Prof William Campbell, Nobel Laureate and Trinity graduate, will deliver a keynote speech at the launch of Trinity’s new science degree programme next week.
Prof Campbell, a renowned biologist and parasitologist, graduated from Trinity with a first-class honours in zoology in 1952. In 2015 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for discovering Ivermectin, a drug that has helped to cure river blindness and other parasitic diseases, making him the third Trinity graduate to receive an esteemed Nobel Prize.
Born in Donegal, Campbell is currently a research fellow Emeritus at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.
Trinity’s reformed science degree programme is part of the Trinity Education Project, an ambitious reform of the College’s undergraduate education.
Campbell’s return to Trinity will see him deliver a speech entitled: “Passionate about Parasites: A Life in Science” in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute. Campbell is fond of the College. In 2016, he said there was “no other university I would rather have been”.
The restructuring of the science degree will see 2018 applicants offered four different strands to choose from: biological and biomedical sciences, chemical sciences, geography and geoscience, and physical sciences. These changes will result in the eradication of the general science entry route as students wishing to pursue science will be required to select the course code for their chosen strand on their CAO application.
Speaking to The University Times last year, the Vice-Provost, Chris Morash, said: “What they will allow students to do is to come in through a broad door.”
The significant change is one of the key aspects of the Trinity Education Project. Trinity has been under significant pressure for years to reform its direct-entry science courses, which often have very high points.
Students and staff have in the past expressed concerns about the project’s scope and the proposed reforms. However, Trinity has repeatedly heralded the progress of the project and a at higher education conference last week, hosted in the Long Room Hub, Provost Patrick Prendergast repeatedly emphasised the project’s success so far.
