A few people have asked me about Maynooth University Library Cat (or Séamus as some people call him). I paid said feline a visit just yesterday, actually, but I could see he was busy, so I didn’t disturb him.
Archive for the Maynooth Category
Maynooth University Library Cat Update
Posted in Maynooth with tags Maynooth, Maynooth University Library Cat on August 23, 2023 by telescoperDeliverance at Maynooth
Posted in Maynooth with tags Governing Authority, Maynooth University on August 22, 2023 by telescoper
Just time for a quick update about the saga of Maynooth University’s Governing Authority. Today the current Governing Authority met in an emergency session. An email went around to all staff just after 7pm this afternoon from its Chair. The message begins:
Following a meeting of the Maynooth University Governing Authority (GA) today, I am writing to let you know that GA has changed its decision on the formation of the next GA to a process by which all five of the internal members will be elected by MU staff.
Thank you to Maynooth IFUT for mobilizing the academic community in Maynooth so well. And thank you to everyone who signed the petition. It just shows what can happen when you get organized. To be honest, I didn’t think GA would back down, and feared instead a full-scale industrial dispute might be looming. Fortunately, GA has seen sense and we have been spared that. However, the famous words of Churchill
We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory.
The University can now move forward, at least until the next crisis…
Two Views of the Ring Nebula
Posted in Cardiff, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags arXiv:2308.09027, JWST, M57, MIRI, NGC 6720, NIRCAM, Patrick Kavanagh, Planetary Nebula, Ring Nebula, Roger Wesson on August 22, 2023 by telescoperIt’s very nice to have an opportunity, courtesy of JWST, to congratulate astronomers from my current institution (Maynooth, Ireland) and my previous one (Cardiff, UK) – as well as many others – or their involvement in stunning new observations of the Ring Nebula (aka M57 and NGC 6720), a planetary nebula. There is a full story on the Maynooth University website here detailing the involvement of Dr Patrick Kavanagh in the processing of the images and another on the Cardiff University website here about Dr Roger Wesson, who led the programme. Not surprisingly there has been a lot of news coverage about these wonderful images obtained with the NIRCam and MIRI instruments on JWST here in Ireland and in Wales and elsewhere.
A particular excuse for reproducing the pictures here is to try out the fancy “image comparison” tool on WordPress, which allows the reader – that’s you – to slide one picture over the other. Have a go!
The full paper describing these observations can be found on the arXiv here.
A Dublin Metro?
Posted in Biographical, Maynooth with tags Dublin, Maynooth, MetroLink on August 21, 2023 by telescoperI have to do a bit of travelling in the second half of this week so I spent a bit of time today planning the trip, the easiest and quickest route seeming to be a bus from Maynooth to Heuston Station in Dublin and then a train from there. The only alternative, given that I don’t have a car, would have been a train to Connolly and a coach from Busáras, which would be cheaper but far slower.
Thinking about travelling it occurred to me that if I’d still been living in Cardiff I would have qualified for a free bus pass by now. I’ll have to wait until I’m 66 to get one here.
Coincidentally, when I got home I saw a news item that a team had been assembled to oversee the construction of the Dublin Metrolink. There’s nothing to get too excited about this news, as the project hasn’t yet got planning permission, and will take “6-8 years” to complete if and when it does. I’d be surprised if it’s done by 2035, actually. The question is whether it will really be a useful complement to the Irish Rail, DART, LUAS and bus services that exist already.
However, this is what it will look like:
As you can see, it’s basically North-South. The one obvious advantage is that it will at last provide a proper public transport link from the city to the airport, the lack of which is a national embarrassment.
Another thing of personal interest is the proposed new Glasnevin Station:
The Glasnevin MetroLink station is one of the most significant stations on the route. It is situated beside Cross Gunns Bridge and the Royal Canal, with a new Irish Rail station serving the Maynooth, Sligo and Kildare lines and BusConnects will also have stops close by.The complexity of the construction of this station is formidable as the aim will be to minimise the impact on Irish Rail services which is a vital part of the national rail network.
Oh dear. I sense years of rail replacement bus services and/or other disruptions if it goes ahead, and that there will be many planning objections before it even starts. If it does come to construction work, I suppose it will be easier for me to get the bus into Dublin while all that is going on. On the other hand, a link from the Maynooth line via MetroLink to St Stephen’s Green will be handy for concerts at the National Concert Hall. All of which assumes that I’m still around when this is finished, of course.
This reminds me of my trip to Copenhagen earlier this year, where I found their much more complex Metro system finished. I don’t remember how long I’ve been visiting that city and see extensive building work to do with the Metro, especially at Kongens Nytorv.
Defend Democracy at Maynooth!
Posted in Education, Maynooth, Pedantry with tags Governing Authority, IFUT, Maynooth University on August 20, 2023 by telescoper
A few weeks ago I blogged about the decision by the Management of Maynooth University to scrap elections to the Governing Authority of the University. This was a shock to me and many other members of the Faculty at Maynooth and elsewhere. Coming out of the pandemic, during which we all undertook countless hours of unpaid overtime to keep the University going, I think we have the right to expect more from the Management than this expression of outright contempt. If the proposal is accepted, I fear much worse things are in store.
In response, the union IFUT, of which I am a member, started a petition protesting against this decision which now has over a thousand signatures.
We call on Maynooth University to reverse their decision to instigate selection and to restore the democratic election process for all five staff representatives on the Governing Authority.
The decision by MU’s Governing Authority and senior management to replace democratic elections with a selection process, whereby they assume, with the assistance of a private recruitment firm, the responsibility of handpicking staff representatives, is an attack on basic principles of democracy and good governance.
I agree with this wholeheartedly, and have signed the petition. If you agree please consider signing the petition too. You don’t have to be at Maynooth to sign it, nor even in Ireland. The issue faced here is far wider than one institution. It’s about the fundamental issue how a public university should be governed. Maynooth needs to learn that the institution should be run by consent and not coercion. A deliberate policy of alienating the academic, administrative and other support staff that make a university what it is is not the way forward.
The current Governing Authority is holding an emergency meeting on Tuesday 22nd August, to consider the mess created by University leadership. It has a simple way out. Scrap the current plan and allow all five internal representatives to be elected. What can be controversial about that? The Management has failed to articulate any argument against elections other than, apparently, that it considers them “old-fashioned”. Insisting on selection versus election they have also refused to explain how the selection process would work. What is to stop the President loading the GA with Vice-Presidents that she herself appointed?
There’s a an article in today’s Sunday Independent that reports on the outcome of an IFUT meeting held last Friday in which members were unanimous in supporting elections for all staff representatives on the GA. It’s now up to the Governing Authority to decide whether it wants a functioning university or not.
Weird Matter at MU!
Posted in Maynooth, Talks and Reviews, The Universe and Stuff with tags ITP2023, Maynooth University on August 19, 2023 by telescoperI mentioned a while ago that Maynooth University is hosting a theoretical physics meeting early next month, from September 6th to 8th; for details see here. It has been decided that there will be a couple of public evening lectures as a double-header on the first night of the conference. One of the speakers is me. Technically I’ll be on sabbatical from September 1st but I’ve delayed my travels to allow me to ive this talk. Anyway, the advert is here:
You can join us for this “evening of science celebrating the weird and wonderful ways that matter can manifest in our universe” by getting a ticket at Eventbrite below.
Tickets are free but you do need to register in advance!
Winding Up
Posted in Biographical, Education, Maynooth with tags Examinations, Maynooth, Repeat examinations, sabbatical on August 16, 2023 by telescoperThis morning, we held the last meeting this academic year of the Departmental Examination Board to look over the results of the recent repeat examinations ahead of the final upload this afternoon. That having been satisfactorily completed, I have now finished my teaching-related duties for this academic year. I start a year’s sabbatical on 1st September, so I won’t be attending more Exam Boards for a while!
Another loose end to be dealt with was the Departmental Twitter account, which I have been running. Twitter is really terrible these days and I have decided to deactivate my own personal account entirely on 31st August. The departmental account probably should stay open, so this afternoon I transferred its controls to our Departmental Adminstrator. Just before doing so, I realised that the password was a bit rude, so I quickly changed it to something more presentable before handing it over to avoid embarrassment.
If you want to follow that account, by the way, you can!
All I have left to do now is remove a few personal things from my office for whoever uses it next academic year. I’ve got plenty of time to do that, although I will be away for part of next week (way down South, in Cork).
Tonight, however, although it’s a school night, I think I’ll celebrate by having a little drink and watching the Super Cup Final between Man City and Sevilla the telly box. Cheers!
Break Points
Posted in Biographical, Education, Maynooth with tags Maynooth University, President, Repeat examinations, Staff Climate and Culture Survey on August 11, 2023 by telescoperWell, that’s one reasonably large set of tasks finished. Today I completed the grading of my repeat examinations. The marks are now checked and uploaded to the system. For good measure, I also checked the marking of a few papers done by other staff. So that’s all done and dusted in time for a meeting of the Examination Board next week at which we’ll peruse the outcomes.
It’s strange to think that this will be the last set of examinations I have to correct until January 2025. I’m away on sabbatical from September 1st 2023 until 31st August 2024 so have no teaching duties until the First Semester of 2024, with examinations coming the following January. Although I realize the assessment of student learning is important, setting and marking examinations is not something that I greatly enjoy so it will be very nice to have a break from it.
Earlier this week the President of Maynooth University sent around a missive to all staff about the news that had leaked out about the proposed merger with Dundalk IT. That email referred twice to the “summer break”. It is ironic that such wording should be used right in the middle of repeat examination period. The last few weeks certainly haven’t felt like a break to me! It’s yet another indication of the gulf between the view that Senior Management have of academic life and the reality.
By the way, the aforementioned Presidential circular promised that staff would be fully updated in the Autumn about the proposed merger. I hope in this new spirit of openness the President will also update staff about the outcomes of the “Staff Climate and Culture Survey” which was carried out in 2022. The promise was made then that results would be published in early 2023. No such results have ever been communicated to staff and all mention of this survey has been wiped off the University’s web pages.
Having finished exam marking duties for the academic year, my attention will now turn to other things to be done before I take off for sabbatical land. Next week I have cleared the decks to complete a paper I’ve been struggling over for a long time. Just before the repeat examinations started I spotted the error that was holding me back, so hopefully it will now all fall quickly into place. I’ll be very happy if I can get that submitted before leaving.
In the mean time, though, it’s time for a wine break. Cheers!
Morale, Managerialism and Money
Posted in Maynooth with tags Conrad Brunstrom, Managerialism, Maynooth University on August 10, 2023 by telescoperJust so you don’t think I’m the only member of academic staff at Maynooth University who is desperately worried about the management shenanigans going on here, I am reblogging this blog piece by Conrad Brunstrom.
I suggest you read the whole article, and urge you to sign the petition therein, but here is a sentence that leapt out at me:
The morale of a university suffers when a fissure opens up between those who teach and research and those who “manage”.
An additional negative effect on morale arises when one sees teaching loads increasing and departmental resources being cut at an institution that already has the highest student-staff ratio in Ireland, and the University’s only response is to create new managerial positions all over the place. Every euro spent on “managers” is money taken away from teaching and research. Just this week we saw this one and this one. The advertisements for these positions both include
Maynooth University, a place of research and learning for over 15,000 students and almost 1,300 staff, is one of the fastest growing third level institutions on the island of Ireland, with ambitious plans for the future of its campus. The University’s campus master plan envisions the expansion and enhancement of the university estate to host over 20,000 students in a vibrant learning environment, supporting world-class research, outstanding teaching and learning, and a vivid cultural and sporting life, in a rich, diverse, green and sustainable campus. The University not only envisions major developments in the physical facilities and infrastructure of the campus, but also significant changes in how it is operated and used.
I have no idea where the number 20,000 has come from, nor how the Maynooth campus is going to accommodate this number of students, as it is already bursting at the seams. An increase on this scale will require a huge uplift in numbers of teaching staff, if we are not to collapse under the burden. The only argument I can see is that we need to have more students so we can support the dead weight of bloated management, under which we will be required to struggle.
ITP 2023 at Maynooth
Posted in Biographical, Education, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff on August 9, 2023 by telescoper
I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment with marking repeat examinations but, now that I have three packs done and only one to go, I thought I’d do a quick advertisement for a little meeting that takes place in Maynooth about a month from now. This is the annual Irish Theoretical Physics (ITP) Meeting which takes place in a different location in Ireland each yea. Last year it was at DIAS in Dublin; this year it’s Maynooth’s turn.
In the pat these meetings have been given different names, including Irish Quantum Foundations (IQF) and Irish Quantum Field Theory (IQFT), as well as ITP. For this reason I usually refer to it as ITPQF+…
You can find out more about the meeting here, including instructions on how to register should you wish to do so! The detailed scientific programme will be announced in due course, though there is a rumour that I might be giving a public talk on the first evening.
In the Dark 