Research News
Posted 25 June 2009
Female Researchers Get Together at AIT for Teambuilding Exercise
An unusual teambuilding exercise took place last week at Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT), involving several of the institute’s female postgraduate researchers.
The group of ten women were drawn from around the world and are undertaking research at Master’s, doctorate and post-doctorate levels in Athlone. This was the first time they had gotten together for a networking session, which was aimed at building morale, communication skills and sharing experiences.
The session was facilitated by Patricia Conroy, Managing Director, Results Through People, a company which offers HR software and consultancy services to a range of clients from a generalist and specialist human resources perspective.
Director of Graduate Studies at AIT, Dr Robert Stewart, said that the teambuilding session was an important element in generating a vibrant research community at the institute. “Each researcher is concerned with the challenges posed by their own work and in breaking new ground. That experience can be considerably enhanced, however, through creating a research community spirit on campus. At AIT we have invested substantially in the research space, particularly in our new postgrad hub. This initiative is about the human infrastructure, which after all is core to everything we do,” he stated.
The ten researchers involved in the teambuilding session were: Sarah Winters (Mayo), Alison Smyth (Athlone), Jennifer Hayes (Roscommon), Sinead Lordan (Cork), Langsing Ma (China), Fei Liang (China), Brenda Gaffey (Athlone), Crona Condron (Roscommon) and Carmel Doherty (Mayo).
Their research spans several disciplines and includes studies of breast cancer cells, quantum dots, natural remedies, anticancer drug delivery, oestrogenic activity of sunscreen materials, cryptosporidium, nanotoxicology, Bluetooth and wireless networks, as well as a French slam artist.
Research activity has grown enormously at AIT in recent years, and the institute has consistently been in the top three higher education institutions in driving applied research. It is expected that research income will exceed €7.2million in 2008/2009.
