Since the repeat examination period at Maynooth University starts today, Wednesday 6th August, I thought’d I’d send a quick message for students taking one or more exams…
Archive for the Maynooth Category
Good Luck in Your Repeat Exams!
Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags Examinations, Maynooth University, Repeat examinations, Resit examinations on August 6, 2025 by telescoperAutumn Repeats
Posted in Education, History, Maynooth with tags Autumn, Institute of Physics, Lá Lúnasa, Lúnasa, Maynooth University, Repeat examinations on August 5, 2025 by telescoperAs I mentioned yesterday, it is almost time for the repeat examination period to begin once again. In fact the first papers are due tomorrow (6th August). A couple of years ago, Maynooth University produced this nice good luck message for those resitting so I’ll repeat it here:
I was a bit surprised when I first arrived here in Ireland that the August repeat examinations are called the Autumn Repeats. After all, they happen in August which is generally regarded as summer rather than Autumn. The term is, I think, a relic of the old Celtic calendar in which the start of Autumn coincides with the start of harvesting, the old festival of Lúnasa being when people celebrated the Celtic deity Lugh, who would bring a good harvest or who, if not satisfied, could bring his wrath to bear in storms that would mess everything up. Lúnasa is the name for August in modern Irish; Lá Lúnasa is 1st August, and the first Monday in August (Lá Saoire i mí Lúnasa) (yesterday) is a Bank Holiday.
Anyway, the repeat examinations start tomorrow and go on for ten days or so, I will have four different papers to grade, though I’m expecting only one candidate each for three of them.
Every year at this time I mention the difference between the system of repeats in Maynooth compared to other institutions with which I am familiar, especially in the UK. Elsewhere, students generally take resits when, because they have failed one or more examinations the previous May, they have not accumulated sufficient credits to proceed to the next year of their course. Passing the resit allows them to retrieve lost credit, but their mark is generally capped at a bare pass (usually 40%). That means the student gets the credit they need for their degree but their average (which determines whether they get 1st, 2nd or 3rd class Honours) is affected. This is the case unless a student has extenuating circumstances affecting the earlier examination, such as bad health or family emergency, in which case they take the resit as a `sit’, i.e. for the first time with an uncapped mark.
Here in Maynooth, however, the mark obtained in a repeat examination is usually not capped. Indeed, some students – though not many – elect to take the repeat examination even if they passed earlier in the summer, in order to increase their average mark.
Some people don’t like the idea of uncapped repeats because they feel that it would lead to many students playing games, i.e. deliberately not taking exams in May with the intention of spreading some of their examination load into August. The Institute of Physics has decided to impose capped resits as part of its accreditation requirements. Some people here seem to think IOP accreditation is worth having so we’re being pushed into that requirement. I find it heavy-handed and unhelpful. It is also unimportant unless you want to do postgraduate study in physics in the UK. It doesn’t matter at all anywhere else.
If you think students have an unfair advantage if they don’t take a full diet of examinations in May, then the logical conclusion is that part-time students have an unfair advantage as do students taking micro-credentials consisting of just one or two modules. It’s the essence of the modular system that each module result should be considered on its own merit, not in relation to other modules a student may or may not have taken at the same time. One can of course argue whether the modular system is good or not, but if you have it then you should act consistently in accordance with it. You wouldn’t penalize students who have to work to support their study relative to those who don’t, would you?
And there’s no real evidence of students actually playing the system in the way the IOP thinks they do anyway. For one thing the results from the repeat examination period are not confirmed until early September so that students that deploy this strategy do not know whether they are going to be able to start their course until just a couple of weeks before term. That could cause lots of problems securing accommodation, etc, so it doesn’t seem to me to be a good ploy. Finallists adopting this strategy will not be able to graduate with the rest of their cohort and may miss several months of potential employment. I think most of our students are smart enough to realize that it’s a risky strategy.
Anyway, I’d welcome comments for or against whether resits/repeats should be capped/uncapped and on what practice is adopted in your institution.
Lá Saoire i mí Lúnasa
Posted in Biographical, Education, mathematics, Maynooth with tags Lá Saoire i mí Lúnasa, Lugh, Lughnasadh, Maynooth University, Storm Floris on August 4, 2025 by telescoperToday, Monday 4th August 2024, being the first Monday in August, is a Bank Holiday in Ireland. This holiday was created by the Bank Holiday Act of 1871 when Ireland was under British rule. While the August Bank holiday was subsequently moved to the end of August in England and Wales, it has remained at the start of August in Ireland.
We have had some proper Bank Holiday weather, in the form of Storm Floris. Although the worst of this passed to the West of Maynooth, the winds were powerful enough to blow one of my wheelie bins over.
As I mentioned last week, the first day of August marks the old pagan festival of Lughnasadh, named after the God Lugh, on which is celebrated the beginning of the harvest season. This coincides with the English Lammas Day, one of many Christian festivals with pagan origins. Traditionally this is the start of the harvest season and is celebrated accordingly, with rites involving the first fruit and bread baked from flour obtained from the first corn. It is also one of the cross-quarter days, lying roughly half-way between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere).
I’m reminded that this time last year I was still on sabbatical. That seems like ages ago. When I resumed teaching last September I had to teach two modules I’d never taught before: a fourth-year Mathematical physics course on Differential Equations and Complex Analysis and a second-year Engineering Mathematics course. This time should be a bit easier as I get to do both of these again. Over the year I also had a final-year undergraduate project student and an MSc student. Both have been a pleasure to work with. The Masters course lasts a calendar year so that one isn’t quite finished, but the deadline for handing in their dissertation is close, next Monday (11th) in fact.
After I return to work tomorrow the next big item on the agenda is the repeat examination period, which starts on Wednesday August 6th. The fates have conspired to require me to be “on call” for four papers next Saturday (two of my own and two covering for a colleague): three of these are scheduled at 12.30 and the other one at 15.30 so I’l have to be by the phone all afternoon in case any matters arise. I also have three others scattered through the approximately ten days of the examination period.
After the repeat examinations are done, the marks uploaded, and the Examination Board has done its work, the next job will be to prepare for the new intake of students. This year’s Leaving Certificate results will be announced on Friday 22nd August, at which point we’ll see how many students (if any) we have studying Physics next academic year which, if all goes to plan, will be my antepenultimate…
Weekend Water Worries
Posted in Biographical, Maynooth with tags Maynooth, Uisce Éireann on August 3, 2025 by telescoperMy heart sank a little last week when I received notice that Uisce Éireann would be doing major repairs to a main water pipeline in the Greater Dublin area over this bank holiday weekend. The planned works involved replacing an entire section of one of the main water pipelines, which would potentially disrupt the supply to a wide area, as demonstrated on this map:
Only a relatively small area was to have its drinking water supply cut off entirely, but residents in the rest of the shaded area above (which includes Maynooth) were requested to conserve water so as not to use up all the water already in the system that would not be replenished while the main was being replaced and a warning was in place about possible disruption to the water supply. I was worried that this might get very awkward if the works overran. Fair play to Uisce Éireann, though, because the works were completed on time earlier today. I haven’t noticed any disruption at all.
P.S. I have done my bit to help conserve water over the weekend by drinking only wine and beer.
The Astronomer Royal and Royal Astronomers
Posted in Maynooth with tags Andrews Professor of Astronomy, Astronomer Royal, Catherine Heymans, Henry Plummer, Martin Rees, Michelle Dougherty, Royal Astronomer of Ireland on August 1, 2025 by telescoperThe appointment, announced yesterday, of Professor Michelle Dougherty as Astronomer Royal, replacing Professor Martin Rees who has held the title since 1995, has prompted me to make a couple or three pedantic comments.
First the BBC story announcing this appointment is headlined:
This is actually incorrect. Last time I looked, Scotland was still part of the United Kingdom, and Scotland has its own Astronomer Royal. That position has been held since 2021 by Catherine Heymans. Technically, therefore, the first female Astronomer Royal was Catherine not Michelle.
Anyway, yesterday’s news made me look up a few things about the Astronomer Royals. One thing that is interesting (to me) is that the position of Astronomer Royal for Scotland has only existed since 1834, which is not only well after the Act of Union 1707 that joined Scotland, England and Wales in Great Britain, but also after the Act of Union 1800 that joined Ireland and Great Britain into the United Kingdom. The position of Astronomer Royal to which Michelle Dougherty has been appointed was founded in 1675. The UK didn’t have an Astronomer Royal between 1675 and 1800, however, but because the United Kingdom didn’t exist in this period!
More importantly this got me thinking about the situation in Ireland. In fact there was a position called Royal Astronomer of Ireland, which was created in 1783, before the Act of Union 1800. This position was coupled with the Andrews Professorship of Astronomy and was held by the Director of Dunsink Observatory. The most famous holder of these positions was William Rowan Hamilton.
This arrangement was similar to that in Scotland in that, until 1995, the position of Astronomer Royal for Scotland was coupled to the Regius Professorship of Astronomy at Edinburgh University and the Directorship of the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, but these were decoupled when the Royal Observatories were reorganized. The position of Astronomer Royal for Scotland was actually vacant for five years during this time. Malcolm Longair held the post from 1980 to 1990, but John Brown did not take up the office until 1995.
This situation in Ireland is a bit more extreme than this. The last Royal Astronomer for Ireland was Henry Plummer – best known for the Plummer sphere. He was an Englishman and he resigned and returned to England in 1921, the year the War of Independence ended. To cut a long story short the Anglo-Irish Treaty which ended the War of Independence created a “Free State” that still had the British monarch as Head. There could therefore have been a Royal Astronomer in Ireland after 1921, but none was ever appointed. I suppose there were other priorities at the time. The Republic of Ireland was created in 1949 and the Andrews Professorship was subsequently revived in 1981 but more than a century on, the position of Royal Astronomer remains in abeyance.
You might think it obvious that the Republic of Ireland should no longer have a Royal Astronomer, but many Royal things do linger here: there are the Royal Irish Academy*, the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal Dublin Society (RDS); and the Royal Canal runs through Maynooth, where there is also a Royal City Korean Barbecue.
*The Royal Irish Academy is the Irish equivalent of the Royal Society (except that Elon Musk is not a fellow). Some years ago it held a public consultation about modernisation. My input was that I thought the name was antiquated and irrelevant and I could think of no possible objection to renaming it the Irish Republication Academy.
Maynooth University Library Cat Update
Posted in Maynooth with tags Maynooth University Library Cat on July 29, 2025 by telescoperOn my way through South Campus this morning I saw Maynooth University Library Cat on his post, a sure indication that he wanted to be fed. I therefore took an item from his larder and did the honours…
The post concerned is just to the left…
Global Talent Ireland
Posted in Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags Global Talent Ireland, research, Research Ireland on July 18, 2025 by telescoperThe Government of Ireland has just announced details of a scheme called Global Talent Ireland. Full details of the scheme can be found here but, in a nutshell, the scheme aims to attract exceptional mid-career and established researchers from across the globe to Ireland. Researchers funded through this programme are required to transfer their research activities from their current location to any Eligible Research Body in Ireland. Given its commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, Research Ireland welcomes applications from women and those from historically underserved communities.
The programme budget includes the resources to build a research team (e.g., staff, consumables and travel) to carry out high-impact, world-class research, and additional start-up costs to support the researcher’s move to Ireland. These positions are available for any area of research supported by Research Ireland.
The programme comprises two streams: Rising Stars and Research Leaders. High level details are outlined in the table below:
The timescale for this is very short (as the window lies in the vacations for people likely to be recruited). In the case of Maynooth, which I assume is an Eligible Research Body, there is a first-stage internal process for Expressions of Interest to be completed by 29th July (i.e. less than two weeks away). There is then a selection for submissions to be forwarded to the Government by August 28th 2025.
As the timescale is so short I would ask anyone interested in taking up such a position in the Department of Physics at Maynooth University to contact me as soon as possible, as both the Head of Department and Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering are away at the moment. Ireland’s recent decision to join CERN as well as membership of the European Southern Observatory and the European Space Agency might be good strategic grounds for an application.
Those interested in other areas of research would be advised to contact the relevant Departments as soon as possible. The selection process is bound to be very competitive, but you can’t win the prize if you don’t buy a ticket!
Maynooth University Library Cat Update
Posted in Maynooth with tags cat, Maynooth University, Maynooth University Library Cat on July 14, 2025 by telescoperThough not as warm as it has been over the last few days, today still found Maynooth University Library Cat in need of a siesta. There aren’t many students around these days so he’s not disturbed by so many people wanting to pet him, and was sound asleep in a shady spot when I passed by this afternoon.
How to Hold your Hurley
Posted in Cricket, GAA, Maynooth with tags Cork, Dublin, GAA, Hurling, Kilkenny, Tipperary on July 6, 2025 by telescoperThis is a big weekend for fans of hurling, as we have reached the semi-final stage of the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Yesterday Cork trounced Dublin by 7-26 to 2-21. I’ve never seen such a high scoring game at the top level, nor a margin as large as 20 points (a goal is worth 3 points)! Though not expected by many to progress, Dublin had deservedly beaten Limerick in the quarter-finals but they were never in the game yesterday.
The other semi-final takes place this afternoon at 4pm, and is between Kilkenny and Tipperary. Which of these will meet Cork in the Final? We’ll soon find out!
Update: it was another high scoring match, finishing Kilkenny 0-30 to Tipperary’s 4-20, so Tipperary won by 2 points (with a goal in the last minute). The All Ireland Final will therefore be between Cork and Tipperary.
Both semi-finals are held at Croke Park, as is the final. Many supporters come through Maynooth on their way to these matches, as we’re on the train line that goes into Dublin Connolly via Drumcondra (the nearest station to Croke Park). There is an arrangement by which supporters can park their cars at the GAA ground in Maynooth and take the train, as there is no chance of parking near Croke Park.
Yesterday evening I needed to do a quick trip to the shops and ran into a crowd of returning Cork supporters who had just arrived by train. Most fans were in very good humour (unsurprisingly) but a few were very much the worse for drink: one young lad had passed out on the footpath and concerned pedestrians called an ambulance; over the road at the bus terminus Gardaí were dealing with a drunk and aggressive person; and in Supervalu a hopelessly inebriated bloke staggered into the off-licence part to get more booze but ended up falling over and dropping the cans he had picked up, with one bursting and making a mess all over the floor.
Anyway, none of this is to do with the intended subject of this post. Cork’s victory yesterday reminded me of a little bit of hurling information that I found interesting, concerning the way to hold the hurley. Having been brought up on a different bat-and-ball game (cricket), I was surprised to learn that in hurling you are supposed to hold the bat the wrong way round! What I mean by that is that in cricket the batter holds the bat with the dominant hand at the bottom of the handle near the blade and the other hand at the top. For illustration, here’s a forward defensive shot played by a right-hander:
For illustration, on the left, there’s a forward defensive shot played by a right-hander. You can see the left hand at the top of the handle and the right hand near the bottom. Shots like this are played predominatly with the bat moving in a vertical plane, guided by the left hand with the right hand guiding the direction. A hook or pull shot is played with the same grip but swinging the bat across the body from right to left with more bottom hand.
When I was at school I tried batting left-handed in the nets. It was quite interesting. I found I could play defensive shots equally well that way as with my usual right-handed stance, but I couldn’t play attacking shots very well at all.
It’s the same arrangement in baseball (or rounders, as we call it on this side of the Atlantic). The batter will hold the bat with their weaker hand nearer the end of the handle, i.e. towards the thin end.
On the other hand (!), a hurler holds the hurley the other way round. On the right you can see a hurler at the ready position, with his right hand at the top of the handle and the left hand near the blade. When striking the sliotar (ball), the hands are moved closer together. Holding the end of the hurley in the dominant hand means that more strength can be applied when reaching away from the body with one hand, something that isn’t really done in cricket. The typical long-range strike of the sliotar is rather like a hook shot in cricket, except it’s played the opposite way across the body.
Here’s a video:
This seems very unnatural if you have been brought up to use the opposite basic grip, which explains why so many struggled even to hit the sliotar at the practice at the EAS Social Dinner in Cork a couple of weeks ago. In Ireland, however, kids learn to play hurling when they’re still in kindergarten so this is instilled at a very early age.
40 Years a Graduate
Posted in Biographical, Education, Maynooth with tags Cambridge University, Magdalene College on July 4, 2025 by telescoperThe summer examinations at Maynooth being over and the finalists having received their degree results I was reminded that I’d missed the anniversary of my own graduation. The main reason for that is that I couldn’t remember the date. I thought it was in July, actually, but rummaging through my files reminded me that it was on Saturday 22nd June 1985. Maynooth graduands will have to wait until September at the earliest for their conferring ceremony.
The degree certificate, incidentally, is not at all fancy. The only thing that surprised me about it was that it’s not in Latin!
The one I got when I collected my DPhil from Sussex University is far more elaborate. It’s also worth mentioning that although I did Natural Sciences (specialising in Theoretical Physics), the degree I got was Bachelor of Arts.
I don’t remember much about the Cambridge graduation, perhaps because the previous evening (Friday 21st June) we were plied with alcohol at the MacFarlarne-Grieve Dinner (a special event for graduands), then finished up in The Pickerel, the closest pub to the College. Our ceremony started at 9.15am and I wasn’t the only person graduating with a hangover.
The whole ceremony was dpme in Latin (or was when I graduated) and involved each graduand holding a finger held out by their College’s Praelector and then kneeling down in front of the presiding dignitary, i.e. either the Vice-Chancellor or Deputy Vice-Chancellor. I can’t remember which. The magic formula that turns a graduand into a graduate is:
Auctoritate mihi commissa admitto te ad gradum Baccalaurei in Artibus, in nomine Patris et Filii at Spiritus Sanctii
Other than that, and the fact that the graduands had to walk to the Senate House from their College through the streets of Cambridge, I don’t remember much about the actual ceremony.
After the ceremony we returned to Magdalene College for a garden party. I found this quite stressful, because my parents had divorced some years before and my Mum had re-married. My Dad wouldn’t speak to her or her second husband. At the garden party, the two parts of my family occupied positions at opposite corners of the lawn and I scuttled between them trying to keep everyone happy. It was like that for the rest of the day and I was glad when it was all over.
Anyway, the following October I started as a research student at the University of Sussex doing a Doctorate in Philosophy. I finished my thesis in 1988. Those three years were hard work but, on the whole, very enjoyable. I have a similar length of time in front of me before I retire. By the end I’ll have had 40 years in higher education (29 in the UK and 11 in Ireland). Hopefully, by then I’ll have figured out what to do when I leave University.
In the Dark 