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A New Department of Physics

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

My first official day back at work after a year-long sabbatical coincides with the first official day of a new Department of Physics at Maynooth University:

I knew this was happening, of course, and it should have happened years ago. Having two separate Physics Departments at Maynooth was not just an oddity. It required the relatively small number of academic staff across the Departments to undertake a huge amount of duplication in teaching thereby wasting resources and increasing workloads. Even combined together, the total complement of 15 academic staff means that we’re still a very small Department.

There are, therefore, potential benefits in this merger but they will take time to accrue. At the moment it only exists on paper, and staff in the two ex-Departments will have to work out what to do next in terms of coordinating teaching and research. In my opinion this all should have been planned and agreed before going ahead, but here we are. We just have to make the best of the situation presented to us by The Management.

For the time being the New Department is just the two Old Departments in a single wrapper. We were already located side-by-side in the same building, the Science Building so there are no large-scale relocations of staff, at least not yet. All existing courses remain the same as before, too. That’s just as well, really, as we start teaching in three weeks!

That’s not to say that nothing has changed. The number of postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers in the Department of Theoretical Physics has been growing and there was consequently a drastic shortage of office space. My return from sabbatical has involved me being granted an elevated status in the new Department: I’ve been moved upstairs out of the old Theoretical Physics Department to an office in the old Experimental Physics Department.

Here’s a question, though. My contract of employment says that I am employed in the Department of Theoretical Physics. Since that Department no longer exists, do I need a new contract or have I been made redundant?

P.S. I wrote this blog at home before going to the office as this blog remains banned on Maynooth University campus.

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A Time to Offer

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , , , , , , on August 28, 2024 by telescoper

Today is the day that students across Ireland receive offers of places at Third-Level Institutions to start next month; the full set of CAO points required for different courses in different institutions are available in searchable form here and in a more user-friendly interface here. I have been away on sabbatical for a year so have been out of the loop for admissions. In past years I got an idea of how things were going from Open Days, etc, but not this time round.

This is of course just the first round of offers so things may change significantly over the next week or two. Students now have to decide whether to accept their first-round offer or try to change course. They have until next Tuesday to do this. Departments won’t know how many new students they have for a while yet.

The official low-tech results for Maynooth (in the lower right of the page shown above) are here. Minimum points required for Maynooth’s – and indeed Ireland’s – most important course, MH206 Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, are 513 this year, up a from 493 last year. Here’s a graph of how the CAO points for this course have varied over the years since 2010:

The entry level has been rather steady but note that Leaving Certificate grades have been adjusted upwards for the past few years so 500 points in 2024 is not equivalent to the same number in (say) 2016. The above graph doesn’t show how many students were recruited each year either.

MH201 General Science is 350 this year (same as last year); MH204 Physics with Astrophysics is 383 this year, up slightly from 376 last year. MH101 General Arts – the most popular course at Maynooth and indeed in all Ireland – has a first round offer of 307 this year, down from 310 last year. Most courses I have looked at in Maynooth have first-round offers this year similar to or lower than last year. Across all institutions, required points have fallen or remained unchanged for about 57% of courses.

This is interesting because it contrasts with news stories about grade inflation on the Leaving Certificate; I blogged about this here. It is perhaps worth pointing out that the CAO points needed for a course is largely a matter of demand versus capacity rather than academic performance. For the last few years Maynooth University has been recruiting more and more students, putting pressure on accommodation, teaching loads and campus space. It seems likely that the desire to keep this trend going is at least part of the reason for the continued falls in CAO points here. This is probably happening to some extent across the sector, though Maynooth has a more urgent need for more students: to pay for the legions of new managers it has appointed. The race to the bottom will really accelerate when the Covid-era Leaving Certificate adjustment is removed.

Update: here is the traditional supplement from Thursday’s Irish Times:

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Maynooth University Library Cat Update

Posted in Maynooth with tags , on August 13, 2024 by telescoper

I ventured onto Maynooth University Campus today and guess who I found there? He seems fine although he wasn’t exactly a busy bee when I paid him a visit. No doubt he’s taking it easy ahead of the new academic year.

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Maynooth University Library Cat Update

At least he’s keeping himself clean!

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Lá Saoire i mí Lúnasa

Posted in Biographical, Education, mathematics, Maynooth with tags , , , on August 5, 2024 by telescoper

Today, Monday 5th 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. Today is also a Bank Holiday in Scotland, though the Scots have the best of both worlds and have a holiday at the end of August too.

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 marks 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).

It seems to be a tradition in Maynooth that the Bank Holidays in May and August are are adjacent to examinations. This year they start on Wednesday (7th August). I am, however, still on sabbatical so I don’t have any correcting duties. That doesn’t mean I can’t wish all the students taking repeat examinations all the best in their endeavours.

This month is the last of my sabbatical. I officially return to normal duties on 1st September, but that is a Sunday so I won’t return to the office until Monday 2nd September. That is if I have an office. There’s a lot of reorganization going on and currently I don’t know where I’ll be based. At least I know what I’ll be teaching in Semester 1 though: a fourth-year Mathematical physics course on Differential Equations and Complex Analysis and a second-year Engineering Mathematics course. These are not what I would have chosen if I had a free hand (I’d rather teach physics than mathematical methods) but I’ve had it excessively easy for the last year so can’t complain. With a bit of luck I might get a project student or two as well, if the students haven’t forgotten who I am!

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General Science at Maynooth

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , , , , , , , on May 27, 2024 by telescoper

Following on – sort of – from yesterday’s post – here is a little promotional video about the ‘Omnibus’ Bachelor of Science undergraduate course (codename MH201). I have blogged about this course before (e.g. here) but this gives me an opportunity to repeat the salient points.

Currently, most students doing Science subjects here in Maynooth enter on the General Science programme a four-year Omnibus BSc course that involves doing four subjects in the first year, but becoming increasingly specialized thereafter. That’s not unlike the Natural Sciences course I did at Cambridge, except that students at Maynooth can do both Mathematical Physics and Experimental Physics in the first year as separate choices. I’d recommend anyone who wants to do Physics in the long run to do both of these, as they do complement each other. Other possibilities include Chemistry, Computer Science, Biology, etc.

In Year 1 students do four subjects (one of which has to be Mathematics). That is narrowed down to three in Year 2 and two in Year 3. In their final year, students can stick with two subjects for a Joint Honours (Double Major) degree, or specialise in one, for Single Honours.

I like this programme very much because it does not force the students to choose a specialism before they have had a taste of the subject, and that it is flexible enough to accommodate Joint Honours qualifications in, e.g., Theoretical Physics and Mathematics. It also allows us to enrol students onto Physics degrees who have not done Physics or Applied Mathematics as part of the Leaving Certificate.

Anyway, this video features Oisín Davey, who took Mathematical Physics, Experimental Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in his first year. As a matter of fact I taught him in Year 1 (Mechanics & Special Relativity) and Year 2 (Vector Calculus and Fourier Series) but, despite that, as he explains, he has decided to persist with Mathematical Physics. He will be in the final year next academic year, after he returns from his summer in CERN, and I’ll be back from sabbatical.

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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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Maynooth University Library Cat Update

Posted in Maynooth with tags , on May 2, 2024 by telescoper

Quite a few people have asked for an update about Maynooth University Library Cat. I’m not actually in Maynooth right now so can’t pass on first-hand knowledge, but I am informed that said feline is doing fine and yesterday a colleague sent me this picture.

To be honest he looks a bit peeved* that his dish is empty. It is entirely possible, however, that he had been fed several times already before that picture was taken…

*In Irish, the word “peeve” is pronounced “piamh”

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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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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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Mathematical Mystics at Maynooth

Posted in History, mathematics, Maynooth with tags , , , on January 25, 2024 by telescoper

I’m indebted to my colleague David Malone for sending me this small excerpt from an old issue of the Kalendarium of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, dating back to the 1960s, which deals with the appointments of new members of staff

Halfway down you will see a reference to Mathematical Mystics!

This is obviously a mistake. It should of course be Mathematical Psychics Physics. I also think the name of the Mathematical Mystics lecturer should be Tigran Tchrakian. I think these are both transcription errors from somebody’s very bad handwriting! The current Department of Theoretical Physics at Maynooth was formerly known by the title Mathematical Physics.

There are some other points of interest. in Experimental Physics you will find mention of a young Susan Lawlor who is now better known as Susan McKenna-Lawlor, a very eminent astrophysicist who specialized in space instrumentation, now in her eighties.

I’m also amused by the existence of a lecturer in Elocution…

The historical background of St Patrick’s College is that it was primarily a Catholic theological institution (founded in 1795) although it taught secular courses and was a recognized college of the National University of Ireland from 1910. It was only in the mid-1960s that it was opened to lay students, which expanded the numbers considerably. In 1997 that the secular part separated and formed NUI Maynooth (now known by the marketing people as Maynooth University). The remaining theological institution is known as St Patrick’s Pontifical University (or St Patrick’s College or just Maynooth College).

A major role for St Patrick’s College was the training of priests and I suppose it was important that priests should be well spoken, hence the lectures on elocution…

Near the top in connection with Sociology you can see the title An tAth which is the Irish language way of writing the abbreviation “Fr” for “Father”, indicating a priest; “father” is athair and the an is a definite article. Note the lower case t in front of Ath which is an example of prothesis.

Finally, right at the top of the page you can see the name Donal Linehan, which will be familiar to Irish rugby fans but I don’t know if there’s a family connection between the former Ireland intentional who is now a TV commentator and the lecturer in Roman and Civil Law.

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