Science l GY312: Physics and Astronomy l GY313: Health & Safety Systems l GY314: Earth and Ocean Sciences

In response to an increasing demand for medical physicists and a buoyant medical devices industry, the Faculty is also preparing a new B.Sc. in Physics with Medical Physics. It is hoped that this course will be advertised nationally in 2007, for entry in 2007-08, and students will be able to apply directly to the University for admission.

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.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

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 20 COLLEGE CHOICE

Science Foundation Ireland Scholarship 2007 School leavers Deadline for applications is June 29th 2007

Young women in engineering The Dell Precision M65 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 Dell Precision M65 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 2007 to women entering designated engineering degree programmes in Ireland.

Scholars will receive an annual award of â‚Ź2,000; a Dell Precision M65 notebook computer; the support of an active researcher as a mentor throughout their undergraduate career; and at least one summer research-internship 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 29th, 2007.

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

Engineered! A Week of Wonder

F

19th to the 23rd of February 2007

amilies across the country are encouraged to “discover the engineer” within them, during ‘Engineered! A Week of Wonder’.

Scheduled during the school midterm break, this inaugural 5 day celebration of engineering aims to generate awareness and enthusiasm about the world of engineering through a range of fun and challenging interactive events.

Children and teens who imagine creating dream cars or spaceships, or who can often hook up a home theatre DVD system in a matter of minutes, will especially enjoy the Week

of Wonder interactive events and activities which include treasure hunts, design challenges and making robot competitions. These “electrifying”, hands-on activities, involving all members of the family, will highlight many of the most important elements of being an engineer - ingenuity, teamwork and creativity.

The Week Of Wonder will take place nationwide and STEPS to engineering is inviting proposals from anyone involved in the world of engineering, including industry members, third level institutions and education centres, to host exciting, interactive events to enthuse young people and their families about engineering.

Kids of all ages, along with an adult, can take part in the ‘Wonders of Engineering’ treasure hunt, which will be held in Cork on Monday, Galway on Tuesday, Athlone on Wednesday and Dublin on Thursday. These will include deciphering a code on a ship, making a robot and being blown away by the WOW show. For more details, and to register, check out www. weekofwonder.ie .

On Friday 23rd February, the week of wonder will close with a national Great Egg Race, where students from post primary will compete in a relay against time to deliver an egg from Cork to Dublin using engineered vehicles. It will be nail-biting stuff as they relay the egg unbroken from location to location, without their feet touching the ground!

So join the fun, and find out what’s on in your area on

www.weekofwonder.ie

Top, Irish industry, panel on side of government offices, Kildare Street, Dublin. Bottom, restored SCIENCE steam engine, Riverstown, Co Sligo. Source Photo Archives.

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Right: A formal foursome in seventeenth century France.

Below: free expression at a concert in Phoenix Park. Photo: Tom Kennedy, Source Archive.

“I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” Cutting a dash on the dance floor might be more than a bit of entertainment, and as Robert Quinn writes, the acrobatic display is likely to draw gasps of admiration from potential mates.

T

he Artic Monkeys’ anthem “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” has acquired an unexpected resonance in the world of evolutionary biology. Research reported in the Nature journal recently uncovers a relationship between the dancing skills of a potential suitor and their chances of being sexually selected.

The two cornerstones of evolutionary theory, as first articulated

by Charles Darwin, are the selective forces; natural selection and sexual selection. In Darwinian theory, selection signifies the process by which a variable trait is selectively passed on to the next generation by giving its holder a better chance of being able to reproduce. The distinction comes when we examine more closely the reasons why this trait gave its holder an advantage.

Natural selection deals with the traits that give us an advantage in producing offspring by virtue of the fact that we have managed to survive

to sexual maturity and can therefore pass that characteristic on.

Sexual selection, on the other hand, is less a story of life and death but more a tale of one sex trying to impress the other. If a particular trait sparks a fancy in the opposite sex and gives the possessor a greater chance of reproducing solely because of the fact that the trait it possesses catches the eye of a member of the opposite sex, then this trait is said to be sexually selected. Sometimes sexual selection can lead evolution down surprising and whimsical paths.

Take, for example, the manakin, a small sparrow-sized bird of South and Central America. In order to impress the female members of the species, the males perform an elaborate Michael Jackson-esque ‘moonwalk’ dance (www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/ deepjungle/episode1_bostwick.html#).

The video clip of this endearing little character has to be seen to be believed.

A very important fact must be highlighted at this stage. No matter how trivial the trait being sexually selected for, the trait must always provide at least a neutral if not a positive advantage for natural selection. If the trait chosen is in any way disadvantageous in the battle to

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 42

be naturally selected it will quickly be weeded out by the unforgiving and merciless process of evolution.

What do we know about dancing and sexual selection in humans? Do those amongst us who really do ‘look good on the dancefloor’ have an advantage over those of us in the ‘two left feet’ brigade?

A team of American scientists led by Robert Trivers set out to address this question. They began by modelling the dancing motions of 183 Jamaicans, a society in which dance plays an important role.

The experiment posed the question: Are people who are inherently more attractive, or ‘fitter’ in evolutionary speak, better dancers as judged by the opposite sex? What do we mean by ‘fitness’ and how might we measure it?

One way to do this is to measure body symmetry. Many studies have shown that the degree of body symmetry is related to the ‘fitness’ of the individual, in other words, the more symmetrical an organism’s body is, the more likely that particular organism is to be healthy, live longer and produce more offspring.

To separate the dancing ability of the subjects from other factors that might influence their chances of SPIN

being sexually selected, the dancer’s movements were modelled using a computer programme. The resulting video shows a crash-test dummy- like character accurately shadowing the dance motion of a particular dancer but who is completely devoid of possible interfering factors like facial appearance or physique.

The scientists found strong positive associations between body symmetry and dancing ability and they found that this association was stronger in men than in women. In other words they found that women rated ‘fitter’, inherently healthier men, as judged by body symmetry measurements, to be better dancers than men who had low body symmetry scores.

The fact that women’s strong preference for ‘fitter’ men was not equally reciprocated by men rating women’s dancing is to be expected in a species like our own, in which mothers invest more energy in the rearing of their offspring than fathers do and are therefore expected to be more selective in their choice of mate.

Reference:

County fair in France

Photo Tom Kennedy, Source Archive

So, is there any hope for those of us who inelegantly plod around the dancefloor? It seems that the jury is still out but maybe I’ll enquire about those dance classes all the same.

Robert Quinn is a graduate from UCD, currently working for a PhD in Cell Biology at Manchester. His article on dance was one of the finalists in the Daily Telegraph Science Writing competition.

Brown, M.B., Cronk, L., Grochow, K., Jacobson, A., Karen Liu, C., Popovic, Z. & Trivers, R. Dance reveals symmetry especially in young men. Nature 438, 1148-1150 (2005).

Kilbeggan distillery

A visit to Locke’s distillery museum in Kilbeggan offers everything from industrial heritage to an innovative Irish technique for building, writes Mary Mulvihill.

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link, and you might miss it. For despite being a most unusual structure, and an important building of architectural heritage, it is also easy to overlook. So next time you are in Kilbeggan, keep your eyes peeled . . . for a small, low, concrete building with a distinctive corrugated shape, looking for all the world like an inverted jelly mould.

This ‘jelly mould’, nestling beside Locke’s Distillery Museum and about 50 metres in from the Dublin–Galway Road, is probably Ireland’s only surviving example of an ingenious and cheap building technique that was devised by an Irish engineer, Jim Waller (1884–1968). Today, it is used as a bonded warehouse, where Cooley Distillery stores barrels of maturing whiskey. Take a tour of Locke’s Distillery museum and, as well as tasting the whiskey, you can explore an exhibition about Waller, see a cooper at work making barrels, and peer inside Waller’s jelly mould storehouse.

Jim Waller was born in Tasmania, but his family came from Nenagh and he went to college in Ireland. During World War I he watched soldiers camouflage their tents by daubing them with concrete, and realised the approach could be adapted to construct buildings. A shortage of steel in the 1940s, coupled with his own humanitarian outlook, prompted Waller to develop his technique,

hoping it could be used to rebuild Europe’s bombed cities and in less well-off developing countries.

Waller began by erecting a series of timber ribs or arches, providing a skeleton for the building; this was then covered with sheets of hessian or similar material. Two or even three layers of mortar were applied in succession to the hessian.

The material between the timber ribs would eventually sag under the weight of mortar, giving the structure a corrugated shape. Finally, after the concrete had dried, the wooden arches could be removed to leave a selfsupporting concrete shell.

The arched shape that Waller used was based on Baghdad’s ancient Great Arch of Ctesiphon (pronounced ‘tessifon’), which he saw while working in Iraq as a surveyor. That arch, built of crude brick, has lasted over 1,600 years thanks to its design: taller than it is wide, it is a ‘catenary’ arch, and the weight is evenly distributed across all points (see panel).

Waller’s approach enjoyed a certain

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 44

vogue in the 1940s and 1950s: it was cheap and flexible, did not require steel reinforcing, was quick to erect and needed only local materials. It proved especially popular in Africa where it was used to build everything from small hen houses to large aircraft hangars – and indeed, if you Google for ‘Ctesiphon structures’ you’ll discover that this same approach is still being used in Africa to erect latrine buildings, among other things.

Britain’s Ministry of Works also built and tested various Ctesiphon structures, but interest in Waller’s technique waned in the 1950s. With the recent resurgence of interest in traditional building techniques, however, we may yet see new ‘jellymould’ buildings.

Kilbeggan’s whiskey warehouse is probably Ireland’s sole surviving Ctesiphon building in good condition.

The distillery there, reputedly “the oldest licensed pot still distillery in the world”, was established in 1757 and made triple-distilled pot still malt whiskey for 200 years, exploiting the plentiful local supply of turf and grain and water from the Brosna River. The distillery was bought in 1843 by John Locke, whose descendants owned it until declining fortunes brought, first, an end to production in 1954, and finally closure in 1957. The Locke’s were reputedly good employers, who built several houses in the town for their workers, and provided grazing near the distillery where workers without land could graze a cow and calf for a nominal fee.

Locke’s is the last remaining SPIN

example of a small pot distillery in Ireland. Fortunately, the distillery was left virtually intact when it closed — only the copper piping was scrapped — and over 90% of the original machinery has now been restored. A community group has developed a museum of distilling and industrial archaeology there, complete with 19th-century water wheel, millwheels, millstones, steam engines and large copper vats.

Whiskey production in Ireland declined steadily during the 20th century. Heavy duties on alcohol and a general economic recession reduced demand on the home market, while Prohibition in the USA (1920-33) closed off a major export market. Irish whiskey distillers also lost out badly to blended Scotch whisky, especially when US soldiers stationed in Britain during World War II acquired a taste for the lighter, smoother taste of blended Scotch. In 1924, there were 26 distilleries in Ireland, but by 1937 that

Kilbeggan, but Cooley Distillery, based in Co Louth, matures its whiskey in barrels in the Ctesiphon warehouse there. The barrels are made on-site from recycled Kentucky bourbon barrels by an expert cooper, John Neilly, and visitors can watch this craftsman at work.

had fallen to just five, and by the early 1980s only two remained: Middleton in County Cork, and Bushmills in County Antrim. That trend was reversed, you could say, when Cooley distillery was established in the mid-1980s, the first new Irish distillery in a century.

Whiskey is no longer made in Mary Mulvihill is the author of Ingenious Ireland, the award-winning guide to Ireland’s scientific and industrial heritage (www.ingeniousireland.ie).

Go see!

Locke’s Distillery Museum in Kilbeggan, including the Waller exhibition, is open daily (www.lockesdistillerymuseum.com Tel: 0506 32134). Guided tours take 40 minutes followed by a whiskey sampling (the latter for adults only). April– October 9am-6pm.

November– March 10am - 4pm.

You will also find information about Jim Waller’s work at the Irish Architectural Archive, Merrion Square, Dublin.

Ctesiphon’s great arch

The ancienT city of ctesiphon, about 30 km southeast of Baghdad, was built by the Persians on the east bank of the Tigris some 2,200 years ago. amongst its extensive ruins stands one of iraq’s best-known sites of antiquity, and one of the engineering wonders of the world – the stunning arch of the great banqueting-hall.

Reputedly the widest and highest single-span vault built in the world, it was built of baked bricks in about the 4th century of the christian era. This is a

catenary arch, taller than it is wide, and of a kind formed when a chain is hung between two points.

When the Tigris flooded in 1987 and nearly destroyed all of the great banqueting-hall, the great arch of ctesiphon survived.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 45

Left above; the Kilbeggan ’Jelly Mould’.

Right above: the Ctesiphon great arch as it was in Waller’s time.

Left; shaped by sand and wind, the Ctesiphon arch has a natural equivalent in the arid deserts of America.

Understanding what makes a brain tick?

The human brain, a magnificent organism – structurally superb, flexible and efficient. Understanding the workings of the brain is one of the final frontiers of biological science and UCD neuroscientists are starting to unravel some of its mysteries, writes Seán Duke.

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he brain, it’s the essence of what we are, our memories, all our learning, our personality, our emotions - love, hate, ambition. Without our brain we are nothing, but for centuries, mankind knew little of its workings. Diseases of the brain were, and are, greatly feared.

It was as if these diseases - depression, schizophrenia and dementia – just struck down the sufferers down like a bolt from the blue, without warning or explanation.

Now, however, finally, in the 21st century, researchers are starting to understand what makes a brain tick, how we learn, how we remember, why we behave as we do, and how brain diseases arise.

UCD is right at the forefront of this brain research, both in Ireland and abroad.

It is home to a large ‘cluster’ of researchers who can be termed ‘neuroscientists’ in that they share a common research interest in the brain and its workings.

These scientists are a powerful and weighty bunch, and – crucially – they can approach the same problem from many different angles, given that they have a wide variety of training and scientific backgrounds, whether that is Physiology, Microbiology, Medicine or Zoology.

The proximity of life scientists at UCD to each other has been an important catalyst for generating cross disciplinary neuroscience research.

Whether it is study of the prion as a model for neurodegenerative disease, developing ways to ‘image’ diseased brains, or pinpointing the mechanisms that underlie Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease it’s all happening somewhere on the UCD campus.

perhaps suggest that study of the prion protein and how it works is really an academic exercise, important simply for animal health.

This in fact, is far from the case, as the study of how abnormal prion protein causes disease can provide a model for understanding Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. There are common mechanisms between prion diseases and other brain diseases and these can best be studied in animal models.

One of the key prion research people at UCD is Professor Mike Scott, who before coming to Ireland was working at the famous laboratory of Nobel Prize winner Stanley Pruisner at the University of California, San Franscisco. Pruisner won the Nobel prize for Medicine in 1997 for his discovery of the Prion protein, and its links to BSE and CJD. Professor Scott is just now at the beginning of a four year project to set up his own prion laboratory at UCD, and he wants this laboratory to be a

Prions

The prion protein, as most people would know, is the protein that is responsible for BSE, or ‘mad cow disease’ in cattle, and its cousin - CJD in humans. The devastating condition CJD is extremely rare, so this would

Dr Hilary McMahon is investigating anti-prion agents.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 46

Neuroscience at UCD

Prof Michael Scott is looking at the role of prions in causing diseases.

collaborative effort with other researchers who are interested in the wider field of neurodegenerative diseases.

One aim, said Prof Scott, would be to find out if there are other agents in existence, like the prion protein, that cause neurodegenerative diseases, and if so, which genes control these agents, and what are the mechanisms by which they operate?

The overarching goal is, he said, to develop model animal systems for studying all neurodegenerative diseases, while identifying the genes that are important in instigating prion disease and determine if they are important.

One researcher who would be very keen to get access to animal models for studying prion disease is industrial microbiologist Dr Hilary McMahon.

In an recent important development, Dr McMahon identified an anti-prion agent. This agent, she said, cleared all cells of the abnormal prion protein in culture. She would like to take this further and test the agent in animal models, and look for more anti-Prion agents. Such agents could be used to treat neurodegenerative disease beyond CJD. The Prion protein, said Dr McMahon, is present in all cells of our body, though its function remains a mystery. Scientists don’t know why it exists or what its role is in the cell – given its widespread existence researchers believe it must have some positive role.

One theory is that normal prion is turned into abnormal prion in response to stress, but, the question then is, why a cell would create the potential for its own destruction, as a response to stress.? The honest answer is, Dr McMahon says, we don’t know, but she would certainly like to get answers through more collaborative research.

Alzheimer’s disease

This is the most common of all neurodegenerative diseases and affects in the region of 15 million people around the world, and 60,000 people in Ireland. The disease, which affects 10 per cent of people over 65 and 50 per cent of people over 85, is characterised by shrinkage of the brain regions involved in learning and memory.

Prof Kevin Malone is looking for physical signs Professor Dominic Walsh is a top class of change in the brain.

UCD Alzheimer’s disease researcher Depression who has been lured back to Ireland, from In days gone by, depression, schizophrenia the USA, where he was working at the and other mental illnesses were poorly Harvard Institutes of Medicine. Professor understood, but that is changing and Walsh is very interested in the amyloid researchers are now starting to see that mental beta protein, which plays a critical role in illness, like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, are initiating Alzheimer’s disease. due to observable changes in the brain.

In the past decade or so, Prof Walsh Professor of Psychiatry, Kevin Malone, has unravelled much of the biochemical is working with Professor Richard Reilly, pathway that leads to the development of School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Alzheimer’s disease and this knowledge is Engineering, in a fascinating and unique crucial in the drive to develop methods to cross school research collaboration into disrupt the disease along its pathway. ‘imaging’ the diseased brain.

The Alzheimer’s pathway begins This study, called the functional neurowith the action of two enzymes, beta imaging study, is examining the brains of and gamma secretase. These cleave the people with suicidal depression, and is amyloid precursor protein. This leads to funded by the American Foundation for the production of the amyloid beta protein Suicide Prevention. St Vincent’s Hospital, itself. The next stage, and this is the critical Elm Park where Professor Malone is stage, is when the beta proteins become based, is running this study in conjunction oligomers, and in this form, they become with sister hospital St Vincent’s Fairview, fibrils that are deposited in the brain, and all of the depressed and suicidal causing severe damage. people taking part are volunteers.

The amyloid fibrils are found in The study makes use of a cap worn on structures called ‘plaques’ and these the head that is equipped with 128 sensors structures litter the brains of those with positioned in key locations of the head. An Alzheimer’s disease. The problem is that image is generated using various imaging once these structures are seen the disease has technologies, software is then applied, and already caused a lot of damage. the image is finally interpreted.

Professor Walsh is keen to work with The cap and the software have been prion researchers Mike Scott and Hilary developed by Professor Reilly’s research team, McMahon he recognises that there are while the analysis of the images is conduced similarities between the prion disease

by Dr Rob Whelan and other members of pathway and Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Malone’s team. It is a perfect match Prof Walsh says that given the of engineering and scientific talents. overwhelming data to support the The lab at St Vincent’s is an EEG view that amyloid beta protein plays (electroencephalography )lab. This is the a central role in Alzheimer’s disease, technique where the electromagnetic fields understanding how this protein alters of brain cells, or neurons, brain function is vital can be detected, to indicate for the development of which areas of the brain are therapies for the disease. active or inactive. Eventually Prof Walsh states it is hoped that such imaging that finding a way to studies will provide an aid lower the amyloid beta to clinicians in diagnosing protein to levels that suicide and mental illness. prevent oligomerization This imaging work may be one therapeutic builds on earlier work strategy for the treatment

by Prof Malone when he of Alzheimer’s disease. developed a method for But, more work has to visualizing serotonin (a be done to nail possible key neurotransmitter in the treatments down. brain) function in the brain Dr Caroline Herron of living patients using is working closely with PET, or Positron Emission Prof Walsh on cracking Dr Caroline Herron is investigating Tomography. the Alzheimer’s story. how Alzheimer’s disease destroys She is interested in how the ability of the brain to make new memories.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 47

Prof Dominic Walsh has been unravelling pathways that lead to Alzheimer’s Disease.

amyloid beta protein appears to destroy hippocampal synaptic plasticity. The hippocampus is the area of the brain associated with memory and learning, and plasticity, when used by neuroscientists means the ability of the brain to alter its structure in order to lay down new memories and learning.

It appears that the plasticity of the brain takes place at the level of the synapses – the tiny gaps across which individual nerve cells communicate. Clearly, greater knowledge of the role of the destructive beta protein at this level could lead to new drugs for Alzheimer’s or other neurodegenerative diseases.

Parkinson’s disease

This is another common neurodegenerative disease, with an estimated 6,000 people in Ireland suffering from its symptoms. Professor Timothy Lynch, Consultant Neurologist, Mater Hospital, UCD, has set up an All Ireland Parkinson’s Disease Research Group, along with medical colleagues and fellow Consultant Neurologists Tim Counihan, University College Hospital Galway and Mark Curran, Belfast.

Professor Lynch, formerly of the Mayo Clinic, USA, has established a ‘research cohort’ comprising of 600 to 700 people with Parkinson’s Disease, in conjunction with the Mayo clinic and is in the process of setting up collaborations with colleagues at the Conway Institute, including Prof Walsh, who are also interested in neurodegenerative diseases.

Despite many years of research, not enough is known about the causes of Parkinson’s disease, but Prof Lynch believes that Ireland, with its small, and common gene pool, is an ideal place to try and pin down neurodegenerative risk factors.

“I’d like to have more (research) links with the Conway Institute and to translate the findings from that research into my clinical practice. I would also like to get clinical trials going for Parkinson’s disease, to see what agents and what genotypes are involved. All of this information will be spat out of basic neuroscience,” said Prof Lynch.

SPIN

A typical crushed rock aggregate quarry in County Down

Paul Lyle, Ireland’s leading authority on the Giant’s Causeway, and Chairman of ES2k, a group promoting earth sciences, gives a few reasons why quarries, are essential to the modern life-style we all demand.

What’s THAT HOLE IN THE LANDSCAPE ... ?

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any people have an image of the quarrying industry in Ireland that involves dust, noise, water pollution and disfigurement of the landscape. If this applies to you, don’t let it stop you appreciating the importance of the extractive industries in your everyday life. Also, look around and you will see things are changing. Quarry operators

have made great efforts in recent years to minimize the effects of quarrying on the environment and to improve their image. Changes in environmental legislation have brought tighter controls on quarry working and the operator has to re-habilitate the site at the end of its working life. The days when worked-out quarries were abandoned to become unauthorised

Mixture of water and abrasive fed on to rubber tyre running against road wheel made up of sample moulds.

Cross-section of curved sample mould showing stone chips to be tested set in epoxy resin and then mounted on the road wheel.

Swinging slider is dropped across tested mould to measure the degree of polishing of the stone chips.

rubbish tips should, thankfully, be over.

The aim of this article is to shed some light on the significance of the industry, in this case in the north of Ireland. I describe the desired properties of a good aggregate for roads and a few of the vast range of products produced by the quarrying industry. . Aggregates are rock fragments, which may be combined or aggregated to produce a mixture that can be used in construction. The aggregate may be bonded with cement or bitumen, as in concrete and macadam, or used unbonded as filler. This article is largely about rocks that have been quarried, crushed and then screened to produce rock fragments of a desired size; it does not include sand and gravel.

Compared to many areas in Great Britain, particularly in southeast England, Northern Ireland has an abundance of good quality hard rock available for the construction of buildings and roads. I wonder how many people reading this article are aware that when they are travelling along the notorious circum-London M25 motorway, they are as likely as not to be on a road surface made from sandstone from a quarry in County Down, the aggregate for the wearing course, as the top surface of the road is known, having been shipped from the docks at Belfast directly to Kent?

There are few natural resources in Northern Ireland available in large

SCIENCE SPIN GEOSCIENCE Issue 20 Page 48

Hard grains, mostly quartz, shown here as clear areas in the slide.

Dark areas are mostly softer clay minerals.

Photomicrograph of County Down gritstone, magnification x 50, showing the shape of the individual grains making up the rock. enough quantities for export to Great Britain and continental Europe, but high quality roadstone is one of them. What is it about County Down sandstone that makes it special enough to be worth the trouble of shipping it to England, Holland and Germany?

To answer that question it is necessary to look at the changes that have taken place in transport and driving over the last 50 years. Also the parallel changes that have taken place in road construction methods.

We now drive much faster, there is far more traffic and much greater loads are carried by lorries. This means correspondingly increased demands on the materials used to construct the roads. The weight of the vehicles travelling on the wearing course is carried, not just by the top layer, but also by the various layers below the surface, down to bedrock.

These lower layers of aggregate are required to resist pressures from the crushing and impact loads imparted

Pale–coloured calcined bauxite on the wearing course at a busy junction. Its function here is to reduce the incidence of skidding as traffic stops at the lights.

by the weight of traffic, but there are additional properties required by the top surface. The wearing course consists of crushed rock fragments of varying sizes combined with some form of binder, commonly bitumen in this country. The requirements of the aggregate particles in the wearing course are that they resist wear and tear, known as abrasion, and thus maintain the integrity of the road structure. They must resist as far as possible the tendency to be smoothed and polished by the frictional action of wheels moving at speed over the road surface. Smoothing and polishing would lead to a surface that is prone to skidding. More skidding means more accidents and loss of life. More than any other properties, it is the ability to resist polishing that makes County Down sandstone or gritstone, as these rocks are termed in the quarrying industry, such a desirable commodity for modern-day roadmakers. Many hard rocks of all categories, igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic, have the necessary resistance to abrasion and the inherent strength to resist crushing and sudden impact.

The resistance to polishing is more complicated. Understanding it requires detailed examination of the rock, its mineral content and proportions, texture and grain size.

Polished Stone Value (PSV)

The ability of a rock to resist polishing is measured by a British Standard Test to determine the polished stone value.

The apparatus simulates the action of dust-laden tyres on samples of aggregate set in epoxy resin, mounted in standard moulds on a rotating “road wheel”. A solid rubber tyre rides on the simulated road while abrasive powder and water are continuously fed on to the surface of the tyre. After a set time the degree of polishing of the sample is measured using a standard pendulum arc friction tester.

The deflection of the pointer on a calibrated scale gives the coefficient of friction as a percentage – the Polished Stone Value – and a higher value means greater resistance to polishing. Values of PSV greater than 60 are generally required for roads with high density or high speed traffic. The best gritstones from County Down can give PSV’s of 65 or greater, while the values for basalts tend to be lower, usually around high 50s or low 60s, and limestones are commonly around 50 or lower.

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Saving lives by applying good science Research has shown that those aggregates with high Polished Stone Values are those that contain mineral grains of contrasting hardness. The County Down gritstones consist predominantly of hard grains, mostly quartz, contained in a softer matrix comprising mostly clay minerals.

Photographs taken down a microscope (known as photomicrographs) of very thin slices of the rock can reveal details of the shape and textures of the grains and their relationship to each other.

As the gritstone aggregate is trafficked, the relatively soft matrix of clay minerals holding the hard grains allows these to be “plucked out” before they can reach a state of high polish. Detailed measurements of the forces involved between the passing tyre and the road surface has shown that a powerful torque or twisting motion is imparted to each aggregate particle on the road surface. So there is a tendency for the hard grains to be pulled out, rather like a tooth extraction. The result is a constant replacement of the outer surface of each aggregate chip and so a continual renewal of the rough surface and therefore a continuing high level of skid resistance. Crucial is the proportion between the hard grains and the softer matrix. Too much soft clay mineral would weaken the strength of the rock and it would have a poor resistance to abrasion, while an absence of softer minerals quickly leads to a high degree of polishing.

A road made from quartzite, for example, which is almost entirely made up of hard quartz grains, would be very durable but would soon be like an ice rink.

You may have noticed in recent years the appearance of a much lighter coloured road covering at the approaches to roundabouts or at other complex junctions. This is a high PSV material designed to reduce the incidence of skidding during braking. It is called calcined bauxite and has exceptionally high Polished Stone Values of more than 70. It is manufactured by heating bauxite, which is largely hydrated aluminium oxides formed by the tropical weathering of basic igneous rocks such as basalt. The bauxite used on our roads is usually obtained from South America. Visitors to the

Aggregate shipped out from this quarry in County Down ends up in the highways of the UK and Europe.

Giant’s Causeway will be familiar with bauxite in the red Interbasaltic laterites exposed along the cliff path. When heated to temperatures of more than 1500 degrees Celsius, the hydrated aluminium oxides are transformed to the very hard mineral corundum, which has very good polish-resisting properties when applied to a wearing

course. The process is expensive so the high-PSV layer is usually applied as a thin skim to the existing road surface.

The example shown here is at a busy road junction controlled by traffic lights. The contrast in colour between the normal macadam wearing course and the pale-coloured calcined bauxite is clearly seen.

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The significance of the quarrying industry to Northern Ireland As well as aggregate for roadstone, the quarrying industry in Northern Ireland produces a wide range of stone products that are essential to modern life. An important product is the cement block, which appears to be universally used in the building industry, either as a replacement for traditional bricks or in a complementary role.

Kerbstones, concrete beams, paving slabs, concrete pipes of a wide range of diameters, all of these essential components of the construction industry are pouring out of Northern Ireland’s quarries in phenomenal numbers as the country upgrades its roads, water and sewage facilities and buildings, domestic, industrial and commercial. The value to the economy of the region is immense.

For the year 2005, Northern Ireland quarries produced nearly 28 million tonnes of material, with a total

selling value of about £110million (€160million) and employing just over 1,650 people across Northern Ireland.

The quarrying industry has a responsibility to ensure that its products are extracted with the minimum of disruption and cost to the environment. The public demands higher standards of infrastructure, leading to greater extraction of the aggregate resources and eventually to more and larger quarries. We must recognize the importance of the role played by the quarry industry in giving us a higher and safer standard of living.

Try visiting a virtual quarry on the website www.virtualquarry.co.uk . It is brilliantly presented and teachers will find lesson plans linked to the curriculum as well as the listing of a few quarries that offer school visits.

SCIENCE SPIN GEOSCIENCE Issue 20 Page 50

210 million year old brittle stars found in Colin Glen, Belfast

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olin Glen is an interesting little green space just west of Belfast.

Run by the Colin Glen Trust it includes red virtually barren rocks that formed in hot desert conditions during the Triassic period and, above, rocks of Jurassic age that are full of fossils, representing a sea that teemed with life. Between the two are mudstones, one part of which is the thin, 6m thick, Westbury Formation.

The Westbury Formation dark grey mudstones are considered, because of the low numbers of fossil species of animals and their generally small size, to have been deposited in a sea basin that was periodically isolated from the deep ocean. As a result, the salinity possibly fluctuated and animals found it difficult to flourish.

The dark grey mudstones were deposited about 208 million years ago.

They are exposed in the riverbank in the Glen just above Glen Bridge.

Collecting the fossils is a fiddly job and not encouraged unless you are a genuine researcher. In any case, you can identify very little at the locality.

You have to take the soft weathered mudstone back to a laboratory and then pick through the debris with a pin, checking the animal remains through a microscope. A laborious business!

The proper name of these little ophiuroids, with central discs about 6 mm in diameter and arms just over 17mm long, is Aplocoma damesii.

The significance of such brittle stars, which are echinoderms of the

Written in stone

Many readers probably remember the popular ‘Written in Stone‘ series of programmes, produced for television in the 1990s. In these half-hour programmes, Pádraig Keenan, described by a whole generation of students as an inspiring lecturer, brought viewers on a tour of Ireland‘s rocks.

Tony Bazley finds fossils not previously described from Ireland

ophiuroid class, is that the modern forms are strictly confined to normal marine conditions and do not survive salinity variations. There is no reason to suppose the fossil relatives were any different. So these tiny animals suggest the ancient sea at Colin Glen, for some of the time at least, was normally marine. Perhaps they were killed by a sudden salinity fluctuation — but that could not be proved. In any case they were quickly covered by mud and preserved intact, unusual in itself because brittle stars live up to their name and easily break up in the slightest of water movement, even if some marauding predator does not eat them.

All of these six programmes have been packed into a compact DVD. We can watch Pádraig clambering up slopes, chipping at rocks, and showing us spectacular landscapes, while learning how all of these wonderful features were formed. As Pádraig frequently reminds us, Ireland’s history began long before the arrival of us humans.

The 150 minute DVD, accompanied by a booklet, is available for €32 from Enda Gallagher at the GSI, Beggar’s Bush, Dublin 4.

SCIENCE SPIN GEOSCIENCE Issue 20 Page 51

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Inspired by Glossopteris fossil leaves.

Below, Agates as part of a repeating pattern.

EMBROIDERY AND ROCKS

an unlikely combination The last issue of Science Spin featured ‘rock art’. Here Karen Nickell of Belfast explains how she has interwoven rocks and fossils to make another, quite unique, form of rock art.

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here is a well-known song with the memorable line ‘It started with a kiss…’ This project ‘started with a Glossopteris…’ a line that perhaps doesn’t have quite the same ring but was still pretty exciting. Glossopteris is a plant of the gymnosperm group that botanists will know includes the ‘living-fossil’ Ginko tree that these days can be found growing in southern gardens. It was a conical shrub up to 6m high that lived around 200 million years ago. Its name comes from the shape of its leaf, glossa meaning tongue in Greek.

The tongue-shaped Glossopteris fossil leaf was my inspiration. It had been sitting on my fireplace for a while but was fragile because the layers sheer off so easily. I wanted to get it up on a wall where it would be less vulnerable to damage. The background the fossil is mounted onto is made of silk fibres and

real Magnolia stellata leaf skeletons, which I made into a silk paper and then embroidered.

My son Edward got the dendrites of manganese and iron from the Dordogne. It is mounted onto a background of painted tissue and felt, which is itself painted and then machine embroidered.

Dendrites are manganese and iron oxides and hydroxides, and are entirely chemical in origin. They are especially found on the fine internal surfaces of limestone and whilst the forms will remind you of small plants or mosses they have nothing in common with fossils.

The agates have the three real stones hand stitched on to form the bottom row. Each of the other rows is made up of a combination of computer images, paint and stitch and get fainter as they go up. Agates are a variety of chalcedony, which is cryptocrystalline silica or, in easy-speak, very finely crystalline glass. They develop in cavities (geodes) in the rock and develop the banding during growth. Agates are semi-precious stones and can be naturally beautiful, with the bright red jasper being a member of the chalcedony family. Even so, some are not so naturally bright coloured and many of those coming in from distant places like South America have all too obviously been artificially ‘coloured’. They have been boiled in an aniline dye, in much the same way as textile fabrics are dyed. .

The ammonites are sewn onto a background of wool and silk felt, with hand stitching details.

Ammonites have very often

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Thread-like patterns of manganese and iron oxides and hydroxides, centre, form the basis of a delicate pattern.

Below: Since ancient times Anmonites shells have captured the imagination of artists.

been used as the basis for design and art through the past centuries. The Romans copied them in their murals and some peoples have given them mystical status. The name derives from the medieval Latin cornu Ammonis ‘Horn of Ammon’, from the resemblance to the ram’s horn associated with Jupiter Ammon. In fact it is a marine shell that flourished in the seas from about 200 million to 60 million years ago when its extinction more or less coincided with the death of the dinosaurs.

Ammonite shells have lines, called sutures, which marked the separation of the internal chambers. These sutures running across the shell can

be very complex, with the line folded and frilled. One such suture can just be made out at the end of the upper shell. Perhaps the delicate tracery makes it especially appropriate for the art of embroidery.

Karen has a web site for anybody wanting to look at such design innovations www.karennickell.co.uk. She doesn’t sell through the web site – it is just done for the fun of it, the best reason!

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 GEOSCIENCE Page 53

Rocks exposed along the Sligo coast with Ben Bulben in the background. Photo: GSNI.

Planning a trip to the north-west?

Bring your own map

An invitation from the Geological Survey of Ireland to explore the Breifne region.

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facinating new website has been launched allowing visitors to go on a virtual tour before setting off to explore Ireland’s north west. The website — www.breifne. ie — was launched recently by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI), and it is packed with information about the Breifne region, comprising parts of Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Cavan, and Fermanagh.

One of the special features of this site is that visitors can create and print out their own maps.

The website is the result of collaboration between the geological surveys, north and south, Heritages at the University of Ulster (Magee) and the local authorities of the five included counties. As an initiative to promote economic development in border areas, funding was made available under the Programme for Peace and Reconciliation.

The site covers a geologically diverse area of about 3,500 km2, delineated by the Sligo Coast to the west, Lough Key to the south and Lough Erne to the north and east, with the principal focus on an “upland core” encompassing the Dartry, Arigna, Sliabh an Iarainn, Cuilcagh and Bricklieve Mountains.

The team based at GSI have produced a customised web-mapping interface as a method of delivering and explaining the heritage of the region.

The website, which is underpinned

by the latest web-mapping ArcIMS technology, will help people plan a visit to the Bréifne region. Users can select the information of interest to them, navigate around the map and print hard copy maps and reports. The main website contains information on accommodation, restaurants, activities, as well as information on sites of geological, archaeological, ecological and cultural interest. Then by clicking on the “Create your own map” link, you are led to an introduction page for the web mapping area on the site.

From here you select to either enter the basic or advanced site. The basic site has been designed with the first time user in mind. There are six easy steps to follow guiding you through the process of selecting your area of interest, zooming, creating a report, printing a map and using hyperlinks to find additional information. The advanced site is similar but has some additional functionality; it was designed for users familiar with webmapping sites. Extra buttons are available to allow the user greater flexibility to explore the data.

Discover the delights of the north west.

www.breifne.ie

Doon Lough, Co Leitrim. Photo: GSNI.

Geoscience section sponsored by GSI and edited by Tony Bazley for ES2k SCIENCE SPIN GEOSCIENCE Issue 20 Page 54

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Roots of infection

Claire O’Connell describes how tracing the origins of a virus brought researcher, William Hall into contact with some of the most isolated populations in the world.

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here’s more to Professor William Hall, UCD’s Head of Medical Microbiology, than meets the eye. Sitting in his newly built Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, Prof Hall is smartly dressed and research papers are laid out across his desk. But a quick scan of his office hints at a more adventurous, IndianaJones-like side to his scientific career: tribal artifacts and images reflect his global hunt for viruses among some of the world’s most remote populations.

Hall, a native of Co Down, was the first person to identify Human Tlymphotrophic virus type II (HTLV-II) in a human population. Since then he has tracked subtypes of the retrovirus in regions as far apart as the Amazon and Outer Mongolia. He has also used his knowledge of HTLV infection to develop a transgenic model for leukaemia.

It all started when he was in Cornell in the early 1990s, looking at HIVinfection rates in intravenous drug users in New York City. A significant proportion of the drug users appeared to be carrying another, unidentified virus and many researchers assumed it was HTLV-I. “I developed a method to isolate the other virus,” explained Prof Hall.

“We looked at its genetic material and realised it wasn’t HTLV-I, it was

HTLV-II. Twenty percent of the drug users had it.”

His lab characterised the HTLV-II virus – another world first – and found two subtypes, which they named IIa and IIb. The burning question was: where had the virus come from? Finding out required a bit of detective work.

As he explained, the origin had to be ancient, and this helped narrow down his target. “I figured the only ancient population in North America is American Indians.”

This led him on a quest to collect and analyse blood samples from North American Indians living in reservations. He discovered the Indian groups had both HTLV-IIa and IIb, but contact with outside populations made it unclear whether the virus was of Indian origin or associated with drug use.

It was time to dig deeper and find more isolated populations. Hall headed to Colombia to test among the Wayuu Indians and found they had only HTLV-IIb, no IIa at all.

His discovery sparked a rush among researchers to test other South American Indian groups, and subsequent studies confirmed that HTLV-II is a natural infection of Native Indians.

The origins had to be ancient so the search for virus subtypes led into remote areas SCIENCE SPIN Issue 20 Page 55

Prof Hall took things a step further. “We wanted to look at more remote populations. So I decided to go to the Amazon, but it was very difficult because you can’t just walk in there.” He had to secure government permission and translators, and organise transport by boat or rented Cessna planes to reach remote groups of 100-300 Indians living deep in the Amazon rainforest.

He noted that while certain populations were elegant and sophisticated, some of these groups were almost Stone Age: “Some had little infrastructure and were impoverished. Many did not live beyond ages 35-40 because of recurrent diseases such as malaria.”

Prof Hall laughs about it now, but some of the journeys were hair-raising: “We had to bring our own fuel, so we’d strip the Cessnas out and put in big plastic barrels. Stuff was flying all over the place, it was really bumpy, terrifying.”

Once there safely, getting permission to take blood samples could also prove tricky. At night the scientists and the translator would meet with the chief and tribesmen in the pitch blackness of a central hut to negotiate. “It could go on for hours and sometimes you wouldn’t get permission until the second day.

Then everyone would line up and you would draw samples and we’d take them back and process them.”

When his group analysed the virus they isolated from the Amazon tribes, they found it was unusual.

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“Genetically was HTLV-IIa, but in terms of its protein, it was HTLVIIb, so it was a mixture. It turned out to be HTLV-II type c, the third type.”

They went on to find more type IIc in Sao Paolo among injecting drug users and women prisoners, indicating that the virus had spread out from the rainforest, probably through contact between indigenous peoples and miners.

Distinct geographical infection patterns were emerging among the Native Americans: HTLV-IIa and IIb in North America, and IIb and IIc in South America.

Prof Hall’s group used the viral distribution data to analyse Indian ancestry. “By identifying different subtypes of HTLV-II in communities in Brazil, Central America, Argentina, Colombia and North America, we were able to track the migration of their ancestors, which was very interesting.”

Then it was time to delve further into the past. “We looked at the genetics of the Mongolian groups and the South American Indians and we found they had a common ancestry.

They probably crossed the Bering Strait 20,000-30,000 years ago when it was a land mass.” So, the researchers decided to go to Outer Mongolia.

Again, the expedition proved eventful, involving long journeys over the country in an old military helicopter. Hall’s group found HTLV-I among remote peoples in Mongolia,

HTLV is a retrovirus, and as the retro part of the name suggests, it transcribes its RNA code back into DNA. Usually RNA is just the messenger, carrying a copy of the code given to it by DNA, but in the case of a retrovirus the process is reversed. When a retrovirus infects a host cell, reverse transcriptase transcribes the viral RNA to DNA, which is then integrated into the host’s genome.

Samples were collected only after long hours of negotiations. but no HTLV-II. Not finding HTLV-II was significant, as it suggested an American origin.

As well as conducting viral anthropology studies, Prof. Hall has focused on the clinical aspects of HTLV-I, which is associated with an aggressive leukaemia.

HTLV-I infection is endemic in certain regions of the world, including south-west Japan and areas of the Caribbean and Africa. Around 20 million people are infected worldwide,

yet most display no obvious short-term symptoms. However, between two and five percent eventually develop an aggressive form of leukaemia called Adult T-cell Leukaemia/Lymphoma (ATLL). It is possible that the virus has an influence on the development of this disease.

A viral regulatory protein, Tax, has been found to play a central role in the development of ATLL by upsetting the transcription of genes involved in cell cycle control, cell proliferation and cell death (apoptosis). Prof Hall’s group used this knowledge to induce symptoms similar to ATLL in mice, specially bred in the lab to express the Tax protein. By observing these mice scientists are likely to find out how the disease develops in humans.

“I think it’s important because even though the leukaemia only occurs in these individuals, if you can figure that leukaemia out you better understand other leukemias and other forms of cancer,” explained Prof.

Hall.

Bob Gallo, who discovered HTLVs-I and II recently described Prof. Hall as the world authority on HTLV II: a fitting accolade for a researcher who has literally gone to the ends of the Earth in search of the virus.

Claire O’Connell has a doctorate in biology from UCD and is a science writer.

Retrovirus Human T-lymphotrophic viruses (HTLVs) make up a family of human retroviruses that includes the AIDS virus, HIV. US virologist Professor Robert Gallo discovered the first three types of HTLV. In the 1970s, Gallo was looking for a link between viruses and leukemia in humans. Back then, his work was met with skepticism. “It was a very unpopular idea at that time, but we kept looking for these viruses in spite

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of many punches in the nose,” he explained recently at the ‘HIV in the New Millennium’ conference at UCD. In 1981, Gallo’s perseverance paid off: he isolated HTLV-I in human T-cells from a leukaemia patient. He also discovered the closely-related HTLV-II and identified HTLV-III, later renamed HIV.

Ireland funds great research Maybe it’s your turn.

Science Foundation Ireland, (SFI) the national foundation for excellence in scientific research is investing in academic researchers and research teams who are most likely to generate new knowledge, leading edge technologies, and competitive enterprises.

SFI has a flexible grants and awards portfolio and several times a year issues calls for proposals from scientists and engineers. SFI also accepts unsolicited proposals throughout the year.

Principal Investigator Programme for outstanding researchers, normally ranging between 50,000 250,000 per year for a three to four year period.

Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) linking academic and industrial researchers together on high-end research programmes, grants ranging up to 20 million over five years.

Strategic Research Clusters (SRCs) will create clusters of internationally-competitive researchers from academia and industry, particularly Irish-based industry. Grants will be for three years normally range from 500,000 to 1.5 million per year.

Research Professor Recruitment Awards for outstanding researchers, with particularly distinguished international reputations, awards normally ranging up to 500,000 per annum for up to two years.

Research Frontiers Programme (RFP) supporting all areas of high-quality, novel exploratory research in the third-level sector, normally ranging up to 150,000 over three years.

E.T.S. Walton Visitor Awards supporting leading international scientists who visit Ireland to undertake research for up to one year, normally ranging up to 200,000.

President of Ireland Young Research Awards (PIYRA) attracting to Ireland and supporting Irish researchers within five years of completing their Ph.D., normally up to 1 million over five years.

Undergraduate Research Experience & Knowledge Award (UREKA) supports active research participation by undergraduate students during the Summer.

Secondary Teacher Assistant Researchers (STARs) supports second-level teachers in conducting research in Irish laboratories during summers.

Workshops and Conference Grants supporting significant scientific meetings taking place in Ireland, involving Irish scientists and research bodies.

Apply for an SFI award or learn more about our programmes at www.sfi.ie

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Science Foundation Ireland Wilton Park House, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland tel +353 1 607 3200 fax +353 1 607 3201 email info@sfi.ie www.sfi.ie

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Come to The Discover Science & Engineering Stand at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition at the RDS on 11 - 13 January 2007.

The Discover Science & Engineering stand will host a number of interactive activities related to the exciting world of nanotechnology.

Why not visit the NanoQuest Game Lounge, make a Buckyball, experience the Three Drops nano exhibit, or make a nano tube in the K’NEX Workshop?