University of Galway recently hosted the 2022 China Scholarship Council (Galway) Annual Symposium. The China Scholarship Council (CSC) is under the Ministry of Education of China and is the premier scholarship funding body in the country. The annual symposium provides a platform for students and scholars from different professional backgrounds to exchange ideas, which is conducive to promoting understanding, enhancing friendship, expanding horizons, stimulating innovation, and seeking new ideas for academic research and international cooperation. The conference, the first on a global scale, was co-facilitated in partnership with the CSC, the Chinese Embassy, the four colleges within the University and the Graduate School. Among those in attendance were university leaders, deans of faculties, supervisors, visiting scholars, international students, senior management of the CSC and the Chinese Embassy. Professor Becky Whay, Vice President International, opened the event and thanked the CSC for providing Chinese students with the opportunity to study at the University of Galway in Ireland. Of the scholarship She said: “This is both an academic exchange between Chinese and foreign universities and a sharing of resources in science and technology between the two countries, which will facilitate maximum scientific collaboration.” During her speech Dr Lulu Tian, Deputy Secretary General of the China Scholarship Council, said: “University of Galway in Ireland is a high-quality research university with a long history, attracting a large number of international students and scholars, especially young research talents. The academic exchange will provide scientific and technological support for the exploration of sustainable development paths applicable to different countries.” More than 40 CSC-funded student scholars presented research reports and had extensive, in-depth communications and exchanges with professors from home and abroad, staging a unique academic feast and fully demonstrating the quality of CSC-funded students. The attendees reported that they had greatly benefited from the conference, which had broadened and deepened their scholarly inquiry, stoked their excitement for scholarly innovation, and improved their capacity for thought exploration. Students were presented with awards on the day for their contribution to and promoting of wide dissemination and sharing of scientific knowledge.  Ends

Sports Centre swimming pool to benefit from renewable heat   University of Galway has embarked on a geothermal heat pump project on campus to heat the swimming pool in the Sports Centre. The University campus is already part of Galway’s decarbonisation zone, which is aggressively targeting a 51% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and to decarbonise the campus by 2050.  The ground source heat pump system is being developed and operated as a pilot in the European Union Horizon 2020 project GEOFIT, which is devoted to the adoption of innovative technologies to support and enhance ground source heat pump technologies in Europe.  Site works commenced in September 2022 on the lawn in front of the Alice Perry Engineering Building with 18 boreholes for a thermal network of underground pipes as part of a dual source ground-air heat pump system. GEOFIT will extract heat from the ground and feed two heat pumps to generate hot water which will be carried through an existing district heating network of underground pipes to warm the University swimming pool in the Sports Centre. Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President of University of Galway, said: “With this investment, University of Galway is demonstrating that our values of sustainability and excellence are embedded not only in our research and education but also in how we operate as a campus. Our students were to the fore in pressing the case for sustainability and securing a clean, green and efficient energy source for our Sports Centre. GEOFIT is an important stepping stone on our decarbonisation journey.”  Assistant Professor Marcus Keane and his colleague Luis Blanes, University of Galway GEOFIT Research Manager, School of Engineering and Built Environment and Smart Cities Research Cluster lead in the Ryan Institute, said: “The GEOFIT pilot will provide an invaluable asset for the scientific community in Ireland and Europe. Like never before, we will be able to understand the long term performance and potential of ground source energy and plan how much energy we can harness from natural and renewable sources that include the ground and ambient air.” The GEOFIT project will capture, process and monitor data relating to the performance of the geothermal heat pump system for at least 5 years, utilising an advanced, innovative Fibre Optic Distributed Temperature Sensing System in collaboration with Ireland’s Geological Survey Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland’s iCRAG Geosciences Research Centre. The technology innovation and research data in University of Galway’s GEOFIT project will provide future management capability to extensively monitor, manage and maintain the renewable geothermal resource field over the next 25 years. The findings will help the University, as well as other operators of public buildings, to determine the feasibility and scalability of ground source heat pumps and other complementary solutions such as district heating and novel heat storage technologies. Michael Curran, Head of Building Services, Energy and Utilities, University of Galway, said: “This is not about just changing boilers with heat pumps - we will use this pilot as a teaching tool and a research laboratory. This is only a first step of a wider campus decarbonisation plan and an opportunity to monitor different performance data, leading to better decisions for large scale heat pump applications.” In addition to the GEOFIT project, the University has already invested in heat pump project to retrofit Áras de Brún building which is funded by Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme, supported by Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, Higher Education Authority and Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. It will provide equally extensive monitoring of heat pump performance over time and indoor air quality. For more information visit: https://geofit-project.eu/   Ends

Tá scoláireachtaí nua agus lóistín ar champas na hOllscoile bronnta ar 16 mhac léinn faoin Scéim Cónaitheachta Gaeilge. Beidh na mic léinn ag cur fúthu i dTeach na Gaeilge, i mBaile na Coiribe don bhliain acadúil 2022-2023 agus cuirfear €1,000 an duine ar fáil dóibh chun tacú leo leis na costas lóistín don bhliain. Cuireadh tús leis an Scéim Cónaitheachta Gaeilge den chéad uair san Ollscoil sa bhliain 1991, agus rinneadh athsheoladh ar an Scéim i mbliana ar mhaithe le lóistín a chur ar fáil do mhic léinn le Gaeilge agus chun pobal Gaeilge na hOllscoile a neartú.  Léiríodh an-spéis inti agus mic léinn ó cheann ceann na tíre ag iarraidh an deis a thapú a bheith in ann lóistín a roinnt le cainteoirí Gaeilge eile agus iad i mbun staidéir san Ollscoil i mbliana.   Bhí an méid seo a leanas le rá ag Cliodhna Ní Mhianáin, duine de na mic léinn ar éirigh léi áit a fháil i dTeach na Gaeilge: “Is i bpobal bríomhar na Gaeilge a tógadh mé agus is ann is compordaí mé i mo chraiceann féin; mothaím go bhfuil an cairdeas, craic agus an ‘raison d'être’ céanna ag lucht na Gaeilge nach bhfuil le fáil i measc an lucht aonteangaigh.  “Tá mé den bharúil, óir go bhfuil Ollscoil na Gaillimhe chomh lárnach sin, go mbeadh meascán iontach de Ghaeilgeoirí as gach cearn den tír ag freastal uirthi, araon le muintir Chonamara, agus go mbeadh meascán mearaí iontach de chanúintí ann. Is deis ar leith í an Scéim Cónaitheachta Gaeilge le bualadh leo uilig agus táim ag súil go mór leis an mbliain.” Bhí an méid seo a leanas le rá ag an Ollamh Pól Ó Dochartaigh, Uachtarán Ionaid agus Meabhránaí Ollscoil na Gaillimhe:  “Léiríonn an tacaíocht seo fíorthiomantas na hOllscoile i leith chur chun cinn na Gaeilge i measc phobal léinn na hOllscoile, agus léiríonn sé go bhfuil luach agus meas againn ar an nGaeilge agus spéis againn í a neartú agus a threisiú ar fud an champais.   “Beidh deis ag na mic léinn seo cur lena gcuid scileanna teanga agus sóisialta ag na himeachtaí Gaeilge a bheidh á reáchtáil san Ollscoil agus i gcathair na Gaillimhe, agus baineann tábhacht thar na bearta leis an sóisialú seo ó thaobh cleachtas agus iompar teanga na mac léinn.  Chomh maith leis sin léireofar do phobal na hOllscoile i gcoitinne go bhfuil an Ghaeilge lárnach i ngach uile réimse den saol in Ollscoil na Gaillimhe.” Tá tuilleadh eolais faoin Scéim Cónaitheachta Gaeilge ar fáil ag https://www.universityofgalway.ie/gaeilge/cursai-focheime/conaitheacht/  Críoch