Review Report
School of Mathematics, Statistics & Applied Mathematics
18th March 2015
Reviewers
The Review Group has been finalised and is as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Professor Ivan Graham, University of Bath (Chair)
Professor Paul Flavell, University of Birmingham
Dr Kate Quinn, NUI Galway (Cognate)
Ms Patricia Conroy, Results Through People, Ltd. (Coordinator)
Key Strengths
1. The School is on a very firm financial footing.
2. The integration of the former Departments into one School has gone well and collegiality is
strong. The Administration team shows exceptional commitment to the School.
3. Research activity across the School contains real quality.
4. The SUMS facility is an outstanding success. The Bridging Programme and diagnostic tests are
very beneficial and well regarded.
5. The Deans of Colleges have unanimously commended the quality of the service teaching.
6. There has been an upsurge of PhD numbers and good use of limited funding mechanisms with
excellent PhD completion rates. The PhD programme is strong and the Graduate Research
Committee (GRC) framework is very effective.
7. The staff are very well regarded by the students and by other academics in other Schools and
Colleges and has been complimented for their generosity both with their time and proactively in
programme redesign.
8. The strength and breadth of their outreach activities in the School is outstanding.
9. The degree programmes all seem to be performing well. Distinctive features include: 1)
teaching Maths through Irish in first year 2) the unique Maths and Education denominated
degree and 3) Financial Maths and Economics attracts high quality students and is well regarded.
10. The School attracts students beyond the immediate catchment area thus increasing the visibility
and profile of the University.
11. The staff has won Presidents Awards in the three areas, which is unique in the University.
12. There will be a major opportunity for increase in capacity in Biostatistics if the current HRB bid is
successful.
Key Recommendations
1. The University should move to an annual promotion system based on merit.
2. The University should recognise that the profile of an internationally successful School of Maths
must contain both strong theoretical work and interdisciplinary collaborations:
• External funding on its own is not a reasonable measure of excellence.
• The School must have a coherent strategy which combines theoretical excellence with
fundraising activity across the School.
3. The University should make the case to Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) that fundamental
research should be supported for Ireland to be competitive. In the absence of such funding the
University should make funds available to support targeted research in this area (a small amount
of funding would have a high impact).
4. The University should immediately move to ensure the long term viability of the SUMS facility,
through appropriate staffing and funding.
5. The School should continue to ensure that student feedback is sought for every module during
each semester; and all lecturers should communicate their response to the students' comments
in a timely manner. The School should ensure that the system is widely used and well-advertised
to students and staff. The quality of this process should be assured by the Director of Teaching
and Learning in conjunction with the Teaching and Learning Committee. An overall report should
be generated each semester and presented to the Head of School.
6. The mechanism by which the School of Maths makes decisions needs to be clarified. We
recommend that the School establishes a School Executive, chaired by the Head of School which
is responsible for key decisions which are then brought to the School Board. To ensure
effectiveness, we recommend that the School Executive should have approximately six
members. Ultimate decision making responsibility resides with the Head of School.
7. We recommend that all PhD students and staff are accommodated in the same building. We
consider the current model of housing the PhD Bioinformatics students in Aras de Brún as best
practice.
8. The benchmarking exercise with UK Universities shows that teaching workloads are very high in
the School. Once the national staffing restrictions are eased, the University must give urgent
priority to improving staffing levels in the School.
9. In order to free up capacity for higher quality research we recommend that the current MSc be
considered for discontinuation. When the economic conditions improve the School should
consider introducing a prestigious research-oriented MSc programme.
10. The University should ensure that the research activity in Mathematics is appropriately
acknowledged in their Strategic Plan.
11. The School should continue to target high quality journals. The School should take steps to
publicise better its research.
12. The School should formalise structures which recognise Outreach activities (e.g. Open Days,
TYFriday etc.). We recommend that all staff are required to make a contribution to these
activities.
13. The University should normalise the grading structure of the Administration staff in the School
and ensure they have a career path.
Other Recommendations
• To support the strategic research goals of the School, we encourage the University to create a
funded prestigious visiting professorship.
• The University should review and simplify its administration processes, particularly with respect to
timetabling and whitesheets.
• The School should make use of the financial support available to support ERC and H2020 research
bids through the Research Office.
• The School should ensure that the three research clusters are better publicised across the
University and more generally.
• In line with the University's Strategic Plan 'to embed workplace learning experience for
undergraduate students' we recommend that the existing ‘Placement Office’ be further enhanced
to support and co-ordinate all student placements and that the School makes use of such
facilities.
• Consideration should be given at a University level to the creation of an Outreach Office to coordinate and support such activities across the University.
• We recommend the School of Maths conduct a benchmarking exercise with other Irish Universities
and include this information in its next strategic plan.
Comments on Review Process
- We would like to thank the Head of School and Self-Assessment team on a thorough and helpful
report.
- We would like to thank the Director of Quality and the Administration Team in support of the
process.
- We thank all those we met for their openness and honesty.
Action Plan
School of Mathematics, Statistics and Applied Mathematics
Action Plan Meeting held on 20th April 2015 in QA113 Anderson Boardroom
Present
From the Unit: Ray Ryan; Niall Madden; Martin Moore; James Ward; Kevin Jennings; Aisling
McCuskey; Dane Flannery; Mary Kelly From the Review Team: Kate Quinn
From University Management: Pól Ó Dochartaigh; Caroline Loughnane; David O’Sullivan; Donal
Leech; Iain Mac Labhrainn; Natalie Walsh In attendance: Ms Maureen Linnane, Claire O’Connor
This Action Plan has been agreed by Reviewers, the School and University Management in response
to the Review Report for the above named review. Further details on some actions are available in
the Review Report. This Action Plan together with the Review Report is available on the University’s
public website.
Actions for the School and University Management
1. The University will continue to work to develop a process for an annual promotion system based
on merit where recommendations made in this Review Report will be considered.
[Responsible: Registrar and Deputy President; Due: 01/05/2016]
2. The University does recognise that the profile of an internationally successful School of
Mathematics must contain both strong theoretical work and interdisciplinary collaborations
where external funding alone is not a reasonable measure of excellence.
[Responsible: Registrar and Deputy President; Due: Ongoing]
3. The University will continue to make the case to Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) that
fundamental research be supported, for Ireland to be competitive, making funds available to
support targeted research in this area. The VP for Research will meet with the School Research
Committee in order to pursue this action further.
[Responsible: Head of School/VP for Research; Due: 01/10/2015]
4. The University will support the long term viability of the SUMS facility. The Head of School, the
Director of Physical Resources, Deans of all Colleges and the Academic Secretary will meet to
discuss adequate physical and human resources for SUMS.
[Responsible: Head of School; Due: 01/10/2015]
5. The School will continue to ensure that student feedback is sought for every module during each
semester, that all lecturers communicate their response to the students in a timely manner. An
overall report will be presented to the Head of School at the end of each Semester.
[Responsible: Head of School; Due: Ongoing]
6. The School will establish a School Executive, chaired by the Head of School which will be
responsible for key decisions which are then brought to the School Board. Ultimate decision
making responsibility resides with the Head of School.
[Responsible: Head of School; Due: 01/10/2015]
7. The University will work to ensure that all PhD students and staff are accommodated in the
same building as part of the College Strategic Plan, informed by a ‘Strategic Space Plan’. The
Head of School will lead discussions, and meet with the Director of Physical Resources and the
Dean.
[Responsible: Head of School; Due: 01/05/2016]
8. Once the national staffing restrictions are eased, as a result of a benchmarking exercise and
comparatively heavy teaching workloads, the University will give urgent priority to improving
staffing levels in the School. The Head of School will submit a request to the Dean.
[Responsible: Head of School/Dean; Due: 01/05/2016]
9. In order to free up capacity for higher quality research, the School will consider if the current
MSc be discontinued, and later consider introducing a prestigious research-oriented MSc
programme.
[Responsible: Head of School/Dean; Due: 01/05/2016]
10. The University will continue to ensure that research activity in Mathematics is appropriately
acknowledged in the Strategic Plan. The Research Office website will be reviewed, to present a
better and more inclusive representation of our research activities. The Head of School will
initiate a meeting with the Research Office.
[Responsible: Head of School/VP Research; Due: 01/05/2016]
11. The School will
a. continue to target high quality journals and take steps to publicise its three research
clusters better across the University and more generally
b. develop a coherent strategy which combines theoretical excellence with fundraising
activity across the School
[Responsible: Head of School; Due: Ongoing]
12. The School will formalise structures recognising Outreach activities where all staff are required
to make a contribution to these activities, as appropriate. The appointment of a new Director of
Student Recruitment and Outreach in the coming months will drive the development of an
integrated recruitment and outreach strategy for the University which will benefit outreach
activity in the School.
[Responsible: Head of School/Registrar and Deputy President; Due: 01/05/2016]
13. The School will meet with the Dean and Director of Services Improvement to normalise the
grading structure of its Administration staff to ensure that they have a career path.
[Responsible: Head of School; Due: 01/05/2016]
14. The School will meet with the VP for Research to discuss the creation of a funded visiting
professorship to support the strategic research goals of the School.
[Responsible: Head of School; Due: 01/05/2016]
15. The University will review and simplify its administration processes, particularly with respect to
timetabling and White-sheets.
[Responsible: Academic Secretary; Due: 01/05/2016]
16. The School will make use of the financial support available to support ERC and H2020 research
bids through the Research Office.
[Responsible: Head of School; Due: Ongoing]
17. In line with the University's Strategic Plan, 'to embed workplace learning experience for
undergraduate students, the existing ‘Placement Office’ will be further enhanced to support and
co-ordinate all student placements.
[Responsible: Registrar and Deputy President; Due: Ongoing]
18. The School will conduct a benchmarking exercise with other Irish Universities and include this
information in its next strategic plan.
[Responsible: Head of School; Due: 01/05/2016]
Approved by:
Head of School, Professor Ray Ryan
Dean of Science, Professor Donal Leech
Registrar and Deputy-President, Prof Pól Ó Dochartaigh
Director of Quality, Professor David O’Sullivan
Date: 21 May 2015