News
Contract Staff Liable to Enhanced Redundancy following Important Legal Precedents
Release from the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT): PDF
June 2011
The Plight of Post-Docs
There is quite a storm brewing on the Irish Times Letters pages about the careers, expectations, and opportunities for post-doctoral researchers. A letter by Paddy Healy on the 29th March listed some of the many frustrations felt by the majority of Irish post-docs that we speak to:The vast majority of the 3,000 postdoctoral researchers in universities and other third-level institutions are employed on temporary contracts. They have less security of employment than an unskilled employee in general employment. They are conducting research at the very highest international level.
But with one notable exception of Trinity College, third-level institutions are developing HR systems designed to prevent the researchers achieving continuity of employment. The most reprehensible arrangement has been put in place at UCD where "post-docs" are deemed to be on a "training course" for four years, after which their employment is discontinued.
There has since been replies both for and against, including one from Trinity's TRSA highlighting the discrepancies between the HEA's Employment Control Framework and the continued touting of a "smart economy". For more on the conversation go The Irish Times here, or check out what the Postdoc Forum have to say.
March 2011
IRSA Meeting
Sara Morrissey (DCU), Fionnuala Hickey (UCD) and John Walshe (TCD) met with Aidan Hodson and colleagues on the 20th of January in the Dept. Enterprise, Trade and Innovation. Aidan is a Principal Officer and the focus of the discussion was to inform him of IRSA, to discuss elements of the HERG document (particularly mobility and the research career path) as well as other research policies. The meeting went very well and he is keen to maintain contact. January 2011
UKRSA AGM
Stephen Simpson from SFI will be presenting in Cork to ARCS on the 30th of November. November 2010
UKRSA AGM
The next IRSA meeting is to be held in Cork on the 26th of November. November 2010
UKRSA AGM
VITAE in UK has asked IRSA and a rep from UKRSA to go to Brussels (1st December) to the Research Alliance group of Research Careers, to present a case for setting up the new European Research Staff Association. November 2010
UKRSA AGM
Gordon Dalton and Tony McElligott are to attend the UKRSA AGM in London on the 4th of November. Gordon is scheduled to give a presentation about IRSA, while Tony will chair a workshop. They will also take part in discussions with VITAE on the new European Research Staff Association (ERSA) set-up. October 2010
IRSA Meeting
Pat Cunningham attended the last IRSA meeting. He gave preliminary support for the European Research Staff Association (ERSA) concept and involvement for both IRSA and ERSA in the forthcoming European Science Open Forum (ESOF 2012) to be held in Dublin. It is planned to have the inaugural meeting of ERSA at ESOF 2012 in Dublin. September 2010
UCD RSA
UCD have started their new RSA inaugurated by Conor O’ Carroll. August 2010
IRSA Meeting Update
Pat Cunningham will attend the next IRSA meeting 20th Sept to discuss ESOF 2012 and IRSA involvement. Possible also interested attendees may be Conor O’Carroll and Marti Hynes. Venue investigated at the moment is IUA offices. August 2010
Stephen Simpson (SFI)
Stephen Simpson from SFI will be presenting at the ARCS in Cork in October. Stephen will also be contacting Ruth Freeman and Frank Gannon with interest in the set up of the European research staff association. August 2010
London and UKRSA
IRSA was invited to present at the second convened meeting of UKRSA. Present were David Proctor and David Foley. Also present were representatives of Vitae, the UK government funded organisation which is set up to support contract researchers. Vitae funds events, travel and provides support admin for UKRSA. Gordon Dalton from IRSA gave a presentation on IRSA experiences over the last two years. UKRSA was particularly interested in its European experiences as well as its interaction with funding bodies and stakeholders. July 2010
Galway and Martin Hynes
A meeting was held in NUIG Galway between Martin Hynes from IRCSET and the social network research centre (DERI) in NUIG. IRSA was asked to attend to participate in the discussion on the set up of a social network tool for contract researchers consisting of a CV portal and discussion forums. LinkedIn was eventually agreed upon as the platform of choice. The platform is due for completion to coincide with the Dublin Globe Forum in November. July 2010
EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) 2010
IRSA was represented at ESOF in Turin by Hasheem Mannan and Gordon Dalton. July 2010
IRSCET Funding Aggreed
IRCSET has agreed to fund and organise the following:- A joint networking and CV sharing platform via Diaspora similar to that organised in Germany. A workshop will be organised to discuss the platform.
- Attendance of 2 members of IRSA at Euro Science Open Forum (ESOF) in Turin in July.
June 2010
IRSA to present at CREST
IRSA will be presenting at the Council of Europe’s CREST Scientific and Technical Research Committee in Dublin in June, on the invitation of Conor O Carroll of the IUA. IRSA presenters will be Gordon Dalton and Carol Lynam from DCU. The presentation outline will be an introduction on IRSA and its strategies as well as a presentation on Irish Researcher experiences. June 2010
Paycuts Initiative
An initiative on reversal of the pay cuts for Marie Curie researchers is underway, being led by the TCD association. If you are a Marie Curie researcher that has been affected by recent paycuts and want to more then contact your local RSA or IRSA directly. April 2010
Queen's University Joins IRSA
Queen's University Belfast has recently joined IRSA at the recent IRSA meeting. April 2010