| 2000 |
|
YEAR BOOK |
| New Science Secretary elected at the Royal Irish Academy |
Royal Irish Academy
Professor James A. Slevin graduated with a BSc degree from The Queen's University of Belfast in 1962 and from CUNY (New York) with a PhD in 1970. He lectured at the University of Stirling (1970-85) before returning to Ireland in 1985 to become Professor of Experimental Physics at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. His research interest is in Atomic Physics and he has collaborative programmes of research at CERN, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and at University College, London. He has been a member of the Royal Irish Academy since 1991 and is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and a member of the American Physical Society.
In the last year Professor Slevin has been to the fore in the Academy's efforts to tackle the very serious problem of the declining number of students taking physics and chemistry at second and third levels. In September 1999 he convened a meeting at Academy House involving all the universities, the Department of Education and Science and the relevant state bodies to discuss potential solutions to this problem. Following on from that meeting, a sub-committee was formed which drafted a document that advocated the establishment of a task force to tackle this multi-dimensional problem and implement a comprehensive range of solutions. The document containing these recommendations was well received by the Department for Education for Science and it is hoped that the proposed solutions will be implemented in the course of the coming year.
The objectives of the new Science Secretary at the Academy are as many and varied as the challenges that face Irish science. During his term of office he wants the Academy:
-
To raise the profile of science amongst the general public and help the non-scientist to understand the beneficial impact of science and technology on their day-to-day lives.
-
To encourage and assist the National Committees for Physics and Chemistry and the National Commission for the Teaching of Physics in their development of initiatives to interest the young in the physical sciences.
-
To increase scientists' awareness of science-related issues and subjects that are of concern to the public.
-
To co-ordinate opinion amongst the various interest groups on the government's research policy and to assist in their response to declining standards in education.
Professor Slevin's election coincides with the re-appointment of the Academy's twenty national science committees/commissions. The academic disciplines covered include Astronomy and Space Research, Biochemistry, Biology, Microbiology, Hydrobiology, Chemistry, Engineering Sciences, Radio Science, Geodesy and Geophysics, Geography, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Nutritional Sciences, Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. The aim of each national committee is to co-ordinate and promote its academic discipline throughout the island of Ireland and to provide a national adhering body for Irish membership of the international academic union in the relevant academic discipline. The composition of the national committees is made up of representatives of approved nominating institutions, which can include the universities, institutes of higher education, professional associations and government agencies.
The year ahead is an exciting one for science at the Academy:
-
Following on from the Academy's Millennium Project -
Irish Origins: The genetic history and geography of Ireland
- there will be a major international conference at which the four projects that received funding will report on their research.
-
On 8 March 2001 the Irish sub-committee of the International Union of Radio Science will hold its 11th Symposium at Academy House. The keynote speaker will be Professor Paul Lagasse, Secretary General of the International Union for Radio Science (URSI).
-
The Royal Irish Academy Parsons Medal for Engineering Science, sponsored by Siemens (Ireland) Ltd, will be presented for the first time in Spring 2001. It will be awarded in recognition of outstanding research carried out by a scientist in Ireland under the age of 40.
-
The Academy's forthcoming publications will include:
Volume 11 of the New Survey of Clare Island, which will focus on the island's geology.
Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy will have two special issues on the biology of the Burren (Issue No. 3, 2000) and the proceedings of the W.A. Watts Symposium, 'From Palaeoecology to Conservation' (Issue No. 2, 2001).
Forthcoming from the Biology Seminar Series will be the proceedings of the 1999 seminar, Biological Invaders: the Impact of Exotic Species.
Other publications include
Irish Innovators in Science and Technology edited by Charles Mollan, William Davis & Brendan Finucane,
Science and Engineering in Ireland in 1798 edited by Patrick N. Wyse Jackson, and
Biodiversity: The Irish Dimension edited by Brian S. Rushton
Contact: Pauric Dempsey, Royal Irish Academy,
19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2;
Tel: 01-676-2570; Fax: 01-676-2346;
E-mail: p.dempsey@ria.ie; Web: http://www.ria.ie