2025 VIA Awards

Recipient: Aoife Clancy

Category: Student Experience

Nominator: Orla Murphy

Alice Clancy is Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, and joint lead of the Human Capital Initiative funded project Building Change: Designing a Resilient Future through Architectural Education. The Human Capital Initiative aims to increase the capacity of higher education to meet the skills needs of the future.

As part of this project, Alice has involved students in the process of transformation, enabling a school wide cultural shift. Student Curators are appointed and mentored and empowered to design, produce and deliver their own initiatives in support of the project. 

So far, these initiatives have included a podcast, a student-led debate, curation of several exhibitions and the design of a materials library in Richview. There have also been 2 issues of Rich Views magazine and connection and collaboration with students in other higher education institutions.

Alice invites students to consider and design their own initiatives, engaging them not only on how to achieve their own ideas, but how best to collaborate so they can be realised to a high standard. Wonderful creativity can be seen in the works which result from her mentorship and  I’m delighted to nominate Alice for this Values In Action award.

Recipient: CAREWELL Team

Category: Fostering Inclusion

Nominator: Jocelyn O'Shea

The CAREWELL Team was nominated in the category of ‘Fostering Inclusion’ to recognise the team’s commitment to raising awareness of UCD employees who balance their work with caring for a family member and in some cases, family members, who have a disability, chronic illness or who are aging.

The efforts of the team have gone above and beyond their responsibilities as researchers, actively fostering inclusion and a sense of community amongst employees who are navigating the challenges of caregiving and work.

The team introduced a range of initiatives including coffee mornings, lunchtime information sessions and seminars. In addition, they championed wellbeing through an ‘8-week CAREWELL wellbeing programme’, co-designed with UCD employees who are family carers.

The team also created two videos to raise awareness. The first was created for line-managers and includes real life-based caregiving scenarios and offers guidance on how line-managers can support employees. The second video, ‘A day in the life of a working family carer’,  illustrates the realities of juggling work and care. Additionally, the team has produced a podcast series called CAREWELL Conversations.

Through their advocacy and dedication, the CAREWELL team has made a significant impact on the lives of UCD employees who are family carers.

Recipient: The Library Team

Category: Fostering Inclusion

Nominator: Conor O'Rourke, Dr Niamh Nestor

As Co-chairs of the LGBTQI+ EDI Subgroup, Conor and Niamh nominated the Library Team of Dr Sandra Collins, Lorna Dodd, Joshua Clark, Dr Catherine Wilsdon and Aoife Corcoran for a VIA Award in the category of fostering inclusion.

The UCD Library team has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to fostering inclusion through their annual celebration of LGBTQI+ History Month. By collaborating with UCD Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, the Library has provided a platform to highlight and amplify LGBTQI+ voices and histories, ensuring that students, staff, and the wider university community have access to valuable educational resources and a welcoming space for engagement.

The impact of these initiatives has been profound, fostering a greater awareness and appreciation of LGBTQI+ history, literature, and lived experiences across the university. By providing a visible and accessible platform for these resources, the Library has helped to create a more inclusive and informed campus environment.

Beyond these events, which included book readings and discussions, the Library’s unwavering commitment to  providing a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQI+ students and staff has solidified its role as an inclusive hub on campus

By championing equality, diversity, and inclusion through these initiatives, UCD Library staff have made a lasting contribution to the university’s culture of belonging. Their work exemplifies UCD’s values in action and underscores their role as leaders in fostering inclusion at every level of university life.

Nominee: Dr David McKeown

Category: External Engagement

Nominator: Laura Tobin

Dr David McKeown was nominated for a VIA Award under the category of External Engagement. 

David embodies the values of collegiality, creativity, inclusion through his education and public engagement work. He has been actively involved with the Irish science communication scene for over 20 years. 

David has worked collaboratively with colleagues and communities to bring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to the public. He's done this both through his own interests and his engineering research. He has also actively worked with disadvantaged and minority communities.  

His external engagement includes many events and societies such as FameLab, TEDx UCD, Ignite Talks, Engineers Ireland and the Irish Robotics Club. He’s also  a contributor to RTÉ News, Newstalk’s Futureproof and the Big Life Fix on RTÉ. 

The Big Life Fix is a RTÉ show where inventors meet people with special physical needs and design machines which aim to improve their quality of life. David worked on a number of these projects including one which enabled a runner with Parkinson's to run competitively. 

David co-founded and co-organised both Science Hack Day Dublin and Dublin Maker. Dublin Maker is Ireland’s first maker festival and brings together many diverse and disparate communities to showcase their creations. Unlike other science festivals, there is no age or quality limit, anyone and everyone can participate, boosting inclusivity.

Nominee: Derval Conroy

Category: External Engagement

Nominator: Gillian Pye

Derval Conroy was nominated for a VIA Award under the category of External Engagement. 

Since 2021, Derval has been leading a voluntary support programme in modern languages for 18 DEIS schools across the greater Dublin area. The scheme helps secondary school participants to develop their skills in reading, writing and understanding modern foreign languages. It is an excellent example of UCD’s mission to engage with the community and to foster inclusion.

In this scheme UCD final-year students offer free tutorials to pupils preparing for state examinations, helping them to develop their skills and confidence. Beginning online during the pandemic, offering support in French, Derval has expanded this scheme to cover even more languages.

Support is offered on Saturday mornings on the UCD campus and, in the case of several institutions in Tallaght, UCD students also visit the schools.  Derval is the sole lead on this project and gives up her time to attend most Saturday morning sessions.

This initiative addresses a community group that are not only underrepresented in Higher Education, but who are also at a disadvantage in relation to foreign language skills.

The UCD students who participate in this programme gain invaluable experience. They also develop their own skills in the foreign language by reflecting on how to transfer their knowledge and understanding to others. By seeking to engage UCD students in addressing inequality it promotes the value of the university as a resource for the whole of society and its students as active, engaged citizens. 

Inclusion, engagement and integrity are the UCD values which Dr Crean brings to life through his outreach work  in St Kilian’s Community School, Bray, where he was a  former student. 

Dr Crean has been working for the past  decade with St. Kilian’s, a Delivering Equality of Opportunity or DEIS school, supporting  Leaving Certificate students to make informed decisions  about their further and higher education pathways.

His work began as an informal initiative but over time this has developed into a more formalised mentoring programme called EMBED. This programme is designed around the idea of embedding professors in DEIS schools to share expertise, offer support and encourage students to consider further and higher education pathways.

Giving back to his former school, supporting and  inspiring secondary school students to engage in higher  education, and designing a programme in close collaboration with the staff of St Kilian's are all important ways in which Dr Crean demonstrates the values of inclusion, engagement and  integrity.

The Embed Programme is a powerful example  of how student-centered initiatives, designed in collaboration with schools, can foster educational resilience and encourage progression to  further and higher education. This kind of work is critical to bridging the educational divide.

Recipient:  Professor Eleni Mangina

Category: Global Engagement 

Nominator: Imelda Huggins

For more than 13 years, Prof. Mangina has been a driving force behind the School of Computer Science’s global engagement strategy.  Her exceptional dedication to the recruitment and support of non-EU students has significantly enhanced UCD’s reputation as a welcoming and globally connected institution.  

Through her leadership, she has developed strong partnerships with international institutions, fostering an inclusive and diverse student body. Eleni’s commitment to Inclusion is reflected in her mentorship of international students, helping them integrate academically and socially within UCD.  Eleni’s global engagement work directly supports UCD’s mission of fostering an inclusive and multicultural academic environment. She has facilitated numerous initiatives to support international students in adapting to academic and cultural life at UCD.

Her Creativity is evident in the innovative outreach strategies she has designed to engage prospective students, using cutting-edge digital tools and AI-driven recruitment strategies. She fosters transparency in international recruitment and ensures ethical engagement in all partnerships. Her commitment to Integrity ensures that all international engagements align with ethical best practices and UCD’s values.

Recipient: Emma Doherty

Category: Student Experience

Nominator: Claire Bergin

Emma personifies the UCD Values in her daily interactions with the students, Student Advisors, Student Health Doctors and Nurses, Counsellors and parents. She is very knowledgeable in the area of counselling, having studied and worked as a therapist herself. She is very caring, inclusive, supportive and has a great understanding of the issues facing the students today. Emma ensures that human-centered principles are at the heart of every initiative she undertakes.

Emma serves as the crucial link between the administrative and counselling wings of the team, anticipating and addressing clients’ needs with care.

She is constantly endeavouring to improve the Service and its communication process to the students, brainstorming different avenues to ensure that our service is viewed as professional, confidential, easily accessible and inclusive. Without Emma, the unit would most certainly not function to the standard that it does. She is a cornerstone of the unit. 

Emma embodies the values of diversity, inclusiveness, fairness and equity in her role and is a shining example to her colleagues and our students.

Recipient: The Global Leadership Team

Category: Driving Sustainability

Nominator: Lorraine Woods

The UCD Global Leadership Team were nominated for a VIA Award under the category of Driving Sustainability.  Team members include: Sauna Hughes, Una Watkins, Caroline Mangan, Laura Coughlan, Deirdre Healy, Enda Carroll, Eve Brosseau and Roslyn Reddy.

UCD is the first Irish university to participate in the Climate Action Barometer, a global benchmark for tracking climate policies and emissions.  It is also a signatory to the CANIE Accord, a global initiative driving meaningful climate action in higher education.

Led by this team, UCD Global secured Sustainability Seed Funding to launch a co-curricular sustainability programme in collaboration with Big Zero. This initiative introduced 32 international students from 15 countries to the Sustainable Development Goals, empowering them to take climate action.

The Big Zero programme equips students with practical skills for climate-positive action. International students integrate sustainability into their study-abroad experience, fostering global environmental consciousness.

The UCD Global Leadership Team actively participates in working groups, committees, and global partnerships, mobilizing action across staff, students, and the sector. 

Nominee: Joshua Clark

Category: One UCD

Nominator: Susan Gray

Joshua Clark was nominated in the category of ‘One UCD’ for the outstanding work he’s done to build community, support initiatives and share success stories across our communication channels.

Josh is very active on a variety of channels  but his work on UCD Workvivo has been exemplary. He has taken advantage of the new platform and has been successful in using it to engage and inform the wider UCD community of ongoing initiatives, events, workshops and report launches.    

His updates, articles and events have a cumulative total of over 31,000 impressions on Workvivo  alone. There is also a significant level of interaction on Josh’s posts, in terms of comments and reshares, all of which help broaden and deepen the engagement.

UCD is a hive of activity with Schools and Units creating reports and initiatives on a constant basis. In many cases, the opportunity to promote these initiatives and build community is lost. However, through posts and events with clear language and enticing graphics, Josh has managed to inform the community and shine a light on the work of units like UCD Archives and the Library more generally. 

Josh’s work aligns closely with the UCD Strategy in terms of ‘promoting a vibrant, inclusive and ambitious culture'.

Recipient: Máire Coyle

Category: Research Culture

Nominator: Rosana Pinheiro Machado, Dimitrios Zevgolis, Susi Geiger, Cathryn Costello, Gary Boyd, Padraig Dunne, Maebh Harding, Kathleen James-Chakraborty, Jennifer Keating, Ailise Bulfin, Barry Molloy, Joanna Brück, Dagmar Schiek, Alice Mauger, Elaine Corbett, Emma Teeling

No single person has done more to secure prestigious research funding for UCD than Máire Coyle. She is the point person for faculty applying for European Research Council grants and also for those coming to UCD after being awarded such grants. In this role she has been unfailingly supportive.

Applying for these grants is an extremely time-consuming and for most people very stressful process. Máire’s input goes far beyond simple encouragement. She is extremely knowledgeable about the specifics of the various grants, the very particular language in which applications need to be written, and the equally particular way that they need to be structured.  What is even more impressive is her ability to give informed advice across all of the disciplines.

There are three massive impacts as a result of Máire’s work. The first is the sense of pride and capability that the ERC awards, in particular, have engendered on campus. The second is financial.  She shares responsibility with the individual PIs for bringing many tens of millions of euros to campus. Arguably more important, however, is the prestige associated with these grants, and thus the reputational reward for UCD.

As should already be clear from the above, Máire Coyle has made an outstanding contribution to UCD.

Recipient: Dr Mary Sekiya

Category: Driving Sustainability

Nominator: Dr Marion Ryan

As Chief Technical Officer, Mary introduced the ‘My Green Labs’ sustainability certification to the research labs in her section.  In addition, she worked with the College Principal of Health & Agriculture to propose, and launch the pilot ‘Sustainable Research Initiative’. This grassroots movement led by researchers in UCD, was committed to improving sustainability in research. The initiative involves securing funding, creating new networks, developing resources for sustainability and securing Irish Green Labs certification.

As it gathered pace, the ‘Sustainable Research Initiative’ was rolled out across UCD. Mary subsequently chaired a number of related groups, one of which now has 30-40 active members.

Mary also co-founded the School of Veterinary Medicine Sustainability group along with Dr Niamh Nestor and Dr Tristan Russell. The formation of the group was the first step in addressing sustainability issues as a cohesive group, with representation from students as well as academic, administrative and technical staff. This has now become a School Committee, effectively  embedding and mainstreaming the concept of sustainability within the School.

Mary’s initiatives provided a platform which enabled students and staff of all categories to work together. Her encouraging nature empowered others to participate in sustainability and to put their own initiatives in place. 

Nominee: Niamh Murphy

Category: Student Experience

Nominator: Philip Cardiff, Lizbeth Goodman, Kevin Nolan, Javad Zeinali, Eoin O’Cearbhaill

Niamh exemplifies the UCD values:  excellence, integrity, and collegiality. Niamh received nominations from a number of areas in UCD and it’s easy to see why.

Niamh provides much valued support to staff and researchers as they navigate the complexities of university procurement. Purchasing for research can be quite challenging. There are often limited suppliers, sometimes based outside the EU. Import duty, taxes and purchasing thresholds must be managed. By providing clear guidance and proactive solutions, Niamh empowers colleagues to focus on their core academic and research pursuits without being hindered by administrative challenges

Niamh has a deep understanding of the complexities of purchasing at UCD, combined with a proactive, kind, and patient approach which ensures that purchasing is not a bureaucratic burden but a smooth and efficient process where you feel supported throughout. Niamh consistently goes above and beyond by providing timely and clear guidance, anticipating potential issues, and offering solutions before they become obstacles.

Recipient: Dr Sinéad Flannery

Category: Fostering Inclusion 

Nominator: Assoc. Prof. Karen Keavney

Sinéad is the Professional Work Experience Coordinator for the School of Agriculture and Food Science. In support of this role, Sinéad has developed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Dignity & Respect training for students.

The training was developed in response to incidents that arose during student placements, such as workplace harassment and gender discrimination. These incidents highlighted the need to better prepare students in relation to EDI and Dignity & Respect, issues and to equip them with the knowledge and skills to tackle such issues effectively, and to understand their rights.

The initial pilot had two steps: to train the trainers, in this case the Placement Coordinators, and then to have them train the students. The roll out of the student training involved one-hour workshops for over 200 students.

The programme and consultation brought together colleagues from across UCD, supported by the team from the Dignity & Respect Support Service. There is a greater awareness and knowledge of key EDI and Dignity & Respect concepts amongst students and staff as a result of the programme. Students reported being better prepared to handle such situations with a very high number saying they would recommend it to other students.

Recipient: English Conversation Classes, School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics

Category: One UCD

Nominator: Serena Laiena

The English Conversation Classes team have worked together to set up a community project which offers English conversation classes to 24 Portuguese-speaking cleaner learners at UCD. In doing so they have displayed collegiality and inclusivity.

The English conversation classes are taught by volunteer students from the School of Modern Languages and Linguistics. The classes let the cleaners know they are a valued part of the UCD community and give them the opportunity to improve their pronunciation and conversation skills in a very safe and encouraging environment.

A complex rota has been established which enables classes to take place on the hour each hour every morning Monday-Thursday. Each cleaner learner has 2 classes per week and each student tutor teaches just one class for one hour per week

All of the learners, who work with Bidvest Noonan,  are non-English speakers who have a variety of qualifications. What they lack is the opportunity to increase their confidence in using everyday conversational English. This initiative and its volunteers help create a closer sense of community.

For their dedication to inclusivity and collegiality, the team are worthy winners of a VIA award in the category of One UCD.

2025 VIA Nominations

83 nominations were received. Some nominees were nominated by more than one nominator.

• Clancy, Alice
• Coyle, Máire
• Doherty, Emma
• SLCL English Conversation Classes with UCD Cleaners
• Furlong, Evan
• Jurcut, Anca
• Murphy, Niamh
• Dorchass, Reamonn
• Stewart, Gavin
• Swaine, Aisling
• UCD Global Leadership Team
• Martin, Bridget
• Mangina, Eleni  
• Augustenborg, Cara
• MSC in sustainable supply chain management
• Graduate Programmes Office Team
• Madhusanka Liyanage
• Kelly, Katie
• Fang, Fengzhou
• Szydlowski, Maciek
• Clark, Joshua
• Fogarty, Paula
• McDonald, Amy
• Shane Lordan
• Teeling, Séan Paul
• Crean, Daniel
• Beck, Jess
• Osiniene, Oksana
• Carewell Team
• Sekiya, Mary
• Crowe, Philip
• Conroy, Derval
• Malekjafarian, Abdollah
• Doherty, Cailbhe
• Mangani, Eleni
• Engaging Men in EDI
• Byrne, Orla
• Library Team
• Loughney, Emma
• Pine, Emilie
• McKeown, David
• Murphy, Tracey
• Flannery, Sinead
• UCD Staff and Postgrad tennis club
• Roche, Eugene
• Stewart, Gavin
• Pickering, Mark
• VARiE Research Group – Dr Gabriela Martinez Sainz
• McCann, Tess
• Kelly, Eleanor
• Stewart, Gavin
• Reilly, Joanne 
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