Research & Innovation

Dr Barry Ryan (pictured), a lecturer in Biochemistry at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), has won the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Higher Education Teaching Award 2019. Dr Ryan is the third TU Dublin academic to win the prestigious award, which recognises outstanding teaching skills and the development of innovative materials and methods in higher education, resulting in a strong impact on students.

This award has been conferred each year since 2000 on academics who are considered to be ‘international educational innovators and leaders in teaching excellence’.  TU Dublin is the only university to have had three winners during the last two decades – Dr. Claire McDonnell (2009), Dr. Michael Seery (2012) and Dr. Barry Ryan (2019).

In selecting Dr Ryan for the 2019 Higher Education Teaching Award, the RSC cited his on-going innovation in chemistry and science education, including the design, development and dissemination of an adaptable approach to integrating students as creators of knowledge in lectures and laboratory practicals and mentoring colleagues in adopting this philosophy.

Accepting the award, Dr Barry Ryan said: “I am very honoured to have been selected to receive the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Organic Higher Education Teaching Award and to join the excellent educators that have received the award before me. The chemistry higher education teaching community comprises extremely committed, innovative and informed colleagues; and I am privileged to have been recognised from within this group.”

Congratulating Dr Ryan, Professor James Curtin, Head, School of Food Science and Environmental Health, said: “Winning the Royal Society of Chemistry Higher Education Teaching Award recognises Dr Barry Ryan’s outstanding personal commitment to teaching, and we are immensely proud of his achievements. It is no surprise that the evaluation panel was greatly impressed with Barry’s sustained commitment to impactful, research-informed, evidence-based pedagogies and his willingness to develop and share best practice with colleagues.”

Professor Michael Devereux, Dean and Director of the College of Sciences and Health at TU Dublin also congratulated Dr Ryan and said, “Barry now joins a select group of Chemistry educators to have received the RSC Higher Education Teaching Award 2019, which also includes Chemical Education Research Team members at TU Dublin, Dr Claire Mc Donnell and Dr Michael Seery. TU Dublin is the only University to win this award three times, a remarkable achievement which demonstrates the outstanding and innovative talent available across our chemistry and science teaching teams.”