Sligo school's commitment to STEM strikes national gold
This national award, presented by Research Ireland and supported by the Department of Further and Higher Education, celebrates the outstanding efforts of 397 schools across Ireland in promoting hands-on, curiosity-led STEM learning. The Gold Award is presented to schools that have integrated STEM into at least half of their classes.
Throughout the year, pupils have explored biodiversity, conducted design-and-make challenges, tackled real-world problems, and engaged in creative STEM projects that brought learning to life.
Teacher Ms. McIntyre lead the coordination of the initiative with the help of other staff and the enthusiastic pupils whose hard work made this possible.
'This achievement reflects our school's growing culture of innovation and learning, and we are delighted to be part of a national effort to inspire the next generation of problem-solvers and innovators,' said a spokesperson.
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Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Irish Independent
Sligo school's commitment to STEM strikes national gold
This national award, presented by Research Ireland and supported by the Department of Further and Higher Education, celebrates the outstanding efforts of 397 schools across Ireland in promoting hands-on, curiosity-led STEM learning. The Gold Award is presented to schools that have integrated STEM into at least half of their classes. Throughout the year, pupils have explored biodiversity, conducted design-and-make challenges, tackled real-world problems, and engaged in creative STEM projects that brought learning to life. Teacher Ms. McIntyre lead the coordination of the initiative with the help of other staff and the enthusiastic pupils whose hard work made this possible. 'This achievement reflects our school's growing culture of innovation and learning, and we are delighted to be part of a national effort to inspire the next generation of problem-solvers and innovators,' said a spokesperson.
Irish Times
10-06-2025
- Irish Times
Impact of AI on Ireland's energy demands ‘not going to be as steep' as feared
The impact of the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) on Ireland's energy demands is 'not going to be as steep as many people believe', Research Ireland has told an Oireachtas committee. Research Ireland, which was established last year by an amalgamation of Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council, was before the newly formed Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence on Tuesday. The International Energy Agency expects data centres to consume close to a third of total electricity in Ireland by 2026. They used about 22 per cent of all metered electricity here in 2024, according to Central Statistics Office data. The current boom in AI is rapidly fuelling increased need for data centre capacity, as AI relies on vast consumption of data, and, by extension, energy. A ChatGPT query is said to consume 10 times more electricity than a Google search. READ MORE [ Data centres accounted for more than fifth of Ireland's electricity usage last year Opens in new window ] Asked about the need for more data centres and the impact of this on resources, Ciarán Seoighe, deputy chief executive of Research Ireland, said a price 'will have to be paid', but that evidence is emerging it may not be 'as steep' as current projections suggest. 'The projections are based on a straight line increase or even a curve up increase in the energy demands, but already we are seeing in the research area examples where that is not only deflected down, but hopefully even pivoted down,' he said. 'I'm not going to say this is a problem that is going to disappear, but I expect it to be less demanding than what the current projections would be. It is still a huge consumption of resources, not just of electricity. 'It's not going to go away. We are going to have to pay for this in some sense, but I don't think the penalty is going to be as steep as many people believe.' Separately, Mr Seoighe said he had concerns over the 'dominance of Big Tech' and the resources multinational companies have to invest in AI, which could leave state actors playing catch-up. 'There was talk at one point of a CERN [the European Organisation for Nuclear Research] for AI, because, as a small state, we are not at that level where we can invest the many, many millions required to be able to do this level of research,' he said. 'But, if at a European level, we had a large scale centralised investment, of which we could be a part, then we have the scale and the power to do real research in the area, and stay ahead of the curve.' Research Ireland's Susan Leavy, who is also an assistant professor with the School of Information and Communication Studies at UCD, said the issue that 'keeps me awake at night' is the use of AI by 'pernicious actors' to influence political viewpoints and elections. 'You have that possibility for pernicious actors to interfere [and] generate loads of AI content, and it could be super personalised to sway people's beliefs, voting patterns, polarise people, and that undermines democracy,' she said. 'The AI-generated content on social media hasn't yet been shown to have had an effect in elections. However, what we do know is the political polarisation in society coincides with the proliferation of the recommender algorithms.'
Irish Times
04-06-2025
- Irish Times
I am often asked by students how to plan for a career in research. I tell them to move abroad
In the 1940s, the USA began recruiting the best scientists they could attract from Europe. Oppenheimer's Trinity test in New Mexico was undeniable proof of science's essential role in competitiveness and defence. Since the second World War, the USA has viewed science as an existential priority. They understood that their position was predicated on being at the frontier of key emerging technologies – a view which has been vindicated by the space race, the internet, mRNA vaccines and artificial intelligence. The results are clear. By 1920, Germany had accrued more Nobel Prizes than any other country. But since 1945, the USA has won more Nobel Prizes in the sciences (physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine), than any other country, by an enormous margin. The USA is credited with 310 Nobel laureates in science, with the UK in second place at 89 and Germany at 71. Of those who did their work in the USA, over a third were scientists who migrated to America. Competitive science requires competitive individuals who know no borders, and raise the standard of research in their environment. Minister for Higher Education and Research James Lawless recently outlined a bold vision to attract top US-based academics to Ireland through our new national funding agency, Research Ireland. This ambition signals a real desire for Ireland to become an international leader in science and innovation. But excellent science requires two things: talent and money. Europe has no choice but to view research and innovation as fundamental to our competitiveness and security Research is expensive, and the US government has invested nearly $200 billion a year into research and development, including about $50 billion to the National Institute of Health (NIH), the world's leading funder of all biomedical research. The USA has also reaped the economic benefits. A recent analysis shows those grants supported 407,782 jobs and $95 billion in new economic activity in 2024. That translates to a return on investment of $2.56 for every $1 in grant funding. READ MORE Now the world is shifting. The Trump administration is engaged in a co-ordinated attack on science; by drastically cutting government research support , directly attacking universities, marginalising international scientists and students, and dismissing scientific facts . The long-term outcomes are unclear, but many US-based academics are looking for alternatives . In a recent poll by Nature, more than 1,200 scientists – three quarters of all respondents – said they were considering leaving the US, with most looking to Europe or Canada. The scientific world is also shifting, and we may soon be approaching an Oppenheimer moment in artificial intelligence at a time where European security is under threat from Russia. Europe has no choice but to view research and innovation as fundamental to our competitiveness and security. Ireland has plenty to offer the scientific world. Our assets include a liberal university environment, a large number of professional researchers and crucially a constant stream of bright, adaptable and hard-working research students. Ireland also has a strong scientific diaspora, of which many individuals are luminaries of their fields. However, Ireland did not manage to benefit from the wave of academics who left the UK after Brexit. And that's at least partly connected to what's missing: a predictable supply of competitive, indigenous research funding. Ireland cannot compete with the USA – but Europe can, and Ireland has the opportunity to lead a new generation of European research by acting quickly Recruitment of international scientists needs to be coupled with a revitalisation of our domestic research base and university infrastructure. Research funding, previously through Science Foundation Ireland, led to Ireland's scientific renaissance of the late 1990s and early 2000s. But we never quite emerged as a European leader due to the financial crisis of 2008. In 2023, an open letter by 2,000 members of the academic community noted that 'Ireland is at real risk of being overtaken by other EU member states as they invest more in their research and innovation systems'. This is an understatement. Eurostat data shows that Ireland's research expenditure as a proportion of GDP lags well behind Italy, Spain and Poland. We spend under 1.2 per cent of GDP on research, substantially behind the EU average of 2.3 per cent. A similar picture is seen with the more accurate metric of research expenditure per inhabitant , where Ireland contributes under €200 per person per year, well below the European average of €275 per person, and just behind Italy at €230. In contrast, Denmark spends €555 per person per year, on par with the USA. The solution is obvious. While visiting Dublin in March 2025 , the president of the EU's premier funding agency the European Research Council (ERC), Maria Leptin, recommended to the Taoiseach that the Government should triple the budget of Research Ireland to a total of €1 billion per year. Such an investment would rapidly transform Ireland into a European leader in science and research, and create a world-leading research environment that would benefit our own graduates and attract international scientists. This would force us to improve the living standards and support for PhD students, particularly in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Ireland cannot compete with the USA – but Europe can, and Ireland has the opportunity to lead a new generation of European research by acting quickly. This would attract further European investment, for example the ERC has created a €500 million package for recruiting top international researchers to EU member states. [ 'Don't come to Ireland': PhD researchers offer advice to US colleagues Opens in new window ] What are we missing out on by not increasing our research funding to internationally competitive standards? Apart from boosting the quality of our universities, we are losing out on economic returns such as the vibrant biotechnology and applied science clusters that naturally build up around centres of research excellence such as Basle, Zurich, Vienna, Cambridge, and Copenhagen. Domestically, we should aspire to the best outcomes seen in smaller European countries. Fintan O'Toole recently observed that Denmark is a global hub for clinical research and Ireland isn't . With proper investment in science, the halo effect on industry could help Ireland transition from a manufacturer of other people's drugs to a hub of innovation where new drugs and treatments can be invented, tested and owned. Science and research represent a public good that allows us to nurture the potential of our young people. When I lecture at Trinity I am often asked by eager students about how to plan for a research career. They are usually disappointed when I say they should plan to move abroad. We have the opportunity and means to change that. Tomás Ryan is professor in Neuroscience at the school of Biochemistry & Immunology at Trinity College Dublin
