Email science@ulster.ac.uk
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Contact Us
Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
Sporting Outreach
University Sports Outreach (USO) is designed to widen access to minority sports (basketball, athletics, volleyball and dance) for children in areas of greatest disadvantage. It also provides rich opportunities for our students to develop their teaching, coaching and event management skills and it contributes to knowledge transfer to the primary and secondary education sector.
Each year, our partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders, have facilitated the delivery of sports outreach activities to over 150 primary and secondary schools and over 9,000 pupils. Since its inception this programme has attracted significant commercial sponsorship. In the coming years, it is hoped that the activities offered will be extended and that more funding will be secured for further sports outreach and research.
Further information maybe found on the Sport for LIFE website - Sport for Life is a physical activity and health initiative aimed at 8 – 9 year old children.
Environmental Outreach
Staff from the Centre for Coastal and Marine Research recently grabbed headlines with a demonstration of their work at the Tall Ships event, which highlighted their long-term collaboration in maritime archaeology with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The event also showcased a practical demonstration of diving techniques in the Abercorn Basin.
The School of Environmental Sciences is delivering a series of public engagement lectures at Greenmount Agricultural College. Focusing on the relevance and benefits of our recent research to the Northern Ireland environment, these lectures aim to raise awareness, promote new partnerships and establish new business connections.
Health Outreach
In the Schools of Nursing, Health Sciences and Biomedical Sciences, the requirement for practice placement as a core element for ‘fitness to practice’ has underpinned outreach activities in the National Health Service.
The School of Health Sciences is a core member of the Uni4U initiative, a research programme which identifies barriers to accessing higher education. The School has also been very successful on a range of projects involving local industry, commercial providers and local health trusts.
The School of Nursing has strong links with the Lilliput Theatre Company – a drama group of people with learning disabilities – who have been performing sketches as part of a programme to educate student nurses about people with learning disabilities. The company has also become a partner in an ongoing project ‘Promoting Access’, which focuses on educating local health service staff to support people with learning disabilities.
Science Outreach
Science in Society is an initiative to promote discussion and understanding of science and its relevance to society. A collaborative project – Forward Thinking Northern Ireland – involving the Schools of Biomedical Sciences and Education, and funded by The Wellcome Trust, aims to help 13/14 year olds to develop the skills needed for effective engagement with science and its possible consequences for society.
The recent Science in Society celebration of ‘Maths Week’ was a collaborative initiative with the Faculty of Computing and Engineering and Waterford Institute of Technology, during which special maths events for primary and post-primary school children were hosted.
Science in Society is also working alongside Armagh Planetarium on the Jocelyn Bell Burnell Full Spectrum Competition. Young people are invited to become inspired by one of the most distinguished female scientists of our time, to design a mural that celebrates the contribution that she has made to astronomy.
Outreach and ‘Inreach’
The Faculty of Life and Health Sciences could never mistakenly be perceived as an ivory tower of academia where all knowledge and activity take place within. Rather we pride ourselves on being engaged in generating, testing and applying knowledge in partnership with the community and a wide range of external organisations. The various outreach initiatives outlined above play an important role in this endeavour.
Latest News
The Ulster Sports Academy is celebrating the accreditation of its MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology by the British Psychological Society. 17th May 2013
Ulster Sports Academy
Postgraduate Open Evening 12th June 2013 at 6.45pm
Enabling Healthy Ageing - Life Sciences Research Showcased
Ulster Develops Seating System That Could Reduce NHS Costs