International Women’s Day Event

International Women’s Day is a global day of celebration that takes place every year on 8th March to recognise the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The campaign theme for International Women’s Day 2024 is Inspire Inclusion, where everyone is invited to imagine a gender equal world that is free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. UCD College of Science is committed to creating a welcoming and supportive culture for all women, inclusive of all races, sexualities, ages, abilities, faiths and how they identify.

On March 8th we invite UCD community members to join us for an event to celebrate the achievements of women in the college, with cake and refreshments.

The event will also launch our ‘UCD College of Science Women in Science Mentoring Awards’. The UCD College of Science Women in Science Mentoring Awards recognizes mentors whose efforts have encouraged and supported women and/or girls, or other people who are currently underrepresented in the UCD College of Science. Mentoring efforts may be demonstrated in many ways and we leave it up to you to tell us why you have made this nomination.

If you have experienced or observed excellence in the mentoring of women in science, you can nominate someone to be recognised with an award by completing our online google form. Nominations will remain open until one week prior to the event.

Please help us to spread the word by sharing this event to your friends and colleagues in UCD. We look forward to seeing you on the 8th to celebrate International Women’s Day and the achievements of our wonderful mentors in the college!

Rainbow Week Coffee Morning

We are delighted to let you know that UCD College of Science is collaborating with UCD EDI and the UCD EDI LGBTI Subgroup to hold a coffee morning to celebrate rainbow week on campus. This is an excellent opportunity for our college to formally ‘come out’ in support of our LGBTI+ colleagues and students, and for students and staff to come together to promote an accepting and supporting culture around sexuality and gender on campus. Celebrating Pride affirms the value of LGBTI+ visibility, allyship, and inclusion in fostering UCD’s values of collegiality and diversity.
The coffee morning will take place on Thursday 22 February from 11.00am until 12.00noon in Zone 7 of Science East in the UCD O’Brien Centre for Science, which is the 2nd floor atrium by the staircase. There will be cake and refreshments, as well as fun pride goodies and speeches.
This is an opportunity to stand in solidarity with LGBTI+ people in Ireland against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, and to expand dialogue between UCD community members for how we can foster greater inclusion of LGBTI+ employees and students.
Please help us promote the event by sharing our poster with students in the college, as well as your friends and colleagues at UCD.
We also hope to see you there!

Faculty Promotions Workshop

On Wednesday 7 February we held our second workshop on Faculty Promotions at UCD. 45 assistant professors from across the College of Science came together to demystify the faculty promotions committee and discuss advice and guidance for going through the faculty promotions process.

We were delighted to welcome Ms Sarah Dunne from UCD HR Promotions and Grading, who delivered a highly informative presentation outlining the administrative components of application process. Sarah has kindy shared her slides with us, which you can find here on our website.

We were also joined by Professor Danielle Clarke, aformer member of the Faculty Promotions Committee (FPC), who shared valuable insights into the function of the FPC in the application process, and offered useful advice for assistant professors thinking of applying for promotion soon.

Following the talks, attendees shared a sandwich lunch together, and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to network and socialize with other assistant professors in the College of Science. Sarah and Danielle kindly stayed to answer questions, and we are grateful that they were so generous with their time.

 

January Postdoc Coffee

Yesterday around 15 postdocs from across UCD College of Science made time in their morning to connect together over coffee and pastries for the first College of Science Postdoc Coffee morning of 2024. The School of Biology and Environmental Science kindly hosted the event, with refreshments provided by the Culturally Responsive Mentoring team.

It was a lovely opportunity for postdocs to reconnect with each other after the Christmas and New Year break, and the busy start to the spring trimester.

The next postdoc coffee morning will be hosted by the School of Chemistry in March, so stay tuned for details to be confirmed soon.

Postdoc Coffee Mornings are back!

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.

Promotions Workshop for Assistant Professors

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.

Successful launch of new College of Science Postdoc Coffees

Following the success of the Culturally Responsive Mentoring Postdoctoral Coffee Meetups that took place for postdocs in the College of Science over the summer, the CoS EDI Committee and the Culturally Responsive Mentoring team are keeping the momentum alive with a new rotating coffee morning for postdocs in the College. Every two months during the academic term, a different school in the college will play host to postdocs from across the college for informal mentoring and light refreshments.

The School of Computer Science were the first to host the rotating, networking coffees. The first event took place on Monday, 4th December at 10:30 am in the school of computer science, with tea, coffee, and refreshments. As it is the festive period in the lead-up to Christmas, there were plenty of delicious mince pies and chocolate treats for everyone to enjoy, while a playlist of everyone’s favourite Christmas tunes played in the background. The morning provided a fantastic chance for postdocs to connect with new and old friends, to maintain connections made over the summer and to get to know others throughout the college that they had not previously collaborated with.

In the new year, other schools will take their turn to host the event, so keep an eye on the College of Science EDI website for more details on the next coffee in January!

 

Photos from our Promotions Workshop

On Monday, 13th November – despite the unpleasant conditions brought by Storm Debi – we were delighted to host an informal discussion around the University’s Academic Promotions process; with valuable input from colleagues who have journeyed through the system and those currently engaging with the process.

We plan to hold an in-depth information session with colleagues from UCD Promotions and Grading and a former member of the Faculty Promotions Committee in early T2 2024.  Notification of the date will be sent as soon as possible.

Faculty Promotions Workshop for Assistant Professors

This upcoming meeting will focus on Faculty Promotions at UCD. During our 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.

Success of the 1st Pint of Postdoc

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!