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Examination Time in Maynooth

Posted in Barcelona, Education, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on May 17, 2024 by telescoper

Today ( Friday 17th May) is the first day of the Summer Examination Period in Maynooth. Although I’m not there right now I thought I’d take the opportunity to wish all students the best for their examinations:

You shouldn’t really be relying on luck of course, so here are some tips for the examination period (especially for physics students, but applicable elsewhere).

  1. Try to get a good night’s sleep before the examination and arrive in plenty of time before the start. Spending all night cramming is unlikely to help you do well.
  2. Prepare well in advance so you’re relaxed when the time comes.
  3. Read the entire paper before starting to answer any questions. In particular, make sure you are aware of any supplementary information, formulae, etc, given in the rubric or at the end.
  4. Start off by tackling the question you are most confident about answering, even if it’s not Question 1. This will help settle any nerves. You’re under no obligation to answer the questions in the order they are asked.
  5. Don’t rush! Students often lose marks by making careless errors. In particular, check all your numerical results on your calculator at least twice
  6. Please remember the units!
  7. Don’t panic! You’re not expected to answer everything perfectly. A first-class mark is anything over 70%, so don’t worry if there are bits you can’t do. If you get stuck on a part of a question, don’t waste too much time on it (especially if it’s just a few marks). Just leave it and move on. You can always come back to it later if you have time.

Meanwhile, in Barcelona, Monday is a public holiday (Pentecost) so I am faced with the prospect of having to endure a long weekend break. Such is life…

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Masters in Theoretical Physics & Mathematics at Maynooth

Posted in Education, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on April 30, 2024 by telescoper

I may not be in Maynooth this academic year but that doesn’t stop me using the medium of this blog to advertise the fact that the MSc in Theoretical Physics & Mathematics is open to applications for entry in September.

This postgraduate course is run jointly between the Departments of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics & Statistics, with each contributing about half the material. The duration is one calendar year (full-time) or two years (part-time) and consists of 90 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This is split into 60 credits of taught material (split roughly 50-50 between Theoretical Physics and Mathematics) and a research project of 30 credits, supervised by a member of staff in a relevant area from either Department.

Here is an instagram post advertising the course:

This course is a kind of follow-up to the existing undergraduate BSc Theoretical Physics & Mathematics at Maynooth, also run jointly. We think the postgraduate course will appeal to many of the students on that programme who wish to continue their education to postgraduate level, though applications are very welcome from suitably qualified candidates who did their first degree elsewhere.

There is a central system for postgraduate applications in Ireland (called PAC) that is similar to the undergraduate admissions system. You will need to apply online via PAC after the following the instructions here. The requisite PAC code for the full-time version of the course is MHQ56.

The closing date for applications is 30th June 2024.

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In Praise of the Public Thesis Defence

Posted in Barcelona, Education, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , , on April 12, 2024 by telescoper

The ICCUB is quite large, which means that there are quite a few talks to go to, including seminars and colloquia but also thesis defences, such as one I attended this morning. The format for these events is a talk by the candidate in the presence of a panel of experts, who ask questions at the end, but the whole thing is open to the general public. After the panel questions there is an opportunity for questions from the audience, but only from those who have a doctorate. I was tempted, but didn’t put my hand up.

Anyway, this morning’s talk was well attended and of very high quality and, as usual, the whole event lasted getting on for two hours. It’s a very different experience from the form of viva voce examinations used for PhDs in the UK and Ireland.

I like to attend these public thesis defences because they’re a very good way of finding out about the research going on in areas away from my own specialism. In physics the people who are really working at the coal face are the PhD students so one often learns more about the details from such talks than from colloquia from senior folk, which are usually cover a wider area but at a more superficial level.

Another nice thing is that there is a little gathering afterwards (on the right) with a selection of food and drink available to celebrate the candidate’s success. In fact it was a double celebration as the candidate was offered a postdoctoral research position just two days ago. I abstained from the champagne as alcohol at lunchtime usually sends me to sleep in the afternoon, and I have a lot to do in the rest of today.

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Masters in Theoretical Physics & Mathematics at Maynooth

Posted in Education, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on February 6, 2024 by telescoper

Yesterday was a holiday in Ireland but now, with the January examinations over, it’s back to teaching. I am not in Maynooth to enjoy the fun but I can use the medium of this blog to advertise the fact that the MSc in Theoretical Physics & Mathematics is now open to applications for entry in September.

This postgraduate course is run jointly between the Departments of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics & Statistics, with each contributing about half the material. The duration is one calendar year (full-time) or two years (part-time) and consists of 90 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This is split into 60 credits of taught material (split roughly 50-50 between Theoretical Physics and Mathematics) and a research project of 30 credits, supervised by a member of staff in a relevant area from either Department.

This course is a kind of follow-up to the existing undergraduate BSc Theoretical Physics & Mathematics at Maynooth, also run jointly. We think the postgraduate course will appeal to many of the students on that programme who wish to continue their education to postgraduate level, though applications are very welcome from suitably qualified candidates who did their first degree elsewhere.

Postgraduate admissions in Ireland operate differently from the UK, in that there is a central system in Ireland (called PAC) that is similar to the undergraduate admissions system; in the UK PG courses are dealt with by individual institutions. You will need to apply online via PAC after the following the instructions here. The requisite PAC code for the full-time version of the course is MHQ56.

The closing date for applications is 30th June 2024.

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Reformscape – the Video!

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , , , on February 2, 2024 by telescoper

Not long ago, I posted an item about the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). I was interested this week to see the latest initiative from DORA which is called Reformscape. You can read much more about here. Here are some excerpts from the introduction:

  • The old ways of assessing the quality of research and progressing the careers of researchers are no longer fit for purpose. These dated approaches are neither fair nor responsible and often leave talented people overlooked, holding back progress in diversity, equity and inclusion. Institutions are increasingly expected to move with the times and update their assessment practices, but making meaningful change isn’t easy. 
  • Luckily, many have gone before you. Institutions around the world have been busy figuring out how to overcome the challenges of reforming academic career assessment, and we are here to help you learn from their experiences.
  • DORA Reformscape is an online tool where you can explore examples of how to bring responsible assessment for hiring, promotion and tenure into your institution, and to share your approach with others.
  • DORA Reformscape is an online tool where you can explore examples of how to bring responsible assessment for hiring, promotion and tenure into your institution, and to share your approach with others.

There’s also an introductory video:

Since my own institution, Maynooth University, is a signatory of DORA I am sure that it will already be working to implement the Reformscape recommendations into its own processes…

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Rankings Junk

Posted in Education with tags , , , , on January 31, 2024 by telescoper

A few weeks ago I did a post in response to the fact that Professor Philip Moriarty of Nottingham University – a former colleague of mine – had written a blog post in protest at his institution’s most recent and most blatant attempts to game the wretched world university rankings.

Open Letter: We reject the absurd QS/THE World University Rankings

One of the targets of his ire were the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings. Ironically, I was looking in my spam folder yesterday and what did I find but an invitation to participate in the QS rankings, correctly identified as junk:

Clearly my email filters know what they’re doing!

Anyway, this gives me an excuse to boost Phil’s post again. The open letter contained therein is aimed at persuading not only Nottingham but other universities both in the UK and elsewhere to follow the example of Utrecht and abandon these absurd and meaningless rankings. To sign the open letter please follow this link and to see a list of signatories see here.

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For Democratic Governance of Universities

Posted in Education with tags , , , on January 30, 2024 by telescoper

Yesterday I stumbled across a paper by Blanca Missé and James Martel of San Francisco State University with the title For Democratic Governance of Universities: The Case for Administrative Abolition.

The abstract is:

In this essay, we argue for administrative abolition, that is, the elimination of all college presidents, provosts, deans and other top level administrators who we argue form a parasitical group that was developed over time in order to exercise both political and financial control over faculty, staff and students. We examine the way that the idea of “shared governance” disguises the de facto dictatorship of administration over faculty self-governance, explore the history of how this power grab took place and furthermore explore alternative forms of faculty self-management in both US history and abroad (especially in Latin America).

Theory & Event, vol. 27 no. 1, 2024, p. 5-29. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/tae.2024.a917791.

You can find the whole paper here. I encourage everyone working in a university to read it.

I’m sure this article will ring true to many academics, besides myself, who dream of a time when universities direct their resources to teaching and research rather than squandering it on the bloated apparatus of management that hinders the very activities it should be supporting.

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Among the Travellers

Posted in Biographical, Cardiff, Education, Maynooth with tags , , , , , , on January 7, 2024 by telescoper

With Nollaig na mBan yesterday that’s the festive season over for me, and time to resume my sabbatical. Joining the crowd of post-Christmas travellers at the airport, today I took my first flight of 2024, complete with last-minute change of gate, apart from which all went perfectly to plan. I won’t be returning to Barcelona immediately, however, as I have a things to do in various different parts of not-Barcelona.

I’m in Cardiff now, where it is fine and dry but very cold, and spending a few days in Cardiff to start with. After that I’ll be taking a train to London to attend a meeting at the Royal Astronomical Society, followed by dinner at the R.A.S Club on Friday 12th January.

Coincidentally, Friday’s dinner is rather appropriately at the Travellers Club, rather than the usual Athenaeum (which is unavailable for some reason). I couldn’t attend any of these occasions between October and December as I was in Barcelona, and for a couple of years. In fact I haven’t been able to attend much at all since the bicentennial dinner in 2020 because of the pandemic and subsequent workload issues. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go to any others this year either, so I’m looking forward to Friday (despite having to pay the arrears on my subscription) because it is the Parish Dinner, when new members are elected. Owing to the arcane complexity of the rules, and the fact that it all happens after the consumption of a great deal of wine, this usually makes for an amusing occasion.

Meanwhile, in Maynooth, preceded by a few days of revision lectures and tutorials, the January examinations start on Friday 12th January too. Students will therefore be returning from their breaks, swapping the Christmas decorations for the austerity of the examination halls. Although I’m not involved in examinations this year, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all students at Maynooth and elsewhere all the best for the forthcoming ordeals, and the same for all academic staff whose ordeal by marking will come in due course…

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Reject the Rankings!

Posted in Education with tags , , , on January 5, 2024 by telescoper

Professor Philip Moriarty of Nottingham University – a former colleague of mine – has written a blog post in protest at his institution’s most recent and most blatant attempts to game the wretched World University Rankings system. I encourage you to read it in its entirety.

Open Letter: We reject the absurd QS/THE World University Rankings

The post will touch a nerve with many colleagues around the world who will want to sign – as I have done – the open letter contained therein which is aimed at persuading not only Nottingham but other universities both in the UK and elsewhere to follow the example of Utrecht and abandon these absurd and meaningless rankings.

To sign the open letter please follow this link and to see a list of signatories see here.

Please sign – and spread the link to – this open letter as widely as possible. I’m sure there are many more academics out there who would be more than happy to sign!

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A Test for Presidential Plagiarism

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , , , , on January 3, 2024 by telescoper

I was shocked today to hear the news that Claudine Gay has resigned from her post as President of Harvard University amid allegations of plagiarism.

I think we can all agree that plagiarism is a serious form of misconduct that constitutes a breach of academic integrity and, as such, should be punished wherever it is found. But just how widespread is this kind of unethical behaviour among the leaders of public universities?

Fortunately, I have thought of a simple test to identify Presidential plagiarism, which I encourage academics everywhere to carry out.

One of the documents for which a University President (or Vice Chancellor, or equivalent) is responsible is their institution’s Strategic Plan, which normally carries their Leader’s signature on the front page.

If you work in a University, therefore, all you need to do is run this document through the plagiarism detector Turnitin. This will compare the document with others available on the internet and produce a similarity report indicating how much of it has been copied from elsewhere. If the document is found to have been significantly plagiarized, then your President (or Vice Chancellor, or equivalent) should be forced to resign.

This simple test will probably lead to many so-called leaders being removed from office so, as well as improving academic integrity, it will also save institutions a great deal of money in salary costs. It’s a win-win situation for all (except perhaps for the ex-Presidents).

P.S. Please feel free to copy this idea.

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