The RISE and CFL Programmes.
Supporting and inspiring underrepresented students in Chemical Sciences
The School of Chemical & BioPharmaceutical Sciences is delighted to be a partner in the innovative RISE programme which we rolled out this year. It involves providing structured mentoring and practical experience to Retain, Inspire, Support and Enhance (RISE) undergraduate students from ethnically underrepresented groups in the Chemical Sciences. The aim is to increase the number of Black students, and those from other minority ethnic backgrounds, who are pursuing a degree in the Chemical Sciences and who are going on to take up leading roles in academia and industry in the future.
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Funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, the RISE programme is led by Prof Elaine O’Reilly from UCD and involves a partnership between University College Dublin, Technological University Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, and Dublin City University. It supports funded summer placements for undergraduates that start at the end of year 1 of their programme (two-week placement) and continue until year 3 of their degree (with a longer industry-based fully funded placement at that stage). Career focussed workshops and opportunities for mentoring are other aspects of the programme.
Six first year students from the School joined the programme this year;
- Elizabeth Akingbade
- Rima Almare
- Joel Bassong
- Catherine Chaita
- Yovela Fubara
- Onwere Okebugwu
The students received two career focussed workshops from TU Dublin Career Development Centre in early June. Marie Kielty delivered a session in TU Dublin Tallaght to the students on CV writing and this was then followed by a practical session where students got a chance to delve into their CV and put the advice into practice. Edel Kearney delivered a session on developing LinkedIn profiles followed by an opportunity to practice also.
This was followed by a two- week placement during which the students got to explore a number of areas and applications of chemistry, working alongside technical staff, academic staff and researchers.
A tour to the State Lab in Celbridge was provided, where the students got an insight into the work carried out within the different units and got to meet graduates from their programmes of study, who are working there. This was followed by a tour of the Pharmaceutical Pilot Plant Facility on Tallaght Campus where the students to see what a manufacturing suite would be like in a BioPharmaceutical company. Tours of TU Dublin research facilities were provided by Prof Brendan Duffy, Health, Engineering and Materials Science Research Hub Lead and by Prof Jesus Frias, Sustainability and Health Research Hub Lead.
In addition to the RISE programme, the Chemistry Future Leaders programme, funded by the School of Chemical & BioPharmaceutical Sciences, enabled an additional six students to complete a one-week placement and career focussed workshops.
- Bibi Hamida Ahmadzai
- Abiola Blessing Aluko
- Aqilah Ardy
- Ross Garland
- Prity Khanum
- Michelle Olakanye
These two programmes are being coordinated by Dr Claire McDonnell and Dr Sarah Rawe in City campus and Dr Maureen Walsh in Tallaght campus. They are very grateful to their colleagues within the School and in the Career Development Centre and Research Hubs for their support with implementation. It would not have been possible to run them without their important contributions.
To read about the Missing Elements report from the Royal Society of Chemistry which shows that we are failing to retain Black Chemists, and those from other minority ethnicities, and to find out about related initiatives, see https://www.rsc.org/policy-evidence-campaigns/inclusion-diversity/surveys-reports-campaigns/racial-and-ethnic-inequalities-in-the-chemical-sciences/
