Academic Taster Lectures

Academic Taster Lectures

DCU academics introduce you to 20 different subject areas from biomedical engineering to biotechnology; language learning to language teaching; global health problems to the glory days of aviation. You will really enjoy these engaging taster sessions. 

The Career Focus sessions bring together professional staff from DCU Alumni and Careers offices and DCU graduates to talk about how a DCU degree prepares you for the workforce, and you’ll get a flavour of the types of career paths our graduates can follow.

Experience a Faculty of Engineering and Computing College Lecture

 

Title of Lecture

An Introduction to Biomedical Engineering

Presenter

Assistant Professor Tanya Levingstone, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Description

Biomedical engineering involves the application of engineering techniques and analyses to problem-solving in medicine and biomedical sciences. This lecture describes the process involved in the design of a medical implant.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

Computer Science in a Nutshell

Presenter

Assistant Professor Murat Yilmaz, School of Computing

Description

This taster lecture introduces the notion of computer science and
explains computing as a form of information processing system. It
discusses the relationship between information and knowledge and
explains things from the AI researchers and programmers' point of
view. It explains how these things are useful in understanding
real-life problems and why they have affected our way of thinking and, ultimately, our civilization. This talk is really relevant if
you're interested in computing and learning more about these basics.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

Introduction to Algorithms: from Binary Search to PageRank

Presenter

Assistant Professor Kevin McGuinness, School of Electronic Engineering

Description

An algorithm is a kind of computational recipe that describes how to solve a problem. Algorithms have become a key computational ingredient in the modern world; in this lecture, Dr McGuinness introduces key concepts needed to understand algorithms, starting off with a simple example and working up to some of the most important algorithms used by large companies today. He describes the algorithms Netflix uses to recommend the next movie you should watch, and the algorithm Google uses to order the pages you see in your search results. 

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

How to Engineer a COVID-19 Test

Presenter

Assistant Professor David Kinahan, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Description

This lecture describes how engineering fundamentals covered in Year 1 and 2 of Engineering could be combined to design a laboratory instrument for COVID-19 diagnostic testing.

Video URL

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Experience a Faculty of Science and Health College Lecture

 

Title of Lecture

The physics of cancer research

Presenter

Dr David Grimes, School of Physical Sciences

Description

Physics plays an absolutely vital role in how we diagnose, treat, and understand cancer. This lecture delves into how principles in physics have played instrumental roles in the history of treating cancer, and how they're shaping the future of cancer research.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

Challenging global health problems: a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals

Presenter

Professor Anne Matthews, Course Chair: BSc in Health and Society

Description

This lecture is from a module called 'Challenging global health problems' from the BSc Health & Society year 3. In it we will look at the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030) and how they can enable us to challenge the major global health problems in our societies, which themselves challenge us. The Decade of Action to meet the Goals starts this year and now more than ever global communities are focusing on health and sustainable development; we highlight ways in which we can all contribute to that.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

Introduction to Biotechnology

Presenter

Dr Michael Freely, Assistant Professor in Biomedical Sciences 

Description

The lecture provides an introduction to the exciting world of the biotechnology industry and how advances in this area have impacted medicine, food/beverages and the environment. 

Video URL

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Experience a Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences College Lecture

 

Title of Lecture

Subtitling and Multimedia Translation

Presenter

Dr Joss Moorkens, School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies

Description

This short session encompasses a brief overview of the Multimedia Translation module from Year 4 of the ALTS degree, followed by an introduction to subtitling, its origins and many contemporary variations.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

The language of 'war' and the Coronavirus pandemic

Presenter

Dr Catherine Connolly, Post-Doctoral Fellow

Description

Why is it harmful to describe the Coronavirus pandemic as a 'war' against a 'hidden enemy'? This lecture explains!

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

Moot Court & Practical Legal Skills - An Introduction

Presenter

Dr Aisling De Paor, Law Firms Liaison Officer, School of Law and Government

Description

This lecture provides an overview and introduction to the Moot Court module and legal skills at DCU. A moot court is a mock court in which students argue a fictional case. The module aims to develop students' ability to construct legal arguments and present them orally. It also develops important practical ‘soft skills’ including team work, organisation, communication, self- management and decision- making. These skills and attributes are increasingly relevant in a ‘real world’ or workplace setting.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

What exactly is creativity and how can we stimulate it?

Presenter

Dr Ciarán Dunne, Course Chair, BA in Social Sciences and Cultural Innovation, School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies

Description

Creativity is perhaps humans' most important attribute, but it can be hard to define and understand. Historically, it was argued that creativity was something some people were born with, and others not. However, this is not the case. This lecture explores the idea of creativity in an accessible way and discusses ways in which each of us can enhance our own creativity.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person in Criminal Law 

Presenter

Dr Sophie Doherty, Teaching Fellow in Criminal Law, School of Law and Government

Description

This lecture briefly looks at non-fatal offences against the person in Irish criminal law, introducing students to key concepts such as the Actus Reus of offences, the Mens Rea of offences, case law, comparative law, and legislation.  

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

How to make polluters pay to save the planet? 

Presenter

Dr Markus Pauli, School of Law and Government

Description

Are the carbon taxes & emission trading schemes in place saving our climate? Why does Tesla receive billions from climate change denying pick-up truck drivers?

 

Video URL

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Experience a DCU Business School College Lecture

 

Title of Lecture

Critical Thinking for Business

Presenter

Dr Orla Feeney, Assistant Professor in Accounting, Course Chair: BA in Accounting & Finance

Description

Critical Thinking is all about thinking clearly and rationally - understanding the logical connection between the different components of a decision or a problem. This module is designed to provide students with a more solid foundation in critical thinking, problem solving and data evaluation skills and is delivered by a cross-functional team from backgrounds as varied as accounting, organisational psychology, economics and library studies. The module was recently nominated for the DCU President's Awards for Excellence in Teaching in the ‘Team Award’ category and you can watch a short video HERE on what this module is all about.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

Are the glory days of aviation in the past? Some reasons to think that maybe they are not!

Presenter

Dr Cathal Guiomard, Course Chair: BSc in Aviation Management

Description

Cathal Guiomard discusses the state of the aviation industry today, the reasons to expect it to recover and to offer a good career in the future.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

The world needs us to be innovative

Presenter

Dr Roisin Lyons, Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Description

Learning Innovation for Enterprise (LIFE) is a new module for all students in the Business School. It aims to teach students about the need for innovative thinking across a broad range of work contexts, through a range of learning experiences and applied projects with industry.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

Design Thinking - why it's the number one skill employers want!

Presenter

Dr Peter Robbins, Assistant Professor: Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Course Chair: BSc in Marketing, Innovation and new Technology Degree (MINT)

Description

Innovation is a top three priority for 84% of businesses these days but only 6% believe they have the skills to do it well and succeed through innovation.  Design Thinking is the emerging process for injecting creativity into organisations and helping them create sustainable competitive advantage. DCU's MInT programme really foregrounds this part of business strategy.

Video URL

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Experience a DCU Institute of Education College Lecture
 

Title of Lecture

BEd in Gaeilge and French, German or Spanish: Language learning to language teaching 

Presenter

Dr Laoise Ni Thuairisg, Chair of BEd in Gaeilge, and  French or German or Spanish 

Description

This taster lecture shows how students learn to become post-primary teachers of Gaeilge and French, German and Spanish. Participants get insight into how languages are learned and used throughout the programme and how students are encouraged to share their language skills with pupils in the classroom.  Participants also learn about the exciting and dynamic delivery of modules across the programmes, the programme’s residential language placements in the Gaeltacht and abroad, and also the exciting clubs, socs and events which are a key part of the DCU experience.

Video URL

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Title of Lecture

Why Play is Powerful!

Presenters

Marlene McCormack, Course Chair, Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and Sandra O'Neill, School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education

Description

Have you ever wondered why children play?  This interactive session explores the critical nature of play for young children’s learning and development.  Drawing on research from the fields of neuroscience, psychology and education, participants discover why play is the perfect mechanism to support children’s learning.

Video URL

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Experience a Career Focus Lecture

 

Topic

Career Focus

Presenter

Ross Munnelly, Director of Alumni Relations 

Panel

Amy Molloy, Public Affairs Correspondent at Independent News and Media, Bachelor Civil Law, 2014

Conor McGraynor, Recruiter at Google, BSc Biotechnology, 2015

Description

Director of Alumni Relations Ross Munnelly will lead a panel discussion with two graduates who have embraced the digital space in recent months. Young Journalist of the Year (2018) Amy Molloy will share her DCU journey while Conor McGraynor has played intercounty football for Wicklow GAA alongside his student life. This promises to be a very engaging discussion with a major emphasis on the student supports available at DCU.

 Video URL

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Topic

Career Focus

Presenter

Yvonne McLoughlin, Head of Careers at DCU

Panel

Abdul Ali Hassan, Assistant Engineer and Dublin City Council, BSc Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, 2013

Steph Creanor, Peer Learning Manager at SAP, BSc Psychology, 2015

Description

Yvonne McLoughlin, Head of Careers at DCU will talk about DCU's graduate employability rate and introduce a panel discussion between two recent graduates. Abdul and Steph, will provide an insight into their work in the public and private sectors whilst outlining how their roles have adapted to meet the needs of digital skills in the last number of months. Steph, a former Irish International Athlete, will provide advice to students on how to balance elite sport and academic progression.

Video URL

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