Archive for the Biographical Category

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A Trip to Trim

Posted in Biographical, Maynooth with tags , , , on July 3, 2025 by telescoper

This morning I took an impromptu trip to Trim, which is situated in the Boyne Valley in County Meath. There has been a small astrophysics workshop going on there this week, attended by some people I know including a couple of old friends from Nottingham, Frazer and Meghan. Trim is less than 30km from Maynooth as the crow flies. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a crow willing to offer me a lift, public transport from Maynooth to Trim is difficult, and I don’t drive, so it wasn’t easy to arrange to meet up. Fortunately this morning one of our postdocs was driving up for the morning session of the meeting so I cadged a lift and and stayed until lunch before getting a lift back to Maynooth.

It was a nice trip. An added bonus was that the workshop venue was just a few metres away from the historic Trim Castle, which was built in the early 13th Century. We had time for a quick walk around before leaving to return to Maynooth.

As you can see, it’s a standard model Norman castle. The Keep, though not entirely intact is pretty well preserved; there’s certainly a lot more left than in the case of Maynooth castle. Quite a lot of the curtain wall and the gates have survived quite well too. In order to get inside the Keep (and climb to the top) you have to take an official tour, but we didn’t have time for that.

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A Stiff Ticket

Posted in Biographical with tags , , on July 2, 2025 by telescoper

I got this – an example of what my Dad used to call a “Stiff Ticket” – via email today.

I suppose I’m supposed to show it to my superiors to prove that I wasn’t just on holiday in Cork last week. I think I’ll print it out and put in on the wall of my office, alongside the certificate for my Cycling Proficiency Award (Bronze).

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Back to the Office

Posted in Barcelona, Biographical, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff on June 30, 2025 by telescoper

After a week away in Cork, I’m back in the office at Maynooth University. I have quite a lot of things to do before my next trip away which will be next week.

On Friday (27th) Maynooth students got their examination results. For this year’s finalists that means they also received news of their final degree classification. I’ve seen quite a few celebratory messages flying around on social media so let me add my own congratulations here: Congratulations!

We’ve had an outstanding group of students in Theoretical Physics this year and that is reflected in some excellent degree results. Well done to them all, and best wishes for the further studies on which many of them are about to embark.

Tomorrow (Tuesday 1st July), we have a consultation day during which students can ask about their examinations and request advice on next steps, including repeat examinations in August, the papers for which have to be readied for printing in the next two weeks.

Campus is quiet at this time of year, as most of the undergraduate students have left for the summer (or permanently for the graduands). A few will remain to do summer projects. The postgraduates are still around, of course. I have a Masters student doing their project this summer, from which I hope a paper will emerge, and a PhD student doing post-viva corrections to her thesis. I’ve also got a couple of other papers to finish.

I’m hearing a lot about sweltering temperatures across Europe. Fortunately it is more temperate here in Ireland, with maximum of 23 degrees forecast in Maynooth. All of this reminds me that it was a year ago today that I returned from a spell in Barcelona on sabbatical. As it happens, I met my hosts Licia and Raul at EAS last week. It seems things are going well at ICCUB. I would have stayed longer there, but my laptop had died which left me unable to work effectively. I’m looking forward to visiting there again next year for the 2026 Euclid Consortium meeting (if I can find the time).

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Dublin Pride 2025

Posted in Biographical, LGBTQ+ with tags , on June 28, 2025 by telescoper

Today’s the day for Dublin Pride 2025. It’s thought that over 100,000 are attending! Best wishes to everyone taking part from one of The Olds. Although the weather’s not the greatest, I hope everyone has a grand time. Bród Sona Daoibh!

I’m wearing my GCN T-shirt for the occasion!

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Farewell to #EAS2025

Posted in Biographical, GAA with tags , , on June 27, 2025 by telescoper

I’m on an early-morning train from Cork to Dublin, missing the final day of EAS 2025. I’d like to thank the organisers and all the contributors for an extremely successful meeting. I’m looking forward to EAS 2026, which will be held in Lausanne (Switzerland).

Yesterday was another busy day, during which I attended – among other things –  sessions on gravitational lensing and a plenary talk by Andy Fabian. The latter event reminded me that in my final year as an undergraduate I took a “Minor Option” on High-Energy Astrophysics lectured by Andy Fabian. That was 40 years ago…

After the scientific programme for the day was over, participants were bussed to Páirc Ui Chaoimh, Cork’s main GAA Stadium, for the conference dinner. Some of the participants had the chance to try their hands at hurling before the food.

After the food, there was traditional Irish music, with the audience joining in the singing and dancing. A good time was had by all.

Incidentally, Cork play Dublin next weekend in the semi-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. To the surprise of many, Dublin knocked out Limerick in the quarter-finals. The other semi-final is between Kilkenny and Tipperary. Those people who attempted to put hurley to sliotar last night will be even more amazed at the level skill on display in those games.

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Wednesday at #EAS2025

Posted in Biographical, Euclid, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , on June 25, 2025 by telescoper

I spent most of today at the EAS 2025 sessions about Euclid. These were mainly about the Q1 data release I blogged about here, although there were some talks about what to expect about the first full data release (DR1), which is due towards the end of next year (2026), before I retire.

There were three Euclid sessions, one in the morning and two in the afternoon; I’m writing this during the last of these.

I was reminded this morning that the word “plenary” is derived from the Latin plenus, meaning “full”. This explains why there are no free seats for the plenary session, so I had to watch the stream in one of the overflow theatres.

I also attended a lunchtime session about the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO). This was interesting, though the first full data release from SKAO will not happen until after I’ve retired.

And, to end the day, I’m at a reception and meeting of SKA Ireland, a group campaigning for Ireland to join the SKAO.. There’s win.

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EAS 2025 in Cork

Posted in Biographical, Open Access with tags , , , , on June 22, 2025 by telescoper

Tomorrow I’ll be travelling to the fine city of Cork, where I shall be for most of next week, attending the 2025 Annual Meeting of the European Astronomical Society I was planing to travel today, but I have some things to attend to at home tomorrow morning so I won’t get to Cork until late afternoon.

The EAS Annual Meeting is a very large meeting with well over a thousand participants expected. It is held each year in a different European city but, according to tradition, never a capital. Last year it was in Padova (Italy) and the year before that in Kraków (Poland).

I usually enjoy smaller-scale meetings and workshops over these mega-conferences, but I’m looking forward to this one. There will be a strong Maynooth contingent there but I also hope to see some old friends from elsewhere, as well as catching up on some exciting science results.

Talking of science, I am on the Scientific Organizing Committee for this meeting. The programme is very large and diverse and there were a few headaches on the way, but nothing compared to the logistical challenges facing the local organizers; they will probably reach peak stress levels ahead of the opening of the meeting, but I’m sure everything will go well. The Irish National Astronomy Meeting (INAM) was actually held in Cork in 2023. Although a much smaller meeting than EAS, the experience of running that will probably have helped the organizers.

I’m not actually giving a talk at EAS but I will be participating in a panel discussion in a special session on The Future of Scientific Publishing: Strategies and Challenges for Astronomy on Tuesday 24th June. When I saw the initial announcement for this special session, I was was concerned that it would be entirely dominated by representatives of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and their publisher EDP Sciences. The first session (9.00 to 10.30) titled “SCIENCE PUBLISHING TODAY AND TOMORROW” is still like that, but the panel discussion in the second session (13.15 to 14.45) “SCIENCE PUBLISHING: A COMMUNITY’S VIEW” is a bit more balanced than that, with a representatives of NASA/ADS and the European Southern Observatory (among others). If I’m given an opportunity to get a word in, I’ll be arguing that traditional journals are unnecessary and obsolete.

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Marking Over

Posted in Biographical, Education, Maynooth with tags , on June 9, 2025 by telescoper

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof…

I’ve just graded the last of my assignments for this (academic year). I had a bigger class than usual for Computational Physics this time round, so it took much longer than usual to mark the project component. It always takes a while because I not only have to read and grade the reports, but also look at the code they submit and run it to check that it works. I uploaded the final grades to our system just now and although I finished later than planned I was relieved to see that I’m not the last lecturer to do so!

What happens next is that all the marks from all the modules will be collated and cross-checked. Then we will have a meeting of the Departmental Examination Board (on Thursday morning) to go through the results in the presence of our External Examiner. Since this is the end of the academic year, we will also look at the final grades of those students who are completing their studies this year in order to consider the classification of their degrees. There may also be some who are not qualified to graduate and may have to repeat failed examinations or other assessments. Another (pleasant) duty of our Examination Board on Thursday will be to award prizes for the best performance, not just for finalists but for students at every stage, including the first year.

I was teaching a module for the Department of Engineering last Semester so I should attend their final Examination Board too. Many of our students at Maynooth take joint degrees, in which case their final degree classification depends on grades from two Departments. For that reason, there is an overall Examination Board at which the marks are combined. Fortunately, only the Head of Department (who is not me) has to attend that one.

If all goes to plan, students will receive their final marks on Friday 27th June. It’s a lengthy process so as to allow plenty of opportunities to check and validate the different stages. After that, on Tuesday 1st July, we have a consultation day at which students can ask for advice about repeat examinations, etc, and after that we have to make sure repeat examinations are available. The repeat examination period is Wednesday 6th August to Tuesday 19th August.

Between the end of this week and the repeat exams, perhaps I’ll get a bit of time to do some research…

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R.I.P. Edmund White (1940-2025)

Posted in Biographical, LGBTQ+, Literature, R.I.P. with tags , on June 6, 2025 by telescoper

I was saddened to hear of the death on Tuesday at the age of 85 of novelist Edmund White. Like many gay men of my age I read his semi-autobiographical novel A Boy’s Own Story as a teenager, and it had a profound effect on me.

It’s the story of an adolescent boy coming to terms with his sexuality in the American mid-West during the 1950s. It is as frank about the description of gay sex as it is truthful about the confusion that goes with being a teenager. When I bought it I didn’t realize it was going to be so sexually explicit, as the whole subject of gay sex was very much taboo in those days. I didn’t think it was possible to write about such things in such a matter-of-fact way and at the same time so beautifully. The book is also unflinching in its description of the personality flaws of the central character.

The Irish Times has a collection of reflections by various writers on Edmund White that say far more, and far more eloquently, than I ever could. I’ll just say, as a (now) sixty-something gay man that Edmund White helped me on my journey to self-acceptance when I was a struggling teenager all those years ago, and for that I will always be profoundly grateful.

Rest in peace, Edmund White (1940-2025).

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To Wexford and Back

Posted in Biographical with tags , , , on June 5, 2025 by telescoper

I’m currently on the train travelling back from Wexford to Dublin. The WIFI is a bit flaky so I’ll post more about the reasons for this trip later on, when I get home.

For the moment, I’ll just say that Wexford (Irish name: Loch Garman) is a picturesque historic town at the  mouth of the River Slaney, near the Southeastern corner of Ireland. I had a nice walk around this morning. It’s a pleasant place to stroll about; the streets still follow an obviously mediaeval layout, and parts of the old city wall are still standing.

The train journey from Dublin is very enjoyable, right along the coast for a while, then heading inland, then along the banks of the Slaney. The train isn’t very fast, but it is comfortable and costs less than €10 each way. There’s only a single line from Wicklow to Wexford, which severely limits the number of trains that can operate on the route. The same is true of the Maynooth-Sligo service, actually.

When I moved to Ireland (about 7 1/2 years ago), I planned to travel around and see some of the historic places. Workload issues and the pandemic put paid to that idea for a while, but I have a bit more time to travel now.

P.S. Curracloe Beach, a few miles North of Wexford, stood in for Omaha Beach for the film Saving Private Ryan. I didn’t have time to go there.

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