The HardiBlog

We are delighted to introduce Arushi Sharma from Project SCOIR (Trinity College Dublin), who will be the keynote speaker at our next Open Research Forum: “ University of Galway's Research Publishing Policy: Empowering our Research Community ” on 20 May 2026. Please join us to hear Arushi, along with Claire O’Connor and Martin Leahy, followed by a light lunch. Arushi Sharma is an Associate Researcher with Project SCOIR (Secondary rights, Copyright, Open access, Institutional policies, and Rights retention), where she has contributed to the development of the draft Research Outputs and Open Access Bill 2025.  Arushi has also engaged in discussions with policymakers and presented on rights retention and open research policy in academic settings. She also served as Communications Officer for Project SCOIR, supporting national-level engagement on open research and rights retention. She is also a PhD researcher in Law at Trinity College Dublin, where her research focuses on data protect...

  Thinking Machines and Gadgets a New Project at the Academic Writing Centre Starting in September 2027, the AWC team hope to work closely with our colleagues in MakerSpace and student volunteers to design and produce several 3-D gadgets that help with thinking and organising ideas about essays and assignments. These gadgets can be based on existing pedagogical theory or personal experience or a combination of the two. Gadgets will be designed with to help the user understand and take control over their writing and critical process. We hope that writers will enjoy physically engaging with some aspects of their work and, in turn, begin to see difficult writing tasks as a series of intriguing puzzles.   At this stage, we would love more people to be involved in the project and we would love to hear from staff and students alike. If you have an idea and would like to talk it over, please tell us about it via this form: Thinking Machines:  Contribution and Collaboration...

  From personal letters to manuscripts and signatures of prominent literary and political figures, handwritten material offers a direct connection to the people behind the records. This blog highlights four examples of handwriting from the archives, each reflecting a different historical moment and personal story. Mary Robinson signs the Presidential Oath On the 3 rd  of December 1990, Mary Robinson prepared to sign the presidential oath at her inauguration ceremony in Dublin Castle. Taoiseach Charles Haughey presented Robinson with a quill that once belonged to Éamon De Valera, which she used to sign the oath to begin her term as the seventh President of Ireland. Before signing the document, Robinson practiced using the quill on a separate page. Her handwritten signature captures a significant moment: the inauguration of Ireland’s first female president, marked using the quill of another pivotal figure in Irish history. 2. Lámhscríbhinní De hÍde Douglas Hyde, Ireland’s first ...