Another year has gone by very fast and Ideas in ALL is now a lively three year old “toddler”! The blog was set up on 3 December 2020, amidst the pandemic, to support the dissemination of the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute’s multi- and interdisciplinary research. Since the outset, Ideas in ALL has grown significantly, offering ALL members and collaborators opportunities to showcase their projects in an accessible and reader-friendly way. It also engages a range of stakeholders to help make their voices heard, to reflect on current issues and highlight their lived experiences.
Authors: Linda Mc Donald and Jamie Moore are 3rd year BSc Psychology Students, Research Interns for Dr Katriona O’Sullivan, and the STEM Passport for Inclusion Project, at the ALL Institute in Maynooth University
Research Stream: Stories/ Lived Experiences
This week marked a monumental one for us here in the STEM Passport for Inclusion project. Our programme is a project within the ALL institute here in Maynooth University. It provides socio-economically disadvantaged young girls in Ireland an opportunity to learn about STEM, one that is not easily accessible to them usually. This week both the Women in STEM awards and graduation ceremony for our girls who took part in the programme took place, highlighting and celebrating the need for a focus to expand knowledge and opportunities for education and involvement in STEM.
The Women in STEM awards in association with PEPSICO took place on Thursday, which recognises and rewards the accomplishments and efforts of women in the sectors of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These women strive to improve and innovate their respective fields of work. It is important that their efforts are recognised and encouraged, to promote inclusion in the field of STEM. In addition, the awards bring attention to the need for more women in STEM, an ongoing and prevalent issue in today’s society. The Women in STEM Awards are judged by several women who have reached these top-level jobs and remained in them, against the odds. Two members of the impressive judging panel included Gillian Harford and Susan Treacy. Gillian Harford is a senior HR Executive who works with organisations aiming to target diversity and workplace change. While working as a Head of HR Strategy & Planning for AIB, Gillian contributed to people change with respect to Culture, Career, and Diversity. Susan Treacy is the CEO of HealthTech Ireland, and is a member of the Women in Technology and Science (WITS) Ireland Executive. This organisation helps to support and empower women in STEM, and advance STEM policy at government level. These influential women have themselves improved and innovated their respective fields of work and are hence qualified to judge the efforts of others.
The STEM Passport for Inclusion programme, working with Maynooth University and partners, was nominated for the award for Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year. The feelings of excitement and anticipation as we waited for the winner of the award to be announced, could be felt by everyone in the room. To our delight, the STEM Passport was awarded the honour, an accomplishment that recognises our hard work and effort. Though the STEM Passport for Inclusion won the award for best Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year, the fellow nominees of the category deserve equal recognition for their efforts to improve and innovate the field of STEM. Whilst it appears as though the organisations were in competition for the award, they were in fact working towards a common goal – to improve diversity and inclusion in the field of STEM.
There was no time to rest following the awards ceremony, as the following day was our graduation ceremony for over 400 girls who had taken part in our programme. Dr. Katriona O’Sullivan, who leads the STEM Passport for Inclusion programme, kicked off the graduation ceremony by introducing the project and congratulating all those receiving their level-6 accreditations. She then introduced the president of Maynooth University, Prof. Eeva Leinonen, who is actively involved in national and international higher education policy discourse and implementation, who briefly spoke about the initiative and its impact and congratulated all the girls for completing the module. After speaking, both Prof. Leinonen and Dr O’Sullivan, helped by Dr Gemma Irvine, Vice President for Equality and Diversity in Maynooth University, began to hand out the certificates to the girls who had completed the module. The girls each went up and received their well-deserved accreditation, thus graduating from the programme – a monumental moment for all parties involved.
Once the graduates had received their certificates, Ava Kenny, a former student of the programme, was welcomed to the stage to talk about her experience with the programme and the pathways it opened for herself. Ava, who is currently studying a science degree in Maynooth University, gave an emotional reflection on what the STEM Passport means to her, stating the programme was “a journey of self-discovery, of finding my passion and purpose. It sent me on a path where I could dream big, aim high, knowing that the STEM Passport welcomed me with open arms”. Ava beautifully captured the transformative and significant impact the initiative had on her life, surely inspiring all the graduates in the room, offering them a glimpse into the future possibilities their newly acquired accreditation can offer.
After Ava’s reflection, Dr Kevin Marshall, the newly appointed Adjunct Professor at Maynooth University’s ALL Institute, joined the stage to say a few words. He highlighted the graduates’ achievement, “to get the university qualification while you’re at school is just amazing”, offering his admiration and support for all the girls. He then passed the mic over to Katriona to close out the graduation ceremony. Once the ceremony was over, everyone headed over for pizza and refreshments, a well-deserved treat for both our girls and team members.
For our focus on accessibility to STEM education and inclusion within the field to be recognised by such a prestigious award is an honour. Furthermore, for it to be followed by the graduation ceremony, which allows us to reflect and recognise those efforts first hand, to be in the same week, has been nothing short of fantastic. These inspiring young girls, now adorned with their accreditations, now take one step further into the world of STEM. Both ceremonies recognise the work put in to pave the way for a more diverse and inclusive future in STEM – from both the team of today and the future women in STEM who took part in our programme.
Author: Dr Oliver Bartlett, : Assistant Professor of Law, Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University
Research Stream: Social Lives
In October 2022 the Department of Justice published the Sale of Alcohol Bill. The publicly announced purpose of this legislation was to reform Ireland’s sprawling and disparate alcohol licensing rules and to bring Ireland’s nighttime economy closer to that of other major European cities. However, it emerged that the potential public health problems raised by a liberalisation of alcohol licensing were ignored at the highest political level. Based on a report launched on 20th October 2023 at Maynooth University, this post will summarise and contextualise the children’s rights impacts of the reform, which also appear to have been neglected.
Authors: Nina Trubanová, PhD Researcher at UCD SBES and Co-founder of Agape Open Science Community. Aswathi Surendran, PhD Researcher at University of Galway and Co-founder of the Agape Open Science Community. Cassandra Murphy, GoGreenRoutes PhD Researcher, ALL Institute and Department of Psychology at Maynooth University and Co-founder of Agape Open Science Community.
In the dynamic landscape of contemporary research, the concept of ‘open science’, also known as open scholarship or open research, serves as a multifaceted umbrella encompassing a range of principles such as open data, open access, open source, open peer review, open educational resources, citizen science, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Author: Tom Hall Research Assistant on the SHAPES project in ALL
As European citizens’ life expectancy increases, older people (65+) account for a progressively larger percentage of the total EU population. Trends suggest this will rise from 21.2% in 2022 to 25% in 2030. Along with these demographic changes, larger numbers of people will experience health-related issues. This raises significant challenges for European healthcare systems. In light of these, the SHAPES (Smart and Healthy Ageing through People Engaging in Supportive Systems) project led by Maynooth University aims to create an integrated IT platform which offers a wide range of digital solutions. These are focused on improving the health, well-being, and independence of people as they get older.
Author: Eamon Callanis a second-year psychological studies student (Maynooth University) and was a SPUR intern on the GoGreenRoutes project during the Summer of 2023.
Our Green Campus hosted excellent researchers and practitioners once again, for this the fourth GoGreenRoutes H2020 project event held at Maynooth University, this time held in partnership with Mental Health Ireland. This week was most apt for the launch of our Autumn School, with World Mental Health Day (10th Oct.), marked by the launch of the EU Comprehensive Action Plan for Mental Health, and budget day in Ireland (Oct. 11th), (with an investment of €3.1 Billon in the new climate action fund).
Author:Eva Krolla, Research Assistant in the ERC-funded DANCING Project at the School of Law and Criminology and Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, Maynooth University
DANCING Mid-Term Academic Conference speakers
The European Research Council (ERC) funded research project ‘Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity in EU Law: Exploring New Paths – DANCING’ based at the ALL Institute and the School of Law and Criminology under the lead of Principal Investigator Prof. Delia Ferri marked its halfway point by hosting the DANCING Mid-Term Academic Conference on Monday, 4 September 2023 at Maynooth University.
Author: Gizem Yardimci, Early Career Researcher at ADVANCE CRT, PhD Student in Law, Maynooth University
Gizem Yardimci
The Draft Artificial Intelligence Act (Draft AI Act) for the European Union (EU) represents a significant milestone towards the regulation of technologies employing AI within the EU. Since the zero version of the Draft AI Act was released on 21 April 2021, it has been discussed extensively by academics, policymakers and professionals who are involved in the decision-making processes within the EU. In May of this year, the European Parliament released a Draft Compromise Text with significant amendments on the Draft AI Act. Therefore, the European Parliament is in a position to launch ‘trialogues’ with the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. Overall, this development represents a formal step towards finalising the regulation for AI systems in the EU.
The main goal of the Draft AI Act is to improve the functioning of the internal market and to advance the creation of a digital single market as indicated in the Digital Single Market Strategy.
On 20th April 2023, the PatentsInHumans team were delighted to host the public launch event for the European Research Council (ERC) funded PatentsInHumans project in Maynooth University. The event was attended by over 45 individuals, including, members of the public, students and academics working in a range of disciplines (including law, biology, political science and business), practising lawyers, and technology transfer specialists.
The PatentsInHumans project, based in the School of Law and Criminology and ALL Institute at Maynooth University, commenced on the 1st November 2022 and is a large interdisciplinary five-year project. It is funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant and led by Professor Aisling McMahon. Alongside Professor McMahon, the PatentsInHumans team includes project manager, Sinéad Masterson, and postdoctoral researcher, Dr Opeyemi Kolawole. As the project develops, we will be recruiting more researchers to join the team in the coming months and years ahead.
As European citizens’ life expectancy increases, older people (65+) account for a progressively larger percentage of the total 
