Trinity College Dublin Talks

Dr David McGrath on the challenges and joys of being Trinity's GP

Dr David McGrath is Director of Trinity's College Health Service and came to this line of medicine through his work at the University of Edinburgh where he found his calling. He talks us through his early days of experience in emergency medicine and also his work with patients that had what came to be known as AIDS during his time in Kenya. Dr McGrath talks us through drastic changes in student health brought about by the COVID pandemic and how his practice has changed. He gives some good insight on what are main factors in improving student mental health.

Gold Medal winning Prof Ruth Byrne on thinking, reasoning, and the ever elusive human imagination

Professor Ruth Byrne is a globally acknowledged scholarly leader in the field of Cognitive Psychology: a psychological scientist who has advanced our understanding of the human mind. She has made a distinguished scholarly contribution to psychology through her research on human reasoning and imagination including experimental and computational investigations of reasoning and imaginative thought. Her discovery that certain kinds of background knowledge can suppress even the simplest of deductive inferences has attracted experimental study worldwide. Artificial intelligence (AI) researchers have modelled it to improve the flexibility of reasoning in AI programmes. It has also led to important theoretical developments in the characterisation of human reasoning. Her work on the human imagination provided for the first time an experimentally tested account of the processes underlying a central aspect of imaginative thought, the creation of alternatives to reality.

Vice Provost Juergen Barkoff on Trinity's Strategic Plan 2020-2025

Vice Provost Juergen Barkoff on Trinity's Strategic Plan 2020-2025 by Katie S. Byrne and Tom Molloy

Trinity student Zara Hussey on the study-abroad experience

Business Studies and German student Zara Hussey spoke with us from her Erasmus placement in Innsbruck, Austria. She has had a life-changing experience while going to university in a new country and different culture. Her non-profit work with JustDiggit has also been eye-opening and rewarding. Listen in to get some of your Erasmus and study abroad questions answered! Zara says she is happy to answer questions about her experience with Erasmus: husseyz@tcd.ie.

Greening transport - where is the sense of urgency? With Dr Brian Caulfield

In order to reach our emissions targets, Dr Brian Caulfield says we need to 'throw the kitchen sink at it.' There is hope however, that we can have better, safe public transport to enrich our lives and get those emissions down. First we need a massive investment in public transport - busses, cycling infrastructure, incentives and more. Dr Brian Caulfield is an Associate Professor and Head of Discipline in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering in Trinity. He has been active in transport research for over 10 years and to date has attracted €4.8m in research funding from both National and EU funding sources. His research focuses upon the optimisation of transportation networks with the goal of reducing emissions and meeting our climate change targets.