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REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT FIRST INTERNATIONAL POST-GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL POST-GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE

First let me say how delighted I was to avail of the kind invitation from the President of the Dublin Institute of Technology, Dr. Brendan Goldsmith, to open the first International Post-Graduate Student Research Conference here in DIT Aungier Street which has as its theme, Strategic Research for Industry. I would like to welcome the participants from Ireland (North and South), the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and the United States – and those who will be “virtually” here whose presentations are being delivered telematically.

This conference - jointly organised by the DIT, the Dublin Universities, the University of Limerick and Enterprise Ireland, and sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, Waterford Crystal and High Skills Pool - is unique because it is the first world conference of this type covering the diverse nature of applied research today – and it is directed towards post-graduate research students at Masters and Doctoral levels. It represents a very exciting opportunity for students to present their research and receive feedback in a totally student-environment.

Ireland is poised at a most important point in history – with the tiger economy, the Good Friday Agreement, the approaching Millennium - all of which hold out the prospects of an exciting new era in the 21st Century. Ireland has made many wise decisions regarding investment, education and training over the past thirty years - and we have been blessed with the quality of work and service of our development agencies, our education system, the public and private sector – all of whom have helped to put in place the infrastructure for the success we are enjoying at present.

Higher education institutions have a very important role to play both in shaping enterprise and unlocking human potential. The fortunes of the education system and of the economic system are closely intertwined and interdependent. Economic growth is increasingly linked to ever-changing and higher levels of understanding, knowledge and skills. Global markets are being transformed by the information revolution and other rapid technological advances. Vitally, higher education systems are required to supply both existing students and mature members of the work force with higher levels of skills and understanding and the ability to adapt to changing knowledge.

You face a vastly different world to that of your predecessors. You must be prepared for changes in the nature of work. Many of you will need to switch career more than once. The challenge, therefore, for higher education institutions is to ensure that you are equipped with the skills and flexibility required for the 21st century. Higher education institutions have a pivotal role in meeting a growing requirement for a European, and indeed a Global labour force, with ever higher levels of knowledge and skills.

It is clear that the quickening pace of change, including the revolution in communications technology, will place a higher premium on the capacity of higher education institutions to innovate. In turn, this calls for extensive changes in institutional links with the economy, in institutional structures and in modes of study and delivery.

The continuing success of the Graduate Training and Enterprise Development Programmes in DIT illustrates this point. The Graduate Training Programme provides research and development training for young graduates, with the objective of increasing the supply of graduates to provide advice and technical support to industry. The Enterprise Development Programme provides intensive training to graduate entrepreneurs to assist them establish their own businesses, undertaking the necessary research and development into new product development.

I note from the Conference Programme that it is

multi-disciplinary in format - reflecting the reality of meaningful industrial research, where research problems often call for a multi-discipline approach in order to arrive at workable solutions. The Conference Programme will also give you opportunities to hear a number of international and national speakers dealing with the generic issue of research including Research in Developing Countries - Generic issues in being a Research Student – and the Australian experience in generic Research issues.

I congratulate the Dublin Institute of Technology for hosting this important and very timely research conference in collaboration with the Dublin Universities, the University of Limerick and Enterprise Ireland. I also congratulate High Skills Pool, Enterprise Ireland, and Waterford Crystal for their vision in providing sponsorship and in reinforcing the links between industry and higher education and research. The High Skills Pool mission of keeping Irish graduates and professionals informed of opportunities at home and abroad is very much in tune with the theme of this conference.

In declaring the conference open, I hope that you will find the conference a thoroughly informative and enjoyable experience. As delegates, you have the opportunity, not only to participate in sessions within your own discipline, but also to visit and participate in sessions involving other disciplines and gain additional insights into how to further advance your own specific research problems. As young researchers looking towards the new Millennium it is for you to embrace and conquer the challenges ahead.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.

ENDS