TCD launches pioneering Research Support System

Posted on: 27 September 2005

Trinity College Dublin launched its new Research Support System (RSS) on Tuesday 27th September, a web-based information system, which incorporates an expertise database allowing members of academic staff to input and update information on their academic interests and research expertise and publications.

In 2004, the first TCD profiles were exported from the RSS to the Expertise Ireland Portal. In cooperation with Conference of Heads of Irish Universities and the Higher Education Authority, all of the Irish Universities, Queen’s University Belfast and University of Ulster are combining efforts, with sponsorship from Inter-Trade Ireland, to provide Expertise Ireland portal of research expertise to facilitate Industry, Business and Government in accessing university expertise.

The TCD Research Support System has been in development over a 4-year period arising out of the College’s Strategic Plan, which supported a vision of an all-encompassing information system for College that would address the needs of management, the Library, e-learning, electronic publications and records management with a view to having an integrated view of information systems across the whole of College providing an integrated management system to help monitor the College’s progress in research and scholarship and to help manage their support.

“This year the Research Support System was extended to bring in all members of the College Research community, including postgraduates. From this week the online catalogue of the research achievements and publications of TCD staff will go live to all TCD staff, and to the world via the web.” Stated Prof Ian Robertson, Dean of Research at TCD. “Almost 800 members of academic and research staff are currently registered with the system, which also contains records of well over 11,000 publications. In the current climate of change and competition, the Research Support System is making a major contribution to promoting and enhancing the image of Trinity nationally and internationally.”

The benefits delivered by this service to the College include: a database of the University’s expertise for international external bodies/collaborators to search; promotion of the research of individual faculty or research groups; a means of generating reports by College, School, Individuals, Research Centres, for internal use and external use, including (from this year) inputs to the Calendar’s list of publications; an opportunity for faculty profiles to be exported to the Expertise Ireland portal; an automatic web-page generation and a customizable CV-builder are available from this week.

For further details on the College’s Research Support System please visit www.tcd.ie/Research/RSS.