Freak waves – using maths to understand weather conditions
When German cargo vessel, the MS München, disappeared beneath the ocean waves on a voyage to the US in 1978 not much was known about rogue waves. Investigations into the sinking of the ship theorised that it was caused by...
Shark conservation – preserving Ireland’s unique species
Irish scientists are lobbying the EU to protect a unique species of shark in Irish waters following eye-opening research on the relatively unknown predator. Juno McEnroe (BA 2000) learns from Dr Stefano Mariani how researchers spent several years...
Preserving Ireland's folklore tradition - UCD collections on display
While history tends to deal with the broad sweep of social and political events that have shaped a nation, folklore is more concerned with the stories, traditions, and popular beliefs that define its people...
The sum of all parts - Systems biology at UCD
It’s usually easier to understand a situation when you get a wider perspective on it. A bit like stepping back and seeing the entire wood rather than an individual tree: the workings of the entire forest can seem vast, but they make more sense...
CLARITY-Disney research to revolutionise sports broadcasting
From high-end bespoke broadcasting to sports visualisation and match analysis, the potential of a new Disney-CLARITY research collaboration are far-reaching. As the biggest entertainment organisation in the world, The Walt Disney Company...
Ancient fossils build picture of life on earth
We all know about fossils that catch the eye - dinosaur skeletons that make the headlines, intricate shells entombed in polished slices of rock and even scatterings of petrified ancient teeth. Dr Paddy Orr and his team use modern technology...
It is quite fitting that almost 150 years to the day that Charles Darwin’s seminal work On the Origin of Species was published, scientists around the world proposed the creation of a genome zoo; a project called Genome 10K aimed at uncovering...
Imagine being a doctor and having to treat patients you can’t see. Nor can you ask them how they are feeling, or whether they have noticed particular symptoms. That’s the challenge presented by a foetus developing in his or her mother’s womb...
Preventing fungal infections in hospitals
Loss of biodiversity in Ireland
Sugar...more than the spice of life
Wildfires, atmospheric oxygen, and mass extinction
Every researcher needs to get fired up about their work. Dr Claire Belcher, UCD School of Biology & Environmental Science, explains to Claire O’Connell how her experiments are more igniting than most. Her investigations of wildfires...
The economics of early childhood intervention
Testing materials of the future in space
The architecture of University College Dublin has always given the campus a slightly futuristic, even science-fictional air. And in some parts of the UCD community, creating the future is the daily staple. Pat Leahy reports...
A revolution in recycling - bugs that eat plastic
Dr Kevin O’Connor has been heading a microbiology research group in University College Dublin since 2000. A self-confessed workaholic, he took up running to get out of the office. A mere hobby at first, he then ran the Dublin City Marathon...
Targeting drugs to disease damaged sites
It’s not often that scientists get noticed for their musical abilities, but for Dr Cormac Taylor, front-lining his band in the US forged connections that led him to his current research post at the UCD Conway Institute...
Unifying food and healthSometimes collaboration can be more than the sum of its parts. That's the thinking behind Professor Mike Gibney’s work at the UCD Institute of Food and Health. By bringing together strands of food and health research from across the campus...
Fighting off Napoleon with hemp from Irish bogs
Napoleon’s march through Europe may never have made it to our island on the far northwest of the continent, but the French crusade did not leave Ireland untouched. In the early years of the nineteenth century, such was Napoleon’s strength...
Irish Proverbs – are they really wise old words?
They are phrases that all Irish people grew up with - ‘there’s no place like home’; ‘don't count your chickens until they’re hatched’; ‘every cloud has a silver lining’. But where do proverbs come from? And what do they tell us about ourselves?
The genetic basis of thoroughbred race horses
The Irish thoroughbred horse sector is world-class, but in order for Ireland to remain at the top of this highly competitive industry, it is vitally important that new scientific technologies that could help early identification of champion horses...
Fossilised frog yields 10-million-year-old bone marrow
Following the remarkable discovery of bone marrow in a 10-million-year-old fossilised frog, scientists can help to unravel crucial questions about how now-extinct species lived. It is the first time intact bone marrow has ever been discovered...
Identifying patterns to improve public health
Longer and healthier lives are within our reach. Scientists are starting to decipher the elaborate equations of genetics, environment and health. With this new knowledge, medical treatment and preventative practice have improved...
Unearthing a violent past - UCD Archaeology
Juno McEnroe speaks to UCD archaeologist, Dr Barry Molloy, about how Irish Bronze Age warriors fought on the battlefield. His research paper on this subject was presented at the largest ever international gathering of archaeologists in Ireland...
Artificial Skies: Buildings designed for well being - UCD Architecture
Tackling environmental challenges - Earth Systems scientists at UCD
After decades of human progress taking place at ever-increasing speed, we are now facing planetary problems in regard to our use of resources and the environment...
Conserving monastic archives - UCD Mícheál O'Cléirigh Institute
Dr Edel Breathnach of the UCD Micheál O’Cléirigh Institute talks to Louise Holden about the celebration of the 400th Anniversary of the founding of St. Anthony’s College Louvain. 400 years ago, co-inciding with the flight of the earls and a period of great...