I have decided not to speak on Wednesday on the Embryonic Stem Cell debate.  The letter I sent to the society that are organising it is as follows:
Hi XXXXXXX,
I have just found out all the details about the debate on Wednesday.  I was not aware that this was being organised by Youth Defence.  For obvious […]

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A substantial portion of the Tasmanian tiger genome was sequenced and published today.  Interesting beast.  It was a marsupial and therefore, much more closely related to the Kangaroo and the Oppossum than to any actual tiger.  It was a predator that was top of the food chain in Tasmania and it went extinct because of […]

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In an email to all staff members, Dr. John Hughes has just revealed that NUI Maynooth is The Sunday Times university of the year.
From the email:
The award is based on an analysis of all 22 third level universities and institutes in the Republic and across 26 criteria including, grades, retention, research, student services, access for […]

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I have been thinking about the Irish educational system and in particular the leaving certificate.  The figures came out last week and it seems that 70% of our students are getting private education as well as public education.  This means that in the evenings and weekends, 70% of the students are going to private tutors […]

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The international society for science and religion has just released a statement that describes intelligent design as “neither sound science nor good theology”.
You should go and read the statement here.

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addthis_title = ‘Statement+by+the+International+Society+for+Science+and+Religion’;
addthis_pub = ”;

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Heading for Colombia in the morning for a few days. Back at the begining of next week. Speaking at a microbiology conference to mark the first meeting of the colombian society for Microbiology and the 50th anniversary of the department of microbiology at the university of Antioquia in Medellin in Colombia.
Have never been […]

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I have written about this before, but just to clear up what has happened in the Irish Universities in the way they are funded.

In 1994, I think, Gemma Hussey abandoned the direct funding of the universities by those who go to college.  The universities now no longer get funded in this way.  So, how do […]

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Going to Rio de Janeiro on Saturday to teach on an EMBO course. The temperature right now (early morning in Rio) is 23 degrees C. Time to dust off the flip flops.
Am leaving Ireland on Saturday afternoon late. Flying to Charles de Gaulle airport, just outside Paris. After a very short […]

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Allergan is closing their business in Arklow. They are relocating their business to Costa Rica. Allergan make breast implants, among other things (Botox and the like).
I’m not trying to be mean in my comparison of industries, but it is necessary in order to try to figure out what might be the future of Ireland’s […]

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I see with interest that the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) are calling on a task force to be set up to look into the issue of student accommodation. The problem being that students, particularly in Dublin, simply cannot afford the rent.
I have a new PhD student starting and he is from the […]

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