#maynoothuniversity — Public Fediverse posts

That was the (Partial) Eclipse that was…

Today been a very busy but hugely enjoyable day. We had a big turnout for the Eclipse Event at Maynooth University – I don’t have attendance figures right now, but will update when I do – and good weather in the build-up to the eclipse. Unforunately just as maximum coverage approached, clouds intervened. That was a little disappointing but there were some lovely colour effects that made up for it and it did also get eerily dark…

I heard only nice things about the event from people who attended. Here are some random snaps taken throughout the day:

The combination of heat and exertion meant that I couldn’t resist going for a pint or three afterwards so I think I’ll leave it there, except to congratulate Emma Whelan, whose brainwave today was, plus all the lecturers, technicians and students who made it possible, as well as all the members of the public who participated. It was great to see so many people of all ages release their inner nerd.

That was the (Partial) Eclipse that was…

Today been a very busy but hugely enjoyable day. We had a big turnout for the Eclipse Event at Maynooth University – I don’t have attendance figures right now, but will update when I do – and good weather in the build-up to the eclipse. Unforunately just as maximum coverage approached, clouds intervened. That was a little disappointing but there were some lovely colour effects that made up for it. I heard only nice things about the event from people who attended. Here are some random snaps taken throughout the day:

The combination of heat and exertion meant that I couldn’t resist going for a pint or three afterwards so I think I’ll leave it there, except to congratulate Emma Whelan, whose brainwave today was, plus all the lecturers, technicians and students who made it possible, as well as all the members of the public who participated.

Maynooth Eclipse Weather Watch

As I mentioned last week, the Department of Physics at Maynooth University will be hosting an Eclipse Event, this week on Wednesday August 12th. This sold out very quickly so we expect a good turnout. In the last few days we have been featured prominently in articles in the Irish Times and The Journal and on the RTÉ website. Although it is officially full, there may be a few returns, so it is worth checking on the day to see if we can fit you in.

The viewing of the eclipse will of course depend on the weather, but we have talks lined up indoors and a pop-up planetarium so I hope people will turn up even if the weather isn’t great. I’ve been checking the forecast on the Met Éireann app quite regularly. As of last week it wasn’t very good, with cloud and rain likely but since then it has improved. In the light of my recent post that one can’t really trust Irish weather forecasts more than three days in advance, I thought it would be fun to track the forecast until the big event to see how stable it is.

Here are the summaries for yesterday (Saturday, when it only gave a prediction every three hours for Wednesday), and today (Sunday, where there is an hourly forecast). The peak of the (partial) eclipse is around 7pm (19.00 hours) in Maynooth.

As you can see, the Sunday forecast predicts the temperature on Wednesday to be rather high, with little chance of rain, though with more cloud than the Saturday forecast. I’ll update on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to see how it progresses…

Update: Wednesday 12th, 7.30am. As you can see from the above the forecast for the eclipse is quite good. There is quite a lot of rain out to the west, but it is tracking noreth-eastwards and most of it is forecast to miss Maynooth.

P.S. In the Irish language, “eclipse” can be either urú or éiclips. The former is interesting as it is also the name for a form of initial mutation that occurs certain grammatical situations in Irish, the change at the beginning of a word, where a new letter is placed in front of the original consonant, so that the new letter’s sound replaces (or “eclipses”) the old one.

Maynooth Eclipse Weather Watch

As I mentioned last week, the Department of Physics will be hosting an Eclipse Event, this week on Wednesday August 12th. This sold out very quickly so we expect a good turnout. In the last few days we have been featured prominently in articles in the Irish Times and The Journal and on the RTÉ website. Although it is officially full, there may be a few returns, so it is worth checking on the day to see if we can fit you in.

The viewing of the eclipse will of course depend on the weather, but we have talks lined up indoors and a pop-up planetarium so I hope people will turn up even if the weather isn’t great. I’ve been checking the forecast on the Met Éireann app quite regularly. As of last week it wasn’t very good, with cloud and rain likely but since then it has improved. In the light of my recent post that one can’t really trust Irish weather forecasts more than three days in advance, I thought it would be fun to track the forecast until the big event to see how stable it is.

Here are the summaries for yesterday (Saturday, when it only gave a prediction every three hours for Wednesday), and today (Sunday, where there is an hourly forecast). The peak of the (partial) eclipse is around 7pm in Maynooth

As you can see, the Sunday forecast predicts the temperature on Wednesday to be rather high, with little chance of rain, though with more cloud than the Saturday forecast. I’ll update on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to see how it progresses…

P.S. In the Irish language, “eclipse” can be either urú or éiclips. The former is interesting as it is also the name for a form of initial mutation that occurs certain grammatical situations in Irish, the change at the beginning of a word, where a new letter is placed in front of the original consonant, so that the new letter’s sound replaces (or “eclipses” the old one).

Autumn Repeats Again

The repeat examination period at Maynooth University has begun. In fact the first papers were sat yesterday (5th August); the period goes on for ten days or so, I will have four different papers to grade, though I’m expecting only one candidate each for three of them. My first is tomorrow (Friday 7th August).

A couple of years ago, Maynooth University produced this nice good luck message for those resitting so I’ll repeat it here:

Every year at this time I mention the difference between the system of repeats in Maynooth compared to other institutions with which I am familiar, especially in the UK. Elsewhere, students generally take resits when, because they have failed one or more examinations the previous May, they have not accumulated sufficient credits to proceed to the next year of their course. Passing the resit allows them to retrieve lost credit, but their mark is generally capped at a bare pass (usually 40%). That means the student gets the credit they need for their degree but their average (which determines whether they get 1st, 2nd or 3rd class Honours) is affected. This is the case unless a student has extenuating circumstances affecting the earlier examination, such as bad health or family emergency, in which case they take the resit as a `sit’, i.e. for the first time with an uncapped mark.

Here in Maynooth, however, the mark obtained in a repeat examination is usually not capped. Indeed, some students – though not many – elect to take the repeat examination even if they passed earlier in the summer, in order to increase their average mark.

Some people don’t like the idea of uncapped repeats because they feel that it would lead to many students playing games, i.e. deliberately not taking exams in May with the intention of spreading some of their examination  load into August. For this reason the Institute of Physics has decided to impose capped resits as part of its accreditation requirements. Some people here seem to think IOP accreditation is worth having so we’re being pushed into that requirement. I find it heavy-handed and unhelpful. I also think it imposes a dreary uniformity on physics courses in the UK. In any case, IOP accreditation is unimportant unless you want to do postgraduate study in physics in the UK (and often not even then). It doesn’t matter at all anywhere else.

If you think students have an unfair advantage if they don’t take a full diet of examinations in May, then the logical conclusion is that part-time students have an unfair advantage as do students taking micro-credentials consisting of just one or two modules. It’s the essence of the modular system that each module result should be considered on its own merit, not in relation to other modules a student may or may not have taken at the same time. One can of course argue whether the modular system is good or not, but if you have it then you should act consistently in accordance with it. You wouldn’t penalize students who have to work to support their study relative to those who don’t, would you?

And there’s no real evidence of students in Maynooth actually playing the system in the way the IOP thinks they do anyway. For one thing, the results from the repeat examination period are not confirmed until early September so that students that deploy this strategy do not know whether they are going to be able to resume their course until just a couple of weeks before term. That could cause lots of problems securing accommodation, etc, so it doesn’t seem to me to be a good ploy. Finalists adopting this strategy will not be able to graduate with the rest of their cohort and may miss several months of potential employment. I think most of our students are smart enough to realize that it’s a risky strategy.

Anyway, I’d welcome comments for or against whether resits/repeats should be capped/uncapped and on what practice is adopted in your institution.

Lá Saoire i mí Lúnasa

Today, Monday 3rd August 2026, being the first Monday in August, is a Bank Holiday in Ireland. This holiday was created by the Bank Holiday Act of 1871 when Ireland was under British rule. While the August Bank Holiday was subsequently moved to the end of August in England and Wales, it has remained at the start of August in Ireland. It has been a nice morning weather-wise, but in true Bank Holiday fashion we’re promised heavy rain later on, with a chance of thunderstorms.

As I mentioned on Saturday, the first day of August marks the old pagan festival of Lughnasadh, named after the God Lugh, on which is celebrated the beginning of the harvest season. This coincides with the English Lammas Day, one of many Christian festivals with pagan origins. Traditionally this is the start of the harvest season and is celebrated accordingly, with rites involving the first fruit and bread baked from flour obtained from the first corn. It is also one of the cross-quarter days, lying roughly half-way between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere).

Two years ago at this time I was still on sabbatical. That seems like ages ago! When I resumed teaching, in September 2024, I had to teach two modules I’d never taught before: a fourth-year Mathematical physics course on Differential Equations and Complex Analysis and a second-year Engineering Mathematics course. I am doing both of these again so resumption of teaching in September won’t be as challenging, although I will be changing a few things in the light of last year’s experience. Lectures start on Monday 22nd September.

After I return to work tomorrow the next big item on the agenda is the repeat examination period, which starts on Wednesday August 5th. The first paper for which I have responsibility is on Friday 7th, but I won’t be able to get the scripts until Monday 10th so I have a bit of time to do other stuff before I start marking. I am not expecting many scripts, actually, so it shouldn’t be too onerous a task to get them done promptly.

Next week also sees the deadline for the dissertations for our MSc course. I have been supervising a student this year and will probably be asked to give comments on the final draft of his report. Then the MSc students have their presentations on Friday 14th August. They have all completed the taught component of the course so the only thing left to assess are these projects. Students will get their final results later this month, along with the resitting undergraduate students.

In between all this we have our Eclipse Event on August 12th. This sold out very quickly so we expect a good turnout. The event was advertised quite a bit in the local media, e.g. here. The viewing of the eclipse will of course depend on the weather, but we have talks lined up indoors and a pop-up planetarium so I hope people will turn up even if the weather isn’t great. Although it is officially full, there may be a few returns, so it is worth checking on the day to see if we can fit you in.

Anyway, after the repeat examinations and project assessments are done, the marks uploaded, and the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Examination Boards have done their work, the next job will be to prepare for the new intake of students. This year’s Leaving Certificate results will be announced on Friday 21st August, at which point we’ll see how many students (if any) we have studying Physics next academic year (which, if all goes to plan, will be my penultimate…)

Lá Saoire i mí Lúnasa

Today, Monday 3rd August 2026, being the first Monday in August, is a Bank Holiday in Ireland. This holiday was created by the Bank Holiday Act of 1871 when Ireland was under British rule. While the August Bank Holiday was subsequently moved to the end of August in England and Wales, it has remained at the start of August in Ireland.

As I mentioned on Saturday, the first day of August marks the old pagan festival of Lughnasadh, named after the God Lugh, on which is celebrated the beginning of the harvest season. This coincides with the English Lammas Day, one of many Christian festivals with pagan origins. Traditionally this is the start of the harvest season and is celebrated accordingly, with rites involving the first fruit and bread baked from flour obtained from the first corn. It is also one of the cross-quarter days, lying roughly half-way between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere).

Two years ago at this time I was still on sabbatical. That seems like ages ago! When I resumed teaching, in September 2024, I had to teach two modules I’d never taught before: a fourth-year Mathematical physics course on Differential Equations and Complex Analysis and a second-year Engineering Mathematics course. I am doing both of these again so resumption of teaching in September won’t be as challenging, although I will be changing a few things in the light of last year’s experience.

After I return to work tomorrow the next big item on the agenda is the repeat examination period, which starts on Wednesday August 5th. The first paper for which I have responsibility is on Friday 7th, but I won’t be able to get the scripts until Monday 10th so I have a bit of time to do other stuff before I start marking. I am not expecting many scripts, actually, so it shouldn’t be too onerous a task to get them done promptly.

Next week also sees the deadline for the dissertations for our MSc course. I have been supervising a student this year and will probably be asked to give comments on the final draft of his report. Then the MSc students have their presentations on Friday 14th August. They have all completed the taught component of the course so the only thing left to assess are these projects. Students will get their final results later this month, along with the resitting undergraduate students.

In between all this we have our Eclipse Event on August 12th. This sold out very quickly so we expect a good turnout. The event was advertised quite a bit in the local media, e.g. here. The viewing of the eclipse will of course depend on the weather, but we have talks lined up indoors and a pop-up planetarium so I hope people will turn up even if the weather isn’t great.

Anyway, after the repeat examinations and project assessments are done, the marks uploaded, and the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Examination Boards have done their work, the next job will be to prepare for the new intake of students. This year’s Leaving Certificate results will be announced on Friday 21st August, at which point we’ll see how many students (if any) we have studying Physics next academic year (which, if all goes to plan, will be my penultimate…)

Lughnasadh – The Start of Autumn

Today is 1st August, which is marked by the old Celtic festival of Lughnasadh, named after the God Lugh. This coincides with the English Lammas Day, one of many Christian festivals with pagan origins. The word for August in modern Irish is Lúnasa, a name derived from the old Celtic word.

Traditionally 1st August marks the start of the harvest season and is celebrated accordingly, with rites involving the first fruit and bread baked from flour obtained from the first corn. It is also one of the cross-quarter days, lying roughly half-way between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere).

In the Northern hemisphere, from an astronomical point of view, the solar year is defined by the two solstices (summer, around June 21st and winter, around December 21st) and the equinoxes (Spring, around March 21st, and Autumn, around September 21st). These four events divide the year into four roughly equal parts of about 13 weeks each. If you divide each of these intervals in two you divide the year into eight pieces of six and a bit weeks each. The dates midway between the astronomical events mentioned above are (roughly) :

• 1st February: Imbolc (Candlemas)
• 1st May: Beltane (Mayday)
• 1st August: Lughnasadh (Lammas)
• 1st November: Samhain (All Saints Day)

The names I’ve added are taken from the Celtic/neo-Pagan (and Christian terms) for these cross-quarter days. These timings are rough because the dates of the equinoxes and solstices vary from year to year. Imbolc is often taken to be the 2nd of February (Groundhog Day) and Samhain is sometimes taken to be October 31st, Halloween. But hopefully you get the point. All four of thes days have a Bank Holiday associated with them (on the first Monday after the respective date); this Monday (3rd August) is a Bank Holiday in Ireland.

Some folk in Ireland regard August 1st as the first day of Autumn, just as 1st February is regarded as the first day of Spring and 1st May is the start of Summer. Indeed, our annual cycle of repeat examinations at Maynooth always happens in early to mid-August and these examinations are officially called the Autumn repeats. I rest my case. In my time here I have also noticed that May, June and July do tend to have significantly better weather than August, although I’m pleased to say that the weather isn’t particularly autumnal today.

Lughnasadh – The Start of Autumn

Today is 1st August, which is marked by the old Celtic festival of Lughnasadh, named after the God Lugh. This coincides with the English Lammas Day, one of many Christian festivals with pagan origins. The word for August in modern Irish is Lúnasa, a name derived from the old Celtic word.

Traditionally 1st August marks the start of the harvest season and is celebrated accordingly, with rites involving the first fruit and bread baked from flour obtained from the first corn. It is also one of the cross-quarter days, lying roughly half-way between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere).

In the Northern hemisphere, from an astronomical point of view, the solar year is defined by the two solstices (summer, around June 21st and winter, around December 21st) and the equinoxes (Spring, around March 21st, and Autumn, around September 21st). These four events divide the year into four roughly equal parts of about 13 weeks each. If you divide each of these intervals in two you divide the year into eight pieces of six and a bit weeks each. The dates midway between the astronomical events mentioned above are (roughly) :

• 1st February: Imbolc (Candlemas)
• 1st May: Beltane (Mayday)
• 1st August: Lughnasadh (Lammas)
• 1st November: Samhain (All Saints Day)

The names I’ve added are taken from the Celtic/neo-Pagan (and Christian terms) for these cross-quarter days. These timings are rough because the dates of the equinoxes and solstices vary from year to year. Imbolc is often taken to be the 2nd of February (Groundhog Day) and Samhain is sometimes taken to be October 31st, Halloween. But hopefully you get the point. All four of thes days have a Bank Holiday associated with them (on the first Monday after the respective date); this Monday (3rd August) is a Bank Holiday in Ireland.

Some folk in Ireland regard August 1st as the first day of Autumn, just as 1st February is regarded as the first day of Spring and 1st May is the start of Summer. Indeed, our annual cycle of repeat examinations at Maynooth always happens in early to mid-August and these examinations are officially called the Autumn repeats. I rest my case. In my time here I have also noticed that May, June and July do tend to have significantly better weather than August, although I’m pleased to say that the weather isn’t particularly autumnal today.

Invigilator Training?

I saw the above cartoon in the latest Private Eye and, with Repeat Examinations rapdily approaching I thought I’d share it here without permission.

Years ago, academic staff had to invigilate their own examinations. I had to do this in my first teaching job at Queen Mary and, later, at Nottingham, but more recently the job has generally been done by support staff rather than academics. I moved from Nottingham to Cardiff in 2007 and don’t think I ever had to invigilate examinations there, so I haven’t done it for almost twenty years. Nowadays we are just expected to be “on call” to deal with any queries that arise in the Exam Hall by phone.

The cartoon reminded me of one of the funniest April Fool jokes I can recall. I think it was when I was at Queen Mary, but it’s so long ago I can’t remember who was responsible. Anyway, whichever colleague it was sent an email to all academic staff passing on what appeared to be a message from the University Management stating that all staff would be required to attend a compulsory day-long invigilator training workshop, including a “role play” session (the mind boggles). This message managed to trigger a significant number of staff members who made use of the “ReplyAll” on their email to vent their outrage at such a waste of time. It was a good April Fool, because the idea of it was quite plausible. Most April Fools are far too obvious.

Anyway, I’m not sorry that I no longer have to perform the task of exam invigilation, as it was always one of my least favourite jobs, and not only because I don’t enjoy seeing people under stress. Initially I thought supervising an examination might allow me time to do something useful, but there always seemed to be some interruption, such as students wanting an extra answer book, or asking about some issue with the examination paper, or wanting to leave to go to the toilet, etc.

The most dramatic interruption I can remember was when a student who suffered from epilepsy had a seizure in the examination hall. Fortunately we invigilators had been briefed as to what to do in such an eventuality, namely to move the furniture so the student didn’t hurt themselves but otherwise not to intervene until they went to sleep – which usually happens after a minute or two. This was done about 15 minutes before the exam started, not in a day-long training session. We were told that such an episode was unlikely as the student was taking medicine to prevent them occurring. It was quite when it actually happened, but happily the student recovered quickly and was perfectly OK afterwards. Apparently he had been so busy preparing for the examination that day he had forgotten to take his medication in the morning.

Having given up on the idea of doing some other work during an examination, I used to take a few crosswords to do. These are good for passing the time because you can solve a few clues then pause to look around the hall. Other things I used to do included walking around counting the number of right-handed and left-handed students, for example, though I never did any detailed statistical analysis of the results.

The primary purpose of invigilation is to prevent cheating or other misbehaviour, and I only ever saw a few examples of that – most of them involving calculators with, e.g., graph-plotting facilities which are not allowed.

Anyway, I’m glad I no longer have to invigilate examinations, and that makes me all the more grateful for the people who do. Here in Maynooth there are three examinations per day during the Examination Period, with a brief period between to put out the next set of papers, which means a long day for those who do this job. Hats off to the staff of the Exams Office at Maynooth who carry out this thankless task three times a year!

Maynooth University Library Cat Update

I’m not in Maynooth right now, but I gather it’s warm there. Not perhaps as warm as here in London (34°C), bit still a bit warm to be wearing a fur coat. Still, it seems that Maynooth Library Cat is surviving…

Great to see #MaynoothUniversity proudly flying the trans-inclusive pride flag as usual ♥️🏳️‍🌈

I wonder how many American universities are brave and defiant enough to do the same in these dark times? 😕

Great to see #MaynoothUniversity proudly flying the trans-inclusive pride flag as usual ♥️🏳️‍🌈

I wonder how many American universities are brave and defiant enough to do the same in these dark times? 😕

Eclipse Event – a Date for your Diaries!

Here’s an invitation to people interested in astronomy to join staff from the Department of Physics at Maynooth University on Wednesday, August 12th 2026 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm for a special public celebration of one of the deepest solar eclipses visible from Ireland in decades. The next eclipse with > 90% obscuration of the Sun by the Moon won’t be seen again in Ireland until 2090, by which time I will have retired.

Experience the eclipse safely through:

• eclipse viewing glasses
• solar telescopes
• live astronomy demonstrations

List of Solar Talks during the evening:

• Dr. Emma Whelan – The Story of the Sun
• Dr. Joshuah Heath – The Quantum Sun
• Dr. Marcin Gradziel – (Electric) Power from the Sun. The good, the bad, and the glinty!
• Dr. Michelle McCrystall – The star of the show: How the Sun drives our climate
• Prof. Peter Coles – Einstein and the Eclipse
• Dr. Patrick Kavanagh – Will our Sun go Supernova?

The evening will also include:

• an immersive astronomy show in our inflatable planetarium
• hands-on arts and crafts activities for children

Maynooth University Staff can reserve a place here until June 14th, after which booking will be opened to the general public – I’ll repost this invitation with a link at that time.

Lectures’ End

At last we’ve made it to the end of term. This morning I delivered my last particle physics lecture. Given that it is the last day of the semester I was half-expecting no students would turn up, but in the end I had about 60% attendance. At the end of my lecture there was even a smattering of applause, which I interpreted as meaning that the students were happy that I’d finished.

I thought I would end this module with some topics that I didn’t have time to cover in any detail, but thought the students should know at least something about. These loose ends included:

• Renormalization
• Grand Unified Theories (GUTS)
• Supersymmetry (SUSY)
• Particle candidates for Dark Matter
• Baryogenesis

I only had time for a superficial treatment of these topics, but felt the class should at least hear the words. There are some very good unanswered research questions under those headings, which I think is an appropriate way to end a final-year module, given that at least some of the class are intending to carry on to further study in physics.

Today was also the deadline for Computational Physics projects. I’ll be grading them next week. Even then the term won’t quite be over – there is the small matter of exam marking to be done – but at least I’ve got no more formal teaching to do until September.

Last night on the way home I decided to buy a nice bottle of white wine and put it in the fridge so I could drink it in celebration of the end of term when I get home, with a nice fish supper.

Lectures’ End

At last we’ve made it to the end of term. This morning I delivered my last particle physics lecture. Given that it is the last day of the semester I was half-expecting no students would turn up, but in the end I had about 60% attendance. At the end of my lecture there was even a smattering of applause, which I interpreted as meaning that the students were happy that I’d finished.

I thought I would end this module with some topics that I didn’t have time to cover in any detail, but thought the students should know at least something about. These loose ends included:

• Renormalization
• Grand Unified Theories (GUTS)
• Supersymmetry (SUSY)
• Particle candidates for Dark Matter
• Baryogenesis

I only had time for a superficial treatment of these topics, but felt the class should at least hear the words. There are some very good unanswered research questions under those headings, which I think is an appropriate way to end a final-year module, given that at least some of the class are intending to carry on to further study in physics.

Today was also the deadline for Computational Physics projects. I’ll be grading them next week. Even then the term won’t quite be over – there is the small matter of exam marking to be done – but at least I’ve got no more formal teaching to do until September.

Last night on the way home I decided to buy a nice bottle of white wine and put it in the fridge so I could drink it in celebration of the end of term when I get home, with a nice fish supper.

A fine example of the grandeur of a Horse Chestnut tree in bloom at the Moyglare entrance to the #MaynoothUniversity campus. #Bloomscrolling

A fine example of the grandeur of a Horse Chestnut tree in bloom at the Moyglare entrance to the #MaynoothUniversity campus. #Bloomscrolling

Two Weeks To Go…

There are just two weeks of teaching left in the Spring Semester at Maynooth University. Actually slightly less than that because next Monday (May 4th) is another bank holiday. That day doesn’t make any difference to my own teaching, however, as I have no teaching sessions on Mondays anyway.

As I mentioned last week, the formal teaching part of one of my modules (Computational Physics) is already over and the students are now – or should be – busy doing mini-projects.

My other module, Particle Physics, has four remaining lectures. That means that I’m on schedule, despite missing one lecture on Good Friday. The very last lecture for this module is on the last day of term, May 8th, so I don’t know how many students will be there. Come to think of it, because this is a final-year module, it may actually be the last lecture of all at Maynooth for some students…

The end of teaching does not mean the end of the term, however. We have a short “break” and then, on May 5th, the examinations start. In the break I’ll have to mark a stack of Computational Physics projects. That’s always quite hard work as I have to run the codes and check the results as well as read and grade the written reports.

This week and next we also have the final presentations for project students. That will take up two whole full afternoons (this Wednesday and next Wednesday). There’s usually a bit of a do after these to give the students a send-off, as these are projects done by the graduating class.

Incidentally, people sometimes ask me why we have such heavy teaching loads at Maynooth University. Four modules a year – other staff do five (as I did a few years ago when was also Head of Department) – plus projects is far more than one would expect of a “research-led” University outside Ireland. Part of the reason is what I mentioned yesterday – that the University spends far too much of its income on Management. Other than that I can’t comment. According to this document, Maynooth University has committed to:

Introduce a University Workload Allocation Model (WAM) enhancing transparent processes and procedures in the allocation of work.

If there is such a model, it is news to me.

Two Weeks To Go…

There are just two weeks of teaching left in the Spring Semester at Maynooth University. Actually slightly less than that because next Monday (May 4th) is another bank holiday. That day doesn’t make any difference to my own teaching, however, as I have no teaching sessions on Mondays anyway.

As I mentioned last week, the formal teaching part of one of my modules (Computational Physics) is already over and the students are now – or should be – busy doing mini-projects.

My other module, Particle Physics, has four remaining lectures. That means that I’m on schedule, despite missing one lecture on Good Friday. The very last lecture for this module is on the last day of term, May 8th, so I don’t know how many students will be there. Come to think of it, because this is a final-year module, it may actually be the last lecture of all at Maynooth for some students…

The end of teaching does not mean the end of the term, however. We have a short “break” and then, on May 5th, the examinations start. In the break I’ll have to mark a stack of Computational Physics projects. That’s always quite hard work as I have to run the codes and check the results as well as read and grade the written reports.

This week and next we also have the final presentations for project students. That will take up two whole full afternoons (this Wednesday and next Wednesday). There’s usually a bit of a do after these to give the students a send-off, as these are projects done by the graduating class.

Incidentally, people sometimes ask me why we have such heavy teaching loads at Maynooth University. Four modules a year – other staff do five (as I did a few years ago when was also Head of Department) – plus projects is far more than one would expect of a “research-led” University outside Ireland. Part of the reason is what I mentioned yesterday – that the University spends far too much of its income on Management. Other than that I can’t comment. According to this document, Maynooth University has committed to:

Introduce a University Workload Allocation Model (WAM) enhancing transparent processes and procedures in the allocation of work.

If there is such a model, it is news to me.

Slowly crossing the campus — a slug inching their way across a footpath in front of Logic House in #MaynoothUniversity 🐌

Slowly crossing the campus — a slug inching their way across a footpath in front of Logic House in #MaynoothUniversity 🐌

Daffodils at the ‘Freedom’ sculpture by Alexandra Wejchert in #MaynoothUniversity. #Bloomscrolling

Daffodils at the ‘Freedom’ sculpture by Alexandra Wejchert in #MaynoothUniversity. #Bloomscrolling

The cherry blossoms around the #MaynoothUniversity village apartments are always so stunning! #Bloomscrolling

The cherry blossoms around the #MaynoothUniversity village apartments are always so stunning! #Bloomscrolling

The “evening star” Venus setting over the silhouette of the #MaynoothUniversity student apartments seen from some distance away at the edge of #Maynooth suburbia on the bridge at Mariavilla. #Astrophotography

The “evening star” Venus setting over the silhouette of the #MaynoothUniversity student apartments seen from some distance away at the edge of #Maynooth suburbia on the bridge at Mariavilla. #Astrophotography

These pure white traditionally shaped daffodils really grab the eye as you walk towards the library in #MaynoothUniversity. #Bloomscrolling

These pure white traditionally shaped daffodils really grab the eye as you walk towards the library in #MaynoothUniversity. #Bloomscrolling

It’s such a joy to walk around the #MaynoothUniversity campus in spring, so many flowers everywhere, like these somewhat pompous frilly daffodils at the Library. (Complete with giant branding in the background 😉) #Bloomscrolling

It’s such a joy to walk around the #MaynoothUniversity campus in spring, so many flowers everywhere, like these somewhat pompous frilly daffodils at the Library. (Complete with giant branding in the background 😉) #Bloomscrolling

I do love spring on campus in #MaynoothUniversity. These summer snowflakes with daffodils behind are putting on a nice show in front of the Education Building! #Bloomscrolling

I do love spring on campus in #MaynoothUniversity. These summer snowflakes with daffodils behind are putting on a nice show in front of the Education Building! #Bloomscrolling

The pink cherry blossoms are bursting forth on the #MaynoothUniversity campus 🙂 #BloomScrolling

The pink cherry blossoms are bursting forth on the #MaynoothUniversity campus 🙂 #BloomScrolling

An evening #IrishRail commuter train pulling away from #Maynooth along the banks of the #RoyalCanal as it starts its journey towards Dublin, bring home students after a busy day studying in #MaynoothUniversity.

An evening #IrishRail commuter train pulling away from #Maynooth along the banks of the #RoyalCanal as it starts its journey towards Dublin, bring home students after a busy day studying in #MaynoothUniversity.

This magpie posed perfectly on this shrub with red flowers in St. Joseph’s Square in #MaynoothUniversity long enough for me to grab a shot.

This magpie posed perfectly on this shrub with red flowers in St. Joseph’s Square in #MaynoothUniversity long enough for me to grab a shot.

Big traditional-shaped daffodils, but with white outer petals brightening up the approach to the library in #MaynoothUniversity. #Bloomscrolling

Big traditional-shaped daffodils, but with white outer petals brightening up the approach to the library in #MaynoothUniversity. #Bloomscrolling

Beautiful smal golden Daffodils bathed in spring sunshine along a pedestrian entrance to #MaynoothUniversity. #Bloomscrolling

Beautiful smal golden Daffodils bathed in spring sunshine along a pedestrian entrance to #MaynoothUniversity. #Bloomscrolling

Maynooth off X!

Following on from my post earlier today, I was sent a copy of a letter (below) instructing those people who run its social media accounts to desist from post on X/Twitter.:

It stops short of deactivating accounts, but that is probably just to prevent someone else using the username/handle and using it for nefarious reasons. It’s a pity they don’t recommend Mastodon as well as BlueSky, as I think that is better for disseminating research-based news than BlueSky, but this is positive news.

#MaynoothUniversity #Twitter #X

Maynooth off X!

Following on from my post earlier today, I was sent a copy of a letter (below) instructing those people who run its social media accounts to desist from post on X/Twitter.:

It stops short of deactivating accounts, but that is probably just to prevent someone else using the username/handle and using it for nefarious reasons. It’s a pity they don’t recommend Mastodon as well as BlueSky, as I think that is better for disseminating research-based news than BlueSky, but this is positive news.

#MaynoothUniversity #Twitter #X

The growth of light seed black holes in the early Universe

Meanwhile, back in the world of research, I see that Maynooth University has issued a news item about a new paper by colleagues in the Department of Physics, Daxal H. Mehta, John A. Regan and Lewis Prole. The story has also been picked up by the Irish media, e.g. here.

You may find the paper behind a paywall, as it is published in Nature Astronomy, in which case you will just have to make do with the abstract:

And here’s a pretty picture from one of the simulations used in the paper:

#blackHoles #DaxalMehta #DepartmentOfPhysics #JohnRegan #LewisProle #MaynoothUniversity

The growth of light seed black holes in the early Universe

Meanwhile, back in the world of research, I see that Maynooth University has issued a news item about a new paper by colleagues in the Department of Physics, Daxal H. Mehta, John A. Regan and Lewis Prole. The story has also been picked up by the Irish media, e.g. here.

You may find the paper behind a paywall, as it is published in Nature Astronomy, in which case you will just have to make do with the abstract:

And here’s a pretty picture from one of the simulations used in the paper:

#blackHoles #DaxalMehta #DepartmentOfPhysics #JohnRegan #LewisProle #MaynoothUniversity

A month to go

I’ve been a bit preoccupied these recent weeks so it was with a shock that I realised that we’re into Week 9, which means just four weeks (including this one) until the end of term and just a month before Christmas. Teaching finishes here in Maynooth on Friday 19th December, but I don’t have any lectures on Fridays so in my case it will finish the day before (with a tutorial). I don’t know how many students will be there, but the module concerned is my 4th year Mathematical Physics module and the students are very hard-working, so I think most will attend. After such a busy term I’m sure that they will need a break as much as I will.

I had to rejig the schedule for both modules I am teaching this semester to accommodate the introduction of in-class tests to replace take-home assignments (for reasons I outlined here). I’ve also been handing out voluntary exercises for practice, not counting towards the module mark but for formative reasons. Both modules are mathematical in nature, and I think the best way to learn mathematics is by doing it…

Despite the changes with respect to last year, I am still roughly on track. In my Engineering Mathematics module I’ve just finished Laplace transforms, and will start Fourier methods tomorrow. With the mathematical physicists, I am in the middle of complex analysis, having done complex differentiation and conformal mappings and starting complex integration next week.

I still have a couple more class tests to get through. On the positive side, the students are turning up for them and have expressed approval for the fact that they don’t have compulsory homework to do off-campus. This form of assessment is undoubtedly harder work for the students, it’s also better preparation for the examination that take-home assignments.

We’ve just received the draft examination timetable for January, and I’m pleased that both of the examinations for which I am responsible will take place quite early in the examination period (on 12th and 15th January, respectively) so I should be able to get them corrected in time to have a break for some research before teaching resumes at the start of February.

#complexAnalysis #engineeringMathematics #genai #generativeAi #mathematics #maynoothUniversity

A month to go

I’ve been a bit preoccupied these recent weeks so it was with a shock that I realised that we’re into Week 9, which means just four weeks (including this one) until the end of term and just a month before Christmas. Teaching finishes here in Maynooth on Friday 19th December, but I don’t have any lectures on Fridays so in my case it will finish the day before (with a tutorial). I don’t know how many students will be there, but the module concerned is my 4th year Mathematical Physics module and the students are very hard-working, so I think most will attend. After such a busy term I’m sure that they will need a break as much as I will.

I had to rejig the schedule for both modules I am teaching this semester to accommodate the introduction of in-class tests to replace take-home assignments (for reasons I outlined here). I’ve also been handing out voluntary exercises for practice, not counting towards the module mark but for formative reasons. Both modules are mathematical in nature, and I think the best way to learn mathematics is by doing it…

Despite the changes with respect to last year, I am still roughly on track. In my Engineering Mathematics module I’ve just finished Laplace transforms, and will start Fourier methods tomorrow. With the mathematical physicists, I am in the middle of complex analysis, having done complex differentiation and conformal mappings and starting complex integration next week.

I still have a couple more class tests to get through. On the positive side, the students are turning up for them and have expressed approval for the fact that they don’t have compulsory homework to do off-campus. This form of assessment is undoubtedly harder work for the students, it’s also better preparation for the examination that take-home assignments.

We’ve just received the draft examination timetable for January, and I’m pleased that both of the examinations for which I am responsible will take place quite early in the examination period (on 12th and 15th January, respectively) so I should be able to get them corrected in time to have a break for some research before teaching resumes at the start of February.

#complexAnalysis #engineeringMathematics #genai #generativeAi #mathematics #maynoothUniversity

It’s LGBTQIA+ STEM Day!

Just a quick post to point out that today is LGBTQIA+ STEM Day, which aims to celebrate  to celebrate the work of LGBTQIA+ people in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM), but also to highlight the barriers still facing us.

For more information see here.

This also provides an opportunity for me to send my best wishes to all LGBTQIA+ staff and students at Maynooth and around the world!

P.S. I’m reminded that it was 22 years ago today that Section 28 was finally repealed in England and Wales. With reactionary fforces around the world attacking our hard-won rights, it is important that we cling on to what we’ve got.

#LGBTAIA_ #LGBTQIA_ #MaynoothUniversity #Section28 #STEM

🧵I normally don't comment here on local issue but I want to highlight the newspaper's role in this issue and how it is a perfect example of why people are finding media less trustworthy. I worked as an editor for 8 years and there's no way in hell it would have allowed this headline.

Article here 👇https://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/local-news/1943247/anger-at-kildare-university-students-parking-in-estates.html

#MaynoothUniversity
#KildareCouncil
#StudentLife
#PublicTransport
#LocalIssues
#FairReporting
#MediaAccountability
#CommunityDiscussion
#SupportStudents
#TransportSolutions

🧵I normally don't comment here on local issue but I want to highlight the newspaper's role in this issue and how it is a perfect example of why people are finding media less trustworthy. I worked as an editor for 8 years and there's no way in hell it would have allowed this headline.

Article here 👇https://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/local-news/1943247/anger-at-kildare-university-students-parking-in-estates.html

#MaynoothUniversity
#KildareCouncil
#StudentLife
#PublicTransport
#LocalIssues
#FairReporting
#MediaAccountability
#CommunityDiscussion
#SupportStudents
#TransportSolutions

Back to Teaching and Coping with GenAI

Summer is well and truly over: it’s a chilly day in Maynooth; the Autumnal Equinox takes place tomorrow; and tomorrow I return to teaching at Maynooth University. So begins my antepenultimate academic year as a university teacher.

I’ve often remarked how the academic year at Maynooth is largely defined by the astronomical phenomena of the equinoxes and solstices. This year demonstrates this perfectly: Semester 1 lectures for undergraduates begin tomorrow (22nd September), the day of the Autumnal equinox; they end on Friday 19th December with the Winter Solstice on 21st. The half-term study break coincides with Samhain, a cross-quarter day. It’s all refreshingly pagan.

This time last year, having been away on sabbatical the year before, I was preparing to teach two new modules. I have those two again this year. The timetable for my Engineering Mathematics (EE206 Differential Equations and Transform Methods) module has not changed, so my first lectures on that (a double session) are not until Tuesday. I’m also doing MP469 Differential Equations and Complex Analysis for 4th Year Mathematical Physics students again, but the lecture times for that have changed. That is because, as a consequence of the merger of the Departments of Theoretical Physics and Experimental Physics to form a single Department of Physics, times have been coordinated as far as possible to ensure that Physics students can have flexibility in their choice of theoretical or experimental-based modules. The Engineering Mathematics module has not changed because the times for those lectures are such as to fit with the needs of the Department of Engineering, rather than Physics.

The upshot of all this is that my first lecture of the new term is for MP469, tomorrow afternoon at 2pm and my second is also MP469, at 11am on Tuesday. This means that I have three hours of lectures on Tuesdays this term, but at least that makes it possible to have a day without teaching (Wednesday).

You will notice that both the modules I am teaching this term are mathematical in nature. I have been concerned about the integrity of the coursework element of these modules in the light of improvements in Generative AI. Only a couple of years ago GenAI could not solve the sort of problems I set for homework, but now it generally can – especially for EE206. I don’t altogether object to people applying artificial intelligence to solve mathematical problems, but the issue is that it does make mistakes. Moreover, instead of saying “sorry I can’t solve that problem” it will generally present a superficially plausible but incorrect solution. Although students will probably use GenAI for problem-solving, I think it is important that they learn to do such problems themselves, otherwise they won’t know whether the solution coughed up by the algorithm is correct or not. That way lies disaster.

The only way to learn mathematics is by doing it. If students get GenAI to do the mathematics for them, then they won’t learn it. In the past we have given marks for coursework (usually 20% of the module mark) mainly to encourage students to do them. Students who don’t bother to do these exercises generally do badly in the final exam (80%).

For these reasons I am moving the assessment from weekly homework sheets – which could be tackled with AI – to supervised in-class tests for which students can use notes on paper, but not laptops or phones, just like they would in the final examination. I will of course give examples for the students to have a go at themselves, and I will give feedback on their attempts, but they will not contribute to the module score. Another advantage of this approach is that students won’t have to do so much work against deadlines outside of class.

Anyway, that’s the approach I am going to try. I’d be interested to hear what others are doing to deal with GenAI. The Comments Box is at your disposal.

#DepartmentOfPhysics #GenAI #generativeAI #mathematics #MaynoothUniversity

#fascism #symposium #InsurgentTemporalities #Ireland #MaynoothUniversity

"Dr Raul Cârstocea, Department of History was recently awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant of nearly €2 million for his 5-year research project on fascism. The INTEMPO project, Insurgent Temporalities: Fascism as a Global Anti-Universalist Project, breaks new ground by drawing on transnational history to provide an original global history of fascism in the period from 1919 to 1945. The project brings together research in four distinct fields: fascism studies, global history, the history of empire and colonialism, and the interdisciplinary study of temporality.

(. . .)

Abstract research symposium
Insurgent Temporalities: Fascism as a Global Anti-Universalist Project (INTEMPO)

My project provides a global history of fascism (1919-1945), arguing that the fascist national revolutions were part of a global project of overhauling the liberal international order and replacing it with a fascist one. INTEMPO does so by approaching global fascism transnationally and through the lens of temporality, showing the centrality of a specific temporal structure to fascist ideology. Fascists everywhere repurposed a historical or mythical past, saw their present as a watershed moment in world history, and aimed to accelerate it toward a redemptive future of eternal plenitude when time would stand still. Despite significant variation related to the different national contexts in which fascist movements and regimes emerged, the compatibility of this temporal structure – translating spatially into distinct but similarly compatible projections of a ‘New Order’ – allowed mutual recognition and enabled international cooperation that transcended fascism’s ultra-nationalism. The project further shows how . . ."

https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/news-events/insurgent-temporalities-fascism-global-anti-universalist-project

#fascism #symposium #InsurgentTemporalities #Ireland #MaynoothUniversity

"Dr Raul Cârstocea, Department of History was recently awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant of nearly €2 million for his 5-year research project on fascism. The INTEMPO project, Insurgent Temporalities: Fascism as a Global Anti-Universalist Project, breaks new ground by drawing on transnational history to provide an original global history of fascism in the period from 1919 to 1945. The project brings together research in four distinct fields: fascism studies, global history, the history of empire and colonialism, and the interdisciplinary study of temporality.

(. . .)

Abstract research symposium
Insurgent Temporalities: Fascism as a Global Anti-Universalist Project (INTEMPO)

My project provides a global history of fascism (1919-1945), arguing that the fascist national revolutions were part of a global project of overhauling the liberal international order and replacing it with a fascist one. INTEMPO does so by approaching global fascism transnationally and through the lens of temporality, showing the centrality of a specific temporal structure to fascist ideology. Fascists everywhere repurposed a historical or mythical past, saw their present as a watershed moment in world history, and aimed to accelerate it toward a redemptive future of eternal plenitude when time would stand still. Despite significant variation related to the different national contexts in which fascist movements and regimes emerged, the compatibility of this temporal structure – translating spatially into distinct but similarly compatible projections of a ‘New Order’ – allowed mutual recognition and enabled international cooperation that transcended fascism’s ultra-nationalism. The project further shows how . . ."

https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/news-events/insurgent-temporalities-fascism-global-anti-universalist-project

The scale of influence is huge, involving thousands of #partnerships at hundreds of universities, according to Jennie Stephens, a co-author of the paper, professor of #climate #justice at #MaynoothUniversity in #Ireland “We think of #universities as for the public good, advancing knowledge for better futures for all of us" said “Whereas I think the scale & scope of influence of the #fossilfuel industry on #highereducation shows that some of that is being distorted toward private sector interests

A determined ivy branch reaching over the wall in front of #MaynoothUniversity on a very frosty morning.

While it’s true that our president is rightly proud of the tree dominating the window her office over the entrance to the TSI building, I still think the prettiest tree in #MaynoothUniversity is the student apartments 🙂🎄

A particularly crunchy carpet of small yellow leaves between the student apartments in #MaynoothUniversity.