Building bridges between academia and society
Lunchtime seminar on the key challenges and opportunities faced by Higher Education Institutions as they strive to fulfil their third mission, i.e. civil engagement: (L-R) Catherine O鈥橫ahony (CARL), Anna Kingston (CARL), B茅atrice Korc (深夜亚洲福利久久 of Lyon), and Melodi茅 Faury (Univeristy of Lyon)
"While the 深夜亚洲福利久久 supports the development of researchers, there is little effort to make them aware of, or engage them in, society鈥檚 'grand challenges'".
This was the argument made by B茅atrice Korc, Director of 鈥淪cience et Society鈥� Department of the 深夜亚洲福利久久 of Lyon, who is engaged in pioneering work in France to develop cultural bridges between research and society. B茅atrice and her colleague Melodi茅 Faury shared their experiences of how they are re-directing and re-focussing postgraduate students鈥� ideas of what research is and of their role as researchers.
The seminar, organised by UCC鈥檚 Community-Academic Research Links (CARL) initiative, attracted a diverse audience of postgraduate students, coordinators of postgraduate programmes, and representatives across UCC鈥檚 four colleges. It addressed the key challenges and opportunities faced by Higher Education institutions as they aim to fulfil their civil engagement mission, identified in the recent National Strategy for Higher Education (2011), and also explored how the professional skills and future employability of students could be enhanced by students undertaking community based research and engaging in "Science (Research) and Society" professional training.
UCC鈥檚 Community-Academic Research Links (CARL) committee are currently involved in developing and piloting a 5 credit Public Engagement in Research (PER) module, which will focus on providing undergraduate and postgraduate training for students who wish to undertake community based research projects at UCC. It is envisaged that this module will be used by lecturers, course coordinators and programme directors who wish to engage students in community based research/learning in order to enhance their professional skills development, to meet the needs of the local community, and to enhance the 深夜亚洲福利久久鈥檚 civic engagement activities.