After a successful run of rotating postdoc coffee mornings hosted by 4 schools in UCD College of Science, the School of Physics are pleased to host a one-off summer coffee morning for postdocs in August.

The event promises to be an excellent opportunity for postdocs throughout UCD College of Science to reconnect at the end of the summer, and share plans for the upcoming academic year. Refreshments will be kindly provided by the School of Physics.

We look forward to welcoming you to the event, and please share widely with all of your postdoc colleagues and friends in UCD College of Science.

UCD College of Science will be celebrating LGBT+ Pride month with a Pride celebration event on Friday 14 June at 11am in the 4th floor atrium of UCD O’Brien Centre for Science.

The event promises to be an enjoyable morning where you can pick up rainbow flags and other goodies to celebrate LGBT+ visibility and inclusion in the college. We will have lots of treats to share with you, including a Pride cake, cupcakes, teas and coffees, and there will be a Purl Jam craft table to make your own rainbow creations.

The event is being organised by the College of Science EDI committee and will be opened by College Principal Professor Jeremy Simpson. The morning will include short speeches from staff and students in the college reflecting on the importance of Pride and LGBT+ inclusion in science.

Please put the event in your diary if you can join us, and invite your colleagues. We look forward to seeing you there to celebrate our LGBT+ peers!

In March around 15 postdocs from across UCD College of Science made time in their morning to connect together over coffee and pastries for the third in our College of Science Postdoc Coffee morning 2023-24 rotating coffee series. The School of Chemistry did an excellent job at hosting the event, with refreshments provided by the Culturally Responsive Mentoring team.

The event gave postdocs an opportunity to meet over the UCD break period to celebrate St Patrick’s day and reflect on the successes of the spring trimester so far.

The next postdoc coffee morning will be hosted by the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science later in the trimester, so stay tuned for details to be confirmed soon.

We are thrilled to report on the success of the first UCD College of Science Women in Science Mentoring Awards that took place on March 8th, International Women’s Day 2024. The initiative was organised by UCD College of Science’s Culturally Responsive Mentoring team, spearheaded by Vice President for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in the College of Science, Associate Professor Catherine Mooney, along with Dr Andrew McCartan from UCD School of Computer Science and Maeve O’Connell, Senior Project Officer in the College of Science.

The Women in Science Mentoring awards acknowledge mentors in the college whose efforts have fostered encouragement and support for women, girls, and other underrepresented individuals within the UCD College of Science community. A nominations process earlier in the year invited staff and students to nominate colleagues, mentors, teachers, and staff who had shown excellence in mentoring. In total, 21 certificates were awarded to the following winners:

The awards were presented to recipients during a special ceremony held on International Women’s Day in the O’Brien Centre for Science, which was beautifully decorated with purple and white balloons and bunting for the occasion. Associate Dean of Science and Associate Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Tara McMorrow opened the ceremony with a rousing speech advocating for the inclusion and encouragement for success of women and girls in science, before handing out the certificates.

Students and staff from throughout the college gathered to celebrate the success of those receiving the awards. International Women’s day cakes and cupcakes were shared, along with tea and coffee. Finally, all award recipients were entered into a prize draw for a 50 euro one4all gift voucher.

Over the course of the trimester the College of Science EDI committee and Culturally Responsive Mentoring initiative are facilitating a rotating coffee morning for postdocs and research staff in the college, to take place roughly once a month.

The School of Chemistry is delighted to host next coffee morning for postdocs.

This will take place on Thursday 21st March from 10.30am-11.30am in the 2nd Floor Foyer of Science South.

Please come along and bring along other postdocs from your school. Looking forward to seeing many of you there.

After the success of our postdoc coffees over summer 2023, we are delighted to announce that we will be continuing to organise coffee mornings for postdocs over the course of the spring trimester 2024. The coffee mornings will rotate between the schools of the college, and will take place roughly once a month to bring together postdocs from across the college.

The School of Biology and Environmental Science will host the January coffee morning for postdocs. This will take place on Monday 29th January from 10.30am-11.30am in the 3rd Floor Kitchen of Science East.

Please come along if you are a postdoc, and help us to spread the word to postdocs in the college!

Looking forward to seeing many of you there.

On Wednesday 7 February we will be holding our second workshop on Faculty Promotions at UCD. During this hour long workshop from 12-1pm, we will hear from a member of the Promotions and Grading Team as well as a former member of the Faculty Promotions Committee. Ms Sarah Dunne, UCD HR Promotions and Grading will deliver a short presentation outlining the administrative components of application process.  Professor Danielle Clarke, former member of the Faculty Promotions Committee (FPC), will then offer insights and advice on the function of the FPC in the application process.

This event will provide an occasion for you to learn valuable information and insights about the Promotions process within the University, including timescale, reviewer requirements, etc.

Following the workshop, attendees are invited to share a sandwich lunch together, as an opportunity to network and socialize with other assistant professors in the College of Science.

If you are planning on attending, please make sure that you sign up through our google sign-up sheet.

We are happy to share photographs and feedback from the Pint of Postdoc that we supported to recognize and celebrate the hard work and contribution of postdoctoral researchers to academic research and teaching at UCD. The event was co-organised and co-funded by the CHAS Postdoc Forum and the EDI committees of the College of Science, College of Engineering and Architecture, and College of Health and Agricultural Sciences

54 postdocs representing 15 schools from across the three colleges attended the event, which saw 8 speakers from the College of Science compete against 1 from CHAS and 1 from CoEA. All 10 speakers were given the remit of presenting about any area of interest for 5 minutes with 5 minutes for questions. Some chose to talk about their research while others presented their research journeys or discussed postdoc life.

Audience members voted for their favourite talks and the top three received prizes (one-4-all vouchers worth €150, €100, and €50). All speakers received certificates acknowledging their contribution to the event and all attendees received refreshment vouchers.

It is hoped that the event will be repeated during the academic year – so watch this space for more information!