Whitaker Research Day 2017 an opportunity to foster collaborative relationships and engage with the diverse research being done across the Institute

The Whitaker Institute hosted its second annual Research Day on 6th April.  More than 100 staff and PhD students registered for the event, which took place at the Alice Perry Engineering Building, NUI Galway.  The day was structured around the three themes of the Institute: Sustainable & Inclusive Societies; Business, Innovation & Economic Development; and Public Sector Innovation & Reform.  Following some welcoming remarks by Whitaker Institute Director Professor Alan Ahearne during which he thanked Dr Elaine Wallace, Angela Sice and Gwen Ryan for their hard work organising the event, and an opening address by Professor John McHale, Dean of the College of Business, Public Policy, and Law, the first session got the ball rolling with a dynamic set of presentations on the topic of ‘A Sense of Place’.  Presenters discussed the contribution of the marine industry to the Irish economy and society; the outdoor space as a source of wellbeing; creative entrepreneurship in the European Northern Periphery; and transport and livability futures for Galway.  The set of Public Sector Innovation and Reform presentations addressed the question: “How might research adapt to address the challenges presented by the current populist backlash against government policy and political systems?”  Presentations addressed voting rules for elections; extended work-life policies for women; and mediation as a form of conflict resolution.

Professor Liam Delaney speaking at the 2017 Whitaker Institute Research Day

The plenary speaker, Professor Liam Delaney, AIB Professor of Economics at University College Dublin, gave a thought provoking and inspiring talk titled ‘Back to Hume: Economics, the Behavioural Sciences, and Public Policy.’  Prof. Delaney’s presentation invited an interdisciplinary perspective to the study of behavioural science that many clusters could identify with, and emphasised the public policy implications of this research.

The final two sessions addressed the Business, Innovation & Economic Development theme, and a second Sustainable and Inclusive Societies theme, with the respective topics ‘Understanding Behaviour’ and ‘Place and Inclusivity’.  First, presentations addressed the role of numerical representation in firms; historical shipping data and machine learning; and the innovative capacity of organisations.  The final session addressed higher education policy in Ireland from an economic insights perspective, and from a sustainable knowledge transformation perspective.  The session also included presentations on domestic violence and conflict; ethics pertaining to care robots; and national wellbeing measures and policies.  Throughout the day, each session was concluded with a lively Q&A session, which led to much discussion and fostered new opportunities for research collaborations.

The day also involved a display of on-going Institute research in the Engineering Building foyer.  The posters highlighted the quality and diversity of the research undertaken by PhD students and other Institute members.  Tom Gillespie (SEMRU) won the best PhD poster prize for his poster ‘Picture or Playground: Valuing Costal Amenities’, and Eoin Cullina  (Agile and Open Innovation (LERO)), won the second prize for his PhD poster ‘Crowdsourcing Practices Framework for Scientific Research Funding Agencies.

Many of the presentations from the day are now available to view on our Slideshare site.