The news this week that Trinity is to become a member of the League of European Research Universities (Leru) was enthusiastically received by the both the government and the College. This will make Trinity the first and only Irish university to be invited to join this exclusive club of the 23 European universities distinguished not only by their individual reputations, but also by the quality of their research and teaching. Indeed, Trinity’s membership of this elite group will give the College a pivotal role in advising the European Commission on research projects.
However, the excited discussion in recent days of Leru’s role in research, both in terms of the work that it does and the high standard that membership of the organisation indicates, can all too easily conjure oversimplified images of laboratories, fizzing beakers and white coats – the most striking and accessible vision of what groundbreaking research looks like. This narrow conception of research and academic work could be seen even in the Dining Hall this week where the Provost announced Trinity’s acceptance. The address of Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, was striking in his frequent references to research producing innovations for science and industry.
What is being omitted in this praise for the College from those outside the world of academia, is an acknowledgement of the important research contributions made by those academics working in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Membership of Leru is awarded in recognition of research across all disciplines, not just science, engineering and mathematics.
It is significant that among the main speakers at the announcement of Trinity’s acceptance was Prof Jane Ohlmeyer, a 17th century Irish historian, who was appointed Chair of the Irish Research Council in September. Experts in arts, humanities and social sciences are also undoubtedly at the forefront of Trinity’s research success, a reality that seems to be lost amidst a culture of marketisation that fails to recognise the extent to which advancing the limits of our knowledge is a public good, even when it does not immediately translate into an industrial application. Leru’s invitation to Trinity to join its ranks is an opportunity to abandon narrow-minded visions of labcoat-clad, bespectacled scientists and instead celebrate the breadth of the College’s academic success.
