61 schools & youth events organised in January-March 2026!

Ever since our return from the Christmas holidays, it has been 'all systems go!' at the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics as we continue to deliver a range of exciting & meaningful educational programmes both directly in schools & for those visiting the Data Science Institute (DSI) of the University of Galway.
Whilst our engaged research projects involve partnerships with businesses, local government, state agencies, health professionals, farmers & communities not only in Ireland but all across Europe, we have always since our inception given significant attention to our Irish school-going population not only in upskilling them in technology skills that fit within the educational curriculum; in providing role models in the form of young researchers; in making them aware of career opportunities over our multiple research fields which align with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); but also in making them as well as their teachers & parents fully aware of & how to counter the dark side of the Web especially now in an era of growing abuse of AI by major players.
Our educational activities range from coding, Virtual Reality & digital local heritage workshops, to Research Talks on AI & Data Science, to guided tours of the Computer and Communication Museum of Ireland and in providing age-appropriate presentations on Internet Safety.
From early Jan to end of March, we will have organised 61 events for schools, youth groups, after-school clubs & university societies (e.g. in Engineering, Computing & Innovation) in counties Roscommon, Mayo, Offaly, Galway as well as in Galway city. I myself also got the opportunity to travel overseas in my EPE role- this month and last I mentored in the island school of Inishbofin! Furthermore, we make certain that we deliver programmes to ‘Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools’(DEIS) that have high concentrations of disadvantage.

Thanks to Insight Galway volunteers, we've ensured that our Educational & Public Engagement(EPEs) programmes are as strong in 2026 as they were in proceeding years, So a big thank you/Bualadh Bos to our researchers Abdul Wahid, Al Waskow, Alan Reidy,Alex Acquier, Carlos Tighe, Duc-Duy Nguyen, Ifeoluwapo Aribilola, Jefkine Kafunah, Katarzyna Stasiewicz, Gaurav Negi,Kashif Shaheed, Lucas Rabelo, Liz Hurley, Luke Porwol, Shakir Bilal, Janak Kapuriya, Jim Duggan,Jefkine Kafunah, John Andrew, Umair ul Hassan, Muhammad Sohaib Ayub, Muhammad Yasar Khan (PhD), Prateek Paul,Ronan Timon, Tunde Ajayi as well as to our great operations team of Brian Wall, Christiane Leahy-Coen, claire browne, Gerard Conneely, (PhD), Maria Smyth, Michelle Treacy & Tomas Grigas, PhD, PSM I
As always, I consider myself blessed to work alongside such colleagues who are prepared to give their time & energies to introduce their research to the wider community as well as in upskilling our youth in creative technologies