Watch Peter Sutherland’s keynote speech at the launch of the Undergraduate Awards’ 2010 programme:

Peter Sutherland’s keynote speech

President praises validity of work by undergraduates by Paul Cullen

(The Irish Times, October 21, 2009)

TRINITY COLLEGE Dublin and UCD together accounted for more than half the winners in the inaugural Undergraduate Awards of Ireland, presented yesterday by President Mary McAleese.

Some 41 students from seven third-level colleges collected the awards, set up to recognise the best undergraduate project work throughout the island.

The winners included 13 students from Trinity, 11 from UCD, six from NUI Galway and five from UCC. The University of Limerick claimed three awards and NUI Maynooth two, while one student from Queen’s University Belfast was honoured.

President McAleese said the awards marked an important step forward in acknowledging the role played by undergraduates in advancing Ireland’s ambition to be not just a smart economy but a just, decent and sophisticated society.

“These awards encourage our top undergraduates to believe in the validity of their work and in their entitlement to a public place of respect within scholarly discourse,” she said.

The winners were selected through an academic review process by 33 separate panels made up of academics and industry professionals.

More than 1,600 submissions were received in total across disciplines as diverse as chemistry, economics, linguistics, medicine, natural science, business and engineering. They were sponsored by a number of organisations, including The Irish Times.

The winners each received a gold medal and their winning essays will be published in an annual journal.

Trinity Undergraduate Students Prevail at First Undergraduate Awards of Ireland

(Trinity College, University of Dublin, October 30, 2009)

Trinity College undergraduate students received 13 of the 41 gold medals at the Undergraduate Awards of Ireland presented by President McAleese recently (20th October).  The awards, which are open to undergraduates from Irish universities, aim to recognise and reward Ireland’s most innovative young minds.

The winners were selected through an academic review process by 33 separate panels made up of leading figures from across Irish academia, the public, private and citizen sector.  This year over 1,600 submissions were received made up of papers, essays and dissertations produced as part of normal course work during each academic year.  In addition to receiving a gold medal for their submissions each students winning essays will be published in an annual journal.

During her presentation President McAleese said: “These awards encourage our top undergraduates to believe in the validity of their work and in their entitlement to a public place of respect within scholarly discourse.”  President McAleese also acknowledged the role played by undergraduates in advancing Ireland’s ambition to be not just a smart economy but a just, decent and sophisticated society.

The 13 TCD winners were: Emer Walshe, Dental Science; Ciara Barrett, Drama. Film & Music; Michael Curran, Economics; Tim McInerney, English; Darren Fitzpatrick, Genetics; Thomas Morris, Philosophy; Clíodhna O’Connor, Psychology; Eimhin Walsh, Religion; Anne Byrne, Business; Grainne Conroy, Business; Megan Huxhold, Business; Erika Dowling, Linguistics and Melanie Hayes, Classics.

The Undergraduate Awards of Ireland were established on 29th October 2008 and in its inaugural year it received submissions from disciplines as diverse as chemistry, economics, linguistics, drama and business to name but a few.  The winners included 13 students from TCD, 11 from UCD, six from NUI Galway, five from UCC, three from UL, two from NUI Maynooth and one from QUB.  They were each commended for their achievement at an award ceremony in the Royal Irish Academy.

UCD students scoop 1 in 4 undergraduate awards of Ireland

(University College Dublin, October 22, 2009)

UCD students won 11 of the 41 Undergraduate Awards of Ireland presented by the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. More than 1,600 undergraduates from universities across Ireland submitted papers, essays and dissertations produced as a normal part of their academic course work in the hope of winning one of the prestigious awards.

The winners were selected through an academic review process by 33 separate panels made up of academics and industry professionals. Each of the winners received a gold medal and their winning essays will be published in an annual journal.

The 11 prize-winning UCD students include: Mark Canavan (Politics), Peter Dunne (Law), Yvonne O’Reilly (Sociology), Julie Clarke (Engineering), Eva Darulova (Computer Science), Claire Fitzsimons (Agriculture), Laura Hannigan (Engineering), Maria Jarosinski (Nursing), Brian Mac Grory (Medicine and Health Sciences), Lynne O’Shea (Pharmacology), and Niamh Parkinson (Biochemistry).

“These awards encourage our top undergraduates to believe in the validity of their work and in their entitlement to a public place of respect within scholarly discourse,” said President of Ireland, Mary McAleese who presented the awards.

According to President McAleese, the awards marked an important step forward in acknowledging the role played by undergraduates in advancing Ireland’s ambition to be not just a smart economy but a just, decent, and sophisticated society.

The awards recognise and reward Ireland’s most innovative young knowledge creators. The idea is to ultimately enhance Ireland’s prospects of becoming a leading global knowledge economy by creating an entirely new and unique set of incentives and rewards for undergraduates.

The inaugural award ceremony for the Undergraduate Awards of Ireland took place at the Royal Irish Academy on 20th October 2009.

Trinity students honoured at undergraduate awards by Matthew Pilkington

(Trinity News, October 2009)

The 2009 Irish Undergraduates Awards ceremony took place recently in the Royal Irish Academy. Forty-one students from seven Irish universities were presented with awards by President Mary McAleese. The Awards marked the acknowledgement of the best undergraduate project work produced this year across Ireland.

Trinity College Dublin students scored the highest number of awards overall, picking up 13 awards out of a possible 41. UCD students received a total of 11 awards (unlucky). Other Universities that fared well in the competition included NUI Galway, University College Cork, University of Limerick, NUI Maynooth and Queen’s University Belfast.

The Undergraduate Awards of Ireland were established last year to “recognise and reward Ireland’s most innovative young knowledge creators, to catalyse the development of the brightest undergraduates, and to inspire all undergraduates to achieve”. The awards are open to undergraduates across the island of Ireland’s nine universities. Submissions are drawn from papers, essays and dissertations produced as a normal part of coursework during each academic year.

This year, more than 1600 submissions were received in total across disciplines as diverse as chemistry, economics, linguistics, medicine, natural science, business and engineering. After a lengthy selection process only 614 submissions were shortlisted for the final round of judging. Of these, 121 submissions came from Trinity students, including SF BESS student Alex Mann’s essay on corporate social responsibility entitled “Business for Others”.

The winners were then selected through an academic review process by 33 separate panels made up of academics and industry professionals.

Trinity’s Winners were as follows: Ciara Barrett in Drama, Film and Music; Anne Byrne in Business; Grainne Conroy in Business; Michael Curran in Economics; Erika Dowling in Linguistics; Melanie Hayes in Classics; Megan Huxhold in Business; Michael McInerney in English; Thomas Morris in Philosophy; Eimhin Walsh in Religion, Theology and Ecumenics; Darren Fitzpatrick in Genetics and Microbiology; Cliodhna O’Connor in Psychology; Emer Walshe in Dental Science.
The Provost congratulated Trinity’s 13 winning students, stating: “The high standard of work produced by these undergraduate students is a clear illustration of both the quality of teaching and learning across all faculties and the calibre of our students.” He added that “our students should be very proud of their achievement.” The winners each received a gold medal and their winning essays will be published in an annual journal.

UCD students scoop prizes at Undergrad Awards by Jack Horgan-Jones

(The University Observer, October 27, 2009)

UCD students claimed 11 of the 41 awards at the inaugural Irish Undergraduate Awards held last Tuesday, 20th October. President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, presented the students with their gold medals for excellence in their respective fields at the Royal Irish Academy on Dublin’s Dawson St.

The winners were selected through academic review process by 33 separate panels made up of academics and industry professionals. Each applicant submitted an essay or dissertation, originally prepared as coursework for an undergraduate programme, for review. Each of the winners received a gold medal, and their winning essays are to be published in an annual journal.

Winners from UCD came from a variety of faculties and schools ranging from Medicine to Law. Mark Canavan and Yvonne O’Reilly claimed awards for Arts and Humanities with essays for Politics and Sociology respectively. Health Sciences were also represented, by Brian MacGrory in Medicine and by Maria Jorsinski in Nursing.

Engineering prizes were claimed by Julie Clarke and Laura Hannigan, while Science prizes were won by Eva Darulova in Computer Science, Lynne O’Shea in Pharmacology and Niamh Parkinson of Biochemistry. Claire Fitzsimons also won for an essay in Agriculture, and Peter Dunne claimed an award in Law.

Presenting the awards, President McAleese had encouraging words for the various winners. “These awards encourage our top undergraduates to believe in the validity of their work and in their entitlement to a public place of respect within scholarly discourse.”

According to the President, the awards marked an important step forward in acknowledging the role played by undergraduates in advancing Ireland’s ambition to be not just a smart economy but a just, decent, and sophisticated society.

The Irish Undergraduate Awards were instituted last year, and recognise and reward Ireland’s most innovative young knowledge creators. The motive behind the awards is to enhance Ireland’s prospects of becoming a leading global knowledge economy by creating an entirely new and unique set of incentives and rewards for undergraduates.

A spokesperson for UCD stated that the University was “proud of the achievements of the 11 UCD undergraduate students who won Undergraduate Awards of Ireland.”

Dentistry student receives Undergraduate Award

(irishdentist.ie, November 3, 2009)

Trinity Dental Science student Emer Walshe was among the 41 gold medal winners at the inaugural Undergraduate Awards of Ireland.

Presenting the medals to the students at an award ceremony in the Royal Irish Academy, President McAleese said: ‘These awards encourage our top undergraduates to believe in the validity of their work and in their entitlement to a public place of respect within scholarly discourse.’

President McAleese also acknowledged the role played by undergraduates in advancing Ireland’s ambition to be not just a smart economy but also a just, decent and sophisticated society.

In addition to receiving a gold medal for her submission, Emer’s essay, entitled ‘Discuss the aetiology and management of gingival hyperplasia in organ transplant patients’, will be published in an annual journal.

The awards, which are open to undergraduates from Irish universities, aim to recognise and reward Ireland’s most innovative young minds.  This year over 1,600 submissions were received made up of papers, essays and dissertations produced as part of normal course work during each academic year.