Study

Ireland is making a big impression on the international stage in terms of architecture; from the Grand Egyptian Museum to the University of Milan, we’ve left our mark on some of the world’s most renowned structures. Dublin.ie caught up with Hugh Campbell, Professor of Architecture at UCD, to find out how this small island is making such a big impression around the world. “It was an overnight success that took 30 years, in a way,” Campbell says. “We have a lot of great architecture practices here, and a very strong reputation internationally.” Architecture aside, the Irish are well connected globally. There’s more of us off the island than on, with huge cities like Sydney, London, New York and Boston all filled with first, second and third generation Irish.

What’s being discovered at Dublin’s third-levels? Postgraduate degrees are increasingly useful for people who want to stand out in the jobs market. Much of the focus here has tended to be on taught masters programmes, but the skills picked up during a masters by research or a doctoral (PhD) programme are invaluable: you will learn about how to research and evaluate information and then effectively communicate what you have learned. We spoke to four students about their research projects and what’s next for them. Lisa Koep, PhD candidate at the school of marketing in

Looking for stars? Try BIMM Spotted a famous musician in Dublin recently? There’s a fair chance they were coming out of TU Dublin’s school of commercial music – BIMM. Situated on Francis Street in Dublin 8, the British and Irish Modern Music Institute – or BIMM – holds regular masterclasses for its students with world-class musicians. Over the past decade, Imelda May, Danny O’Donoghue of The Script, Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlain and even Hozier have paid surprise visits to BIMM’s students. US singer-songwriter

Opera could save the cinema – or kill itself Who likes the trailers? For many film fans, the previews of upcoming films are an integral part of the cinema experience. In recent years, however, most cinema-goers will have noticed a new phenomenon: less trailers for upcoming films and more for live opera and theatre, which is beamed into cinemas across the world. Cinemas love it. It attracts an older, wealthier demographic and often at times of the day when the cinema might not be very busy But who goes to the cinema to watch live opera and theatre? Actually, quite a few, says Christopher Morris, a professor of music at

The story of the plaque on George Bernard Shaw’s birth house on Synge Street offers a keen insight into Shaw’s relationship with his native country. The proposed wording, “He gave his services to his country, unlimited, unstinted and without price” was rejected by Shaw as “a blazing lie.” The plaque now simply refers to him as “author of many plays”. Shaw’s small Synge Street home, where he lived an impoverished youth, is perhaps a symbol of our uncertainty about Shaw. Once a museum, it now stands empty, its fate uncertain – but often the people of a city create their own monuments. Last December, the street artis

LGBTQ life in Dublin Dublin is a friendly and welcoming place for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. The city’s third-level institutions all have LGBTQ societies, while the city’s bars, restaurants and clubs are welcoming spaces. There’s no shortage of LGBT bars either. There’s The George, Pantibar and Street 66, for example. And the Dublin Pride Festival takes over the city every June. Support groups Growing up gay or bisexual can be tough. Being a young transgender person can be even harder. However, in recent years, Irela

Secondary school is a time to hang out with your friends, do some study and grow as a person. But two teenage sisters at Loreto College on Stephen’s Green in Dublin have also found the time to found and develop Fenu Health, a thriving, multi-award winning equine health business with a worldwide customer base. Annie and Kate Madden, aged 15 and 16, are the eldest of four children. Annie is in third year and Kate is in fifth year. They live in Summerhill, Co Meath, with their parents and younger brother and sister. “We grew up with horses for sport, not business, and we’ve been riding since we

What you can expect studying at NCAD Art College is a waste of time, right? Not so. The National College of Art and Design on Thomas Street is really punching above its weight and is intent on disproving the lazy stereotypes about art students. Its annual showcase has become an art and design highlight in the city – featuring painting, product design, sculpture, fashion and more. We have had lots of opportunities to showcase our work outside the college. Meanwhile, its fashion students have been awarded top prizes both here and abroad. The Dublin art college is cli

Grand Canal Dock is home to more than just the tech companies it’s famous for. That dark grey contemporary building with unusual green bubbles on the front is The Lir – Ireland’s National Academy of Dramatic Art. Its courses are developed in association with London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and its reputation is enviable. Acting is not for the faint hearted though; it takes a certain type of determination and passion. “It’s…satisfying to me, going through a script and having to do it night and night again. Every moment is live and there is no second take”, explains

One American’s experience of studying in Dublin Ben Campbell Rosbrook is originally from Syracuse in upstate New York. After completing his undergraduate at a college in Vermont, he came to Ireland to do his Masters degree at Trinity College Dublin. That was back in 2016, but today he still lives in Dublin where he works as a commercial analyst. After Ben had been living in Dublin for a few months, Dublin.ie spoke to him about his experience of studying in the city. So what brought him to Dublin? Student life from an American’s perspective “I’m spending like half or a

As Professor Luke O’Neill discovered recently, when you become a fellow of the extremely exclusive and august science club that is the Royal Society, you have to sign their book. Previous signatories include Newton, Boyle, Freud and Einstein (Oh, and superstar astrophysicist Brian Cox). Which makes the process rather nerve-wracking, according to O’Neill, a biochemist at Dublin’s Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute and one of the world’s leading immunologists. Luke O’Neill: There’s a practice, you don’t want to smudge your name! Dublin.ie: That’s quite some company you’re keeping there - but what do all you science guys have in common? Luke O’Neill: Science is trying to find stuff out. You can call it exploration, you can call it pioneering, frontier stuff because it’s all about making discoveries. We are explorers, that’s our job, that’s what attracted me to it. I wanted to see something nobody’s seen before. And in my case, luckily enough in my lab we probably had three big discoveries that made a big difference: we explored the immune system and saw things there for the first time. The next step is there’s a whole new pathway or process discovered - and of course the thrill would be if that was a dysfunction or a disease because then you might try and correct it. Once you find the enemy, you might be able to design a new medicine that might beat it. Dublin.ie: So you’re a biochemist and not an ordinary one? Luke O’Neill: I’m a bit of a schizophrenic! I was interested in chemistry anyway and biochemistry is chemistry writ large: if you want to understand something you’ve got to understand the chemical basis for things - and biochemistry is the basis for life. If we understand the chemicals of life wouldn’t that be a thrilling thing? One comparison is with genetics: geneticists don’t really go beyond the genes, you know – and I want to know the real fundamentals. Like genes makes proteins, but what do they do? I was always obsessed with true mechanism – the underlying mechanism, the very basics of how things work. I’ve always been obsessed with molecular things in a sense.

Medicine in Trinity College is known as one of the most difficult courses to get into in Ireland. These students will play a major role in the future of healthcare – here and worldwide. Someday your life might just depend on one of them. During hospital placements, some of these students will experience incidents that most of us never have to. They’ll witness life-changing moments and hear tragic backstories. “Sometimes I’ve taken a step back and thought: ‘Oh, I’m very lucky to never have had any of those issues’,” says Aisling Hickey, a Trinity