The Graduate Committee Newsletter

Faculty of Agri-Food & Environment

University College Dublin

Issue No. 6 February 2005

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Postgraduate/ Postdoctoral News

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Irish Farmers Journal Seminar

The Graduate Committee would like to congratulate all the presenters of last year’s Farmers Journal Seminar for a job well done. Special mention goes to Michael O’Connell and Eddie Jordan for winning the Masters and PhD best presenter awards respectively. Further the Graduate Committee would like to thank Professor Jeremy Gray for moderating, to Dean Maurice Boland for his opening words and to Dr. Emmeline Hill for serving as the guest speaker.

New Representatives – Staff/ Student Liaison Committee

As of this month, both Grace O’Gorman from Animal Science and Barry McMahon from Environmental Resource Management will serve as the Graduate Committee representatives for the Staff/ Student Liaison Committee. Both appointments are in an effort to implement the Washington Advisory Group’s recommendation for more postgraduate/ postdoctoral representation throughout the faculty.

February Seminar – Technical Writing

The Graduate Committee’s next seminar is scheduled for Tuesday 22 February at 4:00pm in G.08. The seminar will feature a panel of speakers led by Professor Jim Curry and Drs. Olaf Schmidt and Tamara Hochstrasser, all from the Department of Environmental Resource Management. The panel will provide a discussion on technical writing and what journal reviewers and editors look for in journal submissions. The panel will also provide insight on technical writing from a non-native English perspective. The seminar is arranged to proactively address the quality of technical writing by postgraduates in the Faculty as highlighted by the invigilators at the IFJ Seminar in December. Therefore, we would encourage everyone to attend. Refreshments served.

March Seminar – Modularisation & Semesterisation: What is it and Why is UCD doing it?

The March seminar will feature Professor Joe Mannion, former Dean of the Faculty who will speak on the change towards modularisation and semesterisation at UCD to help familiarize postgraduates/postdoctoral researchers with the concepts and explain the rationale behind UCD’s decision to move in this direction. The seminar will be held on Tuesday 22 March at 4:00pm in G.08. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Refreshments served.

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Academic Stuff

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‘Farmers Markets – A Way for Farmers to Increase their Incomes’

A one-day conference will be held on Monday 14 February 2005 at the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork. The conference aims to explain farmers’ markets – how they operate, how to establish one and what’s their likely future in Ireland. The conference is sponsored by the Irish Food Market Traders Association and the Irish Farmers Journal. For more information and conference registration details contact Caroline Robinson at 021. 7330178 (alternatively her mobile is 087 9834242) or email

Agricultural Research Forum

The 2005 Agricultural Research Forum will be held in the Tullamore Court Hotel, Tullamore, Co Offaly on 14-15 March. Presentations range from a variety of different disciplines including, animal and crop science, environmental and soil science, food science, agri-economics and forestry. For more information contact Michael Diskin at 091.845845 or email

International Dairy Federation: International Symposium on Indigenous Enzymes in Milk

This International Symposium aims to bring together researchers working in this field and is intended to review the state of knowledge and to stimulate discussion and collaboration. An intensive workshop-like format will be followed with keynote presentations, research papers, posters and detailed group discussion sessions on key topics which will include enzymes in milk (e.g., proteinases, lipases, lactoperoxidase, phosphatases etc.) all aspects of milk enzymology, from biochemical characterisation to technological significance. The Symposium will be held 22-25 April 2005 at University College Cork. For more information visit or email

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Opportunities

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Embark: Post-doctoral Fellowship Scheme

The Embark Initiative offers postdoctoral fellowships to support research in the sciences, engineering and technology. In 2004, 40 fellowships were awarded to researchers throughout Ireland. Applications are due this Saturday, 5 February 2005. For more information see

Human Frontier Science Programme – Research Grants, Fellowships, etc

Funded by the EU’s 6th Framework Programme, Irish postdoctoral researchers can apply for funding through this programme, which supports novel, innovative and interdisciplinary basic research focused on the complex mechanisms of living organisms; topics range from molecular and cellular approaches to systems and cognitive neuroscience. For more information visit

Information Workshop – European Sixth Framework Programme (TP1 – Life Sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health)

An information workshop on research funding under the European Sixth Framework Programme for the Life Sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health will be held at the Hilton Hotel, Castle Upton Suite, Templepatrick, Northern Ireland on 14 March 2005 from 2-6:00pm. For more information on this and other events as well as calls for proposals in other research areas visit

Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Programme

Applications are currently available at for the 2005 Walsh Fellowship Programme. For more information visit the website or contact Dr. Lance O’Brien at

Teagasc, National Food Centre – Postgraduate Research

Applications are currently being accepted for a PhD research position that will address the cost benefit analysis of the impact of salmonellosis attributable to pork in Ireland. The research is being funded by Safefood and provides a €15,000 scholarship per annum. Deadline 18 February 2005. For more information on this position and other recruitment opportunities with the Teagasc, visit their website ( under ‘Recruitment’.

NUI Travelling Studentships[1]

Applications are sought for four NUI travelling studentships. Graduates from all faculties – Agri-Food and the Environment, Engineering and Architecture, Food Science and Technology, Medicine and Health Sciences, Science and Veterinary Medicine are eligible. The studentships will be awarded on the basis of a competition to graduates in these faculties. Each studentship is valued at €42,000 (i.e. €14,000 per year for three years). The closing date for receipt of applications is Friday, 1 April 2005.

NUI Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Sciences, 2005

The NUI announces a Post-Doctoral Fellowship valued at €65,000 over two years. Graduates of doctoral status are eligible. For the purpose of this fellowship, the sciences are defined as including the subjects from the Faculties of Agri-Food and the Environment, Engineering and Architecture, Food Science and Technology, Medicine and Health Sciences, Science and Veterinary Medicine, and also Computer Science, Mathematics, Mathematical Physics and Statistics. The closing date for receipt of applications is Friday, 1 April 2005.

NUI Bursary in Agri-Food & the Environment

Applications are sought for the NUI Bursary in Agri-Food & the Environment. The bursary will be awarded based on the following requirements: a proposal for the use of the Bursary; CV and; an interview – to be held at the end of July

The closing date for applications is Friday, 17 June 2005.

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Who’s Who?

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Congratulations to Eddie Jordan who was awarded the best PhD presentation at the 2004 Irish Farmers Journal Seminar held in December for his presentation on ‘The inclusion of dietary coconut oil as a methane reduction strategy in beef cattle’. Congratulations are also extended to Michael O’Connell for being awarded the best Masters presentation for his presentation on ‘The effect of cereal type and exogenous enzyme supplementation in pig diets on nutrient digestibility, intestinal microflora, volatile fatty acid concentration and manure ammonia emissions from pigs’.

Many thanks to Pat Blackwell and Dr. Mary Canty, who served as the speakers for the January seminar.

Pat Blackwell

Originally from County Limerick, Pat received his BagrSc in ERM. Presently, Pat is a Teagasc Walsh Fellow and working on his MAgrSc in Crop Science with Dr. George Smillie.

Dr. Mary Canty

Dr. Mary Canty graduated with a degree from the department of Animal Science, UCD. She moved to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and completed her PhD under Dr.

Mark Crowe. Presently she is carrying out research in post-doc position with Dr. Alex Evans and Dr. Pat Lonergan. Recently Mary has accepted a position with Abbott Laboratories and will leave the Faculty in March.

Finally, the Graduate Committee would like to welcome Ms. Jinjing Gu from Beijing, China who arrived just after Christmas. Ms. Gu is a PhD student in Animal Science and is working with Dr. Emmeline Hill.

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Communication Kiosk

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The Difference between e.g. and i.e.
The usage of e.g. and i.e. is often incorrectly reversed. Remember that e.g. is used to illustrate a point, while i.e. is used to clarify it. They’re not interchangeable as e.g. (exempli gratia in Latin) is defined as ‘for example’ and i.e. (id est in Latin) is ‘in other words’. (Real Simple, February 2005)

Less is More

Writing well means using words precisely, according to William Strunk

Jr. In his book "The Elements of Style," Strunk emphasizes that sentences should contain no unnecessary words and paragraphs no unnecessary sentences. That doesn't mean every sentence should be short or that writers should avoid detail, but it does mean that every word should contribute to the story, article or paper. For an overview of the book’s contents visit

TIP - OPTIMIZE YOUR POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS
What are some of the most annoying elements of a PowerPoint presentation? Today many lecturers and researchers rely on PowerPoint for teaching and disseminating research findings and it is important use PowerPoint effectively. To learn more about some of the most annoying elements of PowerPoint presentations and some
suggestions for using it, visit

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Reminders
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Graduate Committee February Seminar: 22 February 2005, 4:00pm, Rm. G.08

Graduate Committee March Seminar: 22 March 2005, 4:00pm, Rm. G.08

Embark Initiative Post-doctoral Fellowship: 5 February 2005

Information Workshop – European Sixth Framework Programme (TP1 – Life Sciences, Genomics and Biotechnology for Health): 14 March 2005, Northern Ireland

NUI Travelling Studentship: 1 April 2005

NUI Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Sciences: 1 April 2005

NUI Bursary in Agri-Food and the Environment: 17 June 2005

Next issue: April 2005

If you have anything you would like included in the next edition of the newsletter or suggestions for it, contact Julie Tritz at . Thanks.

Graduate Committee Newsletter Issue No. 6 February 2005

[1] Information and application materials on the NUI Travelling Studentships, the NUI Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Sciences, 2005 and the NUI Bursary in Agri-Food and the Environment can be found at under NUI Awards and Scholarships. Please note the different deadlines for each.