Johnstown native Rosa Shine, a PhD candidate in the Biomechanics Research Centre NUI Galway has been announced as one of 39 Fulbright Awards.
Picture Credit: Conor McCabe
Since 1957, the Fulbright Awards are given annually by the Irish and U.S. governments and provide Irish students, scholars, and professionals with the opportunity to study, lecture, and research at top universities and institutions throughout the United States.
The announcement was made by the US Ambassador to Ireland, Kevin O’Malley and the Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources, Seán Kyne TD at the Ambassador’s Residence in Dublin recently.
Rosa graduated from NUI Galway in 2014 with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and is currently a PhD candidate in the Biomechanics Research Centre, NUI Galway. As a Fulbright Student Awardee she will be performing advanced experimental testing on bioresorbable polymeric stents at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Also among the awardees were mother and daughter Rita and Ruth Melia from Athenry, Co. Galway. This is the first mother and daughter pair to win Fulbright Irish Awards in the same year.
Kevin O’Malley, US Ambassador to Ireland, said:
“I warmly congratulate the 2016-2017 cohort of Awardees. The Fulbright Awards are highly competitive, globally recognised, and associated with excellence and prestige, so this is a real accomplishment. We are proud to have such bright minds embarking on educational and cultural exchanges to the US, and we look forward to seeing the fruits of their studies and research when they return to Ireland.”
Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources, Seán Kyne TD said:
“I am thrilled with the level of prowess we see in this year’s Fulbright Irish Awardees. While in the US, they will not only gain knowledge and expertise in their fields, they will also act as Ambassadors for Ireland. For us, promotion of the Irish language is a key element of this goal to share knowledge beyond borders. With the support of the Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the National Lottery, the Fulbright Commission will send nine Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs) to the US this August to teach Irish language and culture. We will also welcome 62 US citizens to Ireland as Summer Gaeltacht Awardees shortly where they will stay in Gaeltacht regions for 4-6 weeks to learn more about Irish culture and language. Indeed, many of these Awardees were introduced to the Irish language by former Fulbright FLTAs who taught at their US universities.”
Applications
The next round of applications for Irish Fulbright Awardees will open on Wednesday, 31 August 31st. Interested applicants from all disciplines are encouraged to visit the Fulbright Commission’s website www.fulbright.ie for more information. Applications for the 2017-2018 academic year will be due on Friday, 28 October, 2016.