Research on school bullying, climate change and Brexit honoured at DCU Research and Impact Awards 2021
The 2021 President’s Awards for Research and Impact were presented to recipients from across the university who have been involved in ground-breaking research in areas including school bullying, climate change, children’s play, natural language processing, trust in the workplace and Brexit.
The Awards for Research are presented for outstanding achievement and research excellence over an extended period, while the Awards for Impact are presented in recognition of research work, often a single project, that has had a significant impact on society.
This year’s recipients of the President’s awards for Research are as follows:
Early Career Researcher Category: Dr Lisa van der Werff, DCU Business School, for her work on ‘Building Positive Workplace Relationships: Trust Development in our Relationships with Coworkers, Organisations and Technology’. All three of Lisa’s nominators commented on her outstanding impact on the field of trust research, establishing her as a world class scholar on trust in an organisational context.
Science, Engineering and Computing Category: Prof Gareth Jones, School of Computing, for his work on the project ‘Information retrieval from digital archives for a better informed society’. Gareth is a world-class researcher, internationally recognised for his sustained record of contributions in the computing discipline of information retrieval and related areas including multimedia technologies, natural language processing, human-computer interaction and location-based information.
Humanities, Business, Education Category: Prof Federico Fabbrini, School of Law and Government and Director of the DCU Brexit Institute. Federico is one of the world’s leading authorities in European fundamental rights, economic governance, and the law and politics of Brexit. His establishment of the Brexit Institute has placed the University at the centre of the crucial debate about Brexit in all its guises.
This year's recipients of the President's Awards for Impact are:
Prof James O’Higgins Norman, National Anti Bullying Research and Resource Centre and UNESCO Chair on Tackling Bullying in Schools and Cyberspace, for his work on school bullying, which has broadened the existing scope of the field in that he recognised that bullying is not only a phenomenon that occurs between individuals of unequal power, but in fact it occurs within a wider set of social and institutional structures and relationships. The impact of his research and the research of many others in DCU’s National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre is clearly seen in the FUSE Anti-Bullying and Online Safety Programme, a research based project, inspired by James, that translates the work of the Centre into a suite of resources developed to support teachers, parents, and children in bullying prevention and intervention.
Dr Carol Barron, School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, for her project ‘From participation to Policy: Implementing children and adolescents voice in county wide Play and Recreation Policies’. Carol’s research with children and adolescents across Ireland focuses on enabling them to articulate their play and recreation needs using innovative and creative participatory research methodologies. Carol is Ireland’s leading researcher in the area of children’s play and it is anticipated that her research will continue to impact policy and its implementation for many years to come.
Dr Diarmuid Torney, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences - School of Law and Government, for his project ‘Research to underpin the strengthening of Ireland’s climate change law.’ The amended Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill recently presented by the Irish government is, in some respects, the most ambitious such legislation in the world. Ireland’s change from embarrassing laggard to potential world-leader owes much to Diarmuid Torney. We can see Diarmuid’s influence on our climate law by comparing his proposals with the draft, his language with the language of policy makers, and noting his meetings with and presentations to the politicians and officials who drafted the bill. It is hard to imagine work with a greater and clearer impact than Diarmuid’s.
Speaking at a virtual event to celebrate the awardees, DCU President Professor Daire Keogh, said:
“The global challenge of COVID-19 and the rapid development of vaccines has underlined the vital importance of research and the impact it has on all our lives. In that context, these awards are a welcome opportunity to recognise the excellence of DCU’s researchers, and to celebrate the positive changes that DCU research is helping to bring about.”
Congratulating the award recipients, Prof Greg Hughes, Vice President for Research and Innovation at DCU, added: "This year’s awardees come from across the 5 Faculties reflecting both the breadth and depth of the research scholarship within our research community."