Welcome note from Dr Áine Kelly, TCD, who begins her term as NSI President
“I am honoured and delighted to begin my term as President of Neuroscience Ireland. Next year we will celebrate our 15th year as Ireland’s National Neuroscience Society. This will give us an opportunity to reflect on past successes and, more importantly, to look to our future.
We are a national society with an international outlook. The Festival of Neuroscience held in Dublin earlier this year gave us the opportunity to showcase the high quality of Irish neuroscience research and to strengthen our relationship with our sister society, the British Neuroscience Association. We will work on maintaining and increasing links with our colleagues in the UK, throughout Europe and beyond. As society president, I will sit on the governing council of FENS. Having a voice at European level is especially important as we advocate for increased investment in neuroscience research both nationally and internationally.
We are also mindful that Neuroscience Ireland is a society for the whole island of Ireland and over the next 2 years the Council aims to increase interaction and collaboration between neuroscientists north and south of the border.
We are fortunate to have a talented pool of young researchers in universities throughout the country and we will continue to support training of undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs via travel bursaries, workshops and the Young NSI Conference.
Finally, public engagement is a key part of our remit and we aim to continue our programme of creative and informative outreach activities.
I look forward to working with Ireland’s vibrant neuroscience community over the next 2 years to help achieve the society’s goals and I welcome suggestions, input and feedback from all members”.