Triple success for Faculty staff in the 2020 DCU research and impact awards

The 2020 President’s Awards for Research and Impact were presented to recipients from across the university who have been involved in ground-breaking research in their fields in pursuit of DCU’s mission to transform lives and societies.

This year's recipients of the President's awards for Research included three staff members of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The President’s Research Award for Early Career Research was awarded to Dr Garrick Allen, in the School of Theology, Philosophy, & Music.

Dr Allen is a specialist in the writings of the New Testament with a focus on the historical reception and use of these texts. He has had tremendous success in securing funding for cutting-edge research projects, including recently being awarded a European Research Council grant to explore Titles in the New Testament Manuscripts and a significant grant from the Templeton Religion Trust to collaborate with the Chester Beatty Library to explore its manuscripts. 

The President Research Award in Humanities & Social Sciences, Business, Education & Related areas was awarded to two staff members this year, both in our Faculty.

Professor Sharon O’Brien, School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies, is known internationally for her pioneering research in two areas of translation studies. Sharon has made serious and lasting theoretical and methodological contributions to the field of translation technology and more recently has blazed a trail in the area of translation in crises. Prof O’Brien has played a lead role in a Horizon 2020-funded Network known as INTERACT, which raises awareness of the need for translation and interpreting in crisis communication, and creates resources that will help improve outcomes for those who experience disasters. The network has also found direct application in the international response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Professor James Kelly, School of History and Geography, has established himself as one of the pre-eminent historians of early modern Ireland. Few historians working today have done more to excavate the history of eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Ireland. James has illuminated many of the overlapping political and social changes that characterised Ireland in that era, and his work has shaped the historiography of Ireland.

The Faculty extends its congratulations to the awardees for richly deserved recognition of their research success and commends their active involvement in the scholarly life of the Faculty and the university.

You can watch the award presentations here and read more about all of this year’s award recipients here.