More than 400 PhD chemistry students from all corners of the island have been competing at a research colloquium. Dick Ahlstrom reports
Chemistry research is alive and well and living in third-level institutions across Ireland. The evidence is on display each year at the Universities Chemistry Research Colloquium, an event that this year involved more than 400 PhD students.
The colloquium brings together contestants from all universities north and south and from Dublin Institute of Technology and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
The 400 were whittled down to just 28 finalists, who last week stood up and described their research work to their peers, says Prof John Kelly of the department of chemistry at Trinity College in Dublin and chairman of the judging panel. "It is always a great success. Chemistry research is really very active in Ireland."
The top prizes for the best research presentation in analytical, organic, inorganic and physical chemistry and the best research poster presentation were awarded last Friday at Trinity, this year's colloquium host.
Each winner received a bronze statue and a cheque for €150, provided by AGB Scientific.
"It is very popular, and that is a good thing," says Prof Kelly. It also shows the high quality of chemistry research carried out in Ireland, he believes.
The competition was started in 1948 by Prof Wesley Cocker, then head of chemistry at Trinity, and by Prof Proinnsias Ó Colla of what is now NUI Galway. At the time, Irish researchers were somewhat isolated from their international peers, explains Prof Kelly.
"The idea was to have a forum within Ireland, to give the students a chance to talk," he says. Third-level departments were much smaller then, and the meetings allowed personal contacts at all levels, says Prof Kelly.
The earliest meetings, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, included Trinity College, University College Dublin, University College Cork, NUI Galway and Queen's University Belfast. As the new universities were established they were added to the mix, and the colloquiums grew.
The students were judged not only on the quality, depth and breadth of their research work but also on the quality of their presentation or poster. There were also question-and-answer sessions after the presentations, which lasted about 20 minutes each.
The analytical chemistry prize went to Katherine Grennan of Dublin City University, whose research was in detecting the presence of atrazine pesticide using a new analytical technique.
It has uses in the detection of residues in food.
The organic chemistry prize went to Sean Kelly of Queen's, who is studying the synthesis of compounds found in clubmoss. A tea brewed from it has been used by Chinese herbalists as a treatment for memory loss, and Kelly is working on what the team hope will be a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
Andrew Harte of Trinity won the inorganic prize for his research into new types of chemical sensors. These are very important for direct sensing of biological materials, according to Prof Kelly.
Mary Moloney of the University of Limerick won the physical chemistry prize for her study of how radio waves can affect the behaviour of suspended particles in a liquid. "This is surprisingly important and an area of chemistry that is still not understood," says Prof Kelly.
The best-poster prize went to Philippa Wilkes of University College Dublin. Most chemical compounds spontaneously form left- and right-hand forms; her work involves using catalysts to control which form is produced. It is an essential new area of pharmaceutical production, says Prof Kelly.
Nex year's colloquium is due to be held in Limerick.