DEI 2024 PhD Masterclasses: Dr John Bell and Dr Síofra O’Leary
At the end of 2024, DEI were pleased to host two PhD masterclasses at UCD Sutherland School of Law, which allowed PhD researchers from UCD and beyond to gain core insights from our expert guest speakers.
On 4 November 2024, DEI and UCD Earth Institute hosted a PhD masterclass titled ‘Research to Policy - Climate, Environment and Sustainability’ with Dr John Bell, from the European Commission.
Dr Bell is currently the European Commission’s ‘Healthy Planet’ Director, leading DG Research and Innovation policy transitions on Climate Change, Bioeconomy, Food Systems, Environment, Biodiversity, Water, Circular Economy, Oceans and the European Green Deal. He is a graduate of UCD, and holds the position of Adjunct Full Professor at UCD School of Politics and International Relations.
Each PhD student described their research project and the discussion centred on the research-policy interface, with the researchers having the opportunity to explore the policy landscape for their research within complex economic, legal, political, and scientific contexts.
The masterclass was attended by PhD students researching in the area of climate, environment and sustainability, from a variety of schools within UCD. This included the Schools of Politics and International Relations; Agriculture and Food Sciences; Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy; Biology and Environmental Sciences; Civil Engineering; Communications and Information; Economics; Education; Geography; Mathematics and Statistics; and The Innovation Academy.
On 3 December 2024, DEI welcomed former President of the European Court of Human Rights and Adjunct Full Professor at UCD Sutherland School of Law, Dr Síofra O’Leary, to hold a dedicated PhD masterclass - also chaired by Professor Imelda Maher - which was co-sponsored by UCD Sutherland School of Law.
A recent UCD Ulysses Medal winner, Dr O’Leary is a graduate of UCD and served as a judge within the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) from 2015-2024. Notably, she became the President of the ECtHR in 2022 - being the first woman and the first Irish person to hold this position.
This PhD masterclass was held within UCD Sutherland School of Law, and was attended by Professor Cathryn Costello, along with numerous PhD students conducting research in the area of European Law and Policy and in Human Rights. This included students from UCD Sutherland School Law and UCD School of Education. We also welcomed researchers from other Irish universities, including Maynooth University, TUD and DCU. This insightful masterclass provided PhD researchers with the opportunity to engage in an informal discussion with Dr O’Leary and to receive invaluable feedback and advice on their research projects, in areas such as migration law, rule of law and employment law.
We thank both Dr Bell and Dr O’Leary for giving these masterclasses, which were of great benefit to our PhD community.