New State-of-the-Art Building for Trinity College’s Arts and Humanities Research Institute, the Trinity Long Room Hub, Opened by Minister Lenihan
Posted on: 08 September 2010
A new state-of-the-art building which houses the Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College’s arts and humanities research institute, was officially opened by the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan today (September 8th ). The institute has received substantial investment of €10.8 million from the Government and European Regional Development fund under the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI).
At the launch Minister Lenihan stated: “Collaborations and partnerships between Ireland’s research communities are a critical component in our development of the smart economy. The Trinity Long Room Hub, which the Government has supported through the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions, is a major change in the scope and capacity for humanities research, teaching and training in Ireland, with researchers for the first time coming together in a common forum.”
The Minister added: “With the use of new technologies in the top-class facilities and expertise which the Trinity Long Room Hub provides, the humanities and social sciences are playing an important role in the preservation of Ireland’s unique resources in our libraries, museums and archives, thus ensuring that Ireland’s cultural heritage is recorded and maintained for posterity.”
Provost Dr John Hegarty, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan and Academic Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub, Professor Poul Holm.
Future researchers, innovators, teachers and leaders in the arts and humanities will begin their careers in the Trinity Long Room Hub. The combination of cutting edge equipment, academic expertise and an excellent working environment will enable the next generation of researchers develop leading research in the arts and humanities, thereby providing a major resource for the knowledge economy of Ireland.
Commenting on its significance, Provost, Dr John Hegarty said: “This is a very exciting development for Trinity and reflects its fundamental belief in the power of the arts and humanities to advance and enrich society at every level. The substantial investment by the state in this world class facility also signifies the national importance of the arts and humanities to economic development. It also endorses the emphasis placed by the Trinity Long Room Hub on the imagination and cultivation of both creative and far-seeing graduates that will help define and drive a sustainable future.”
“The Hub will be a new nerve centre for multidisciplinary creative endeavour and advanced research, challenging existing approaches to the arts and humanities, introducing technology and creating connections. It will be all transforming, and will support Trinity’s mission in playing a leading role in developing Dublin as a vibrant capital and a creative city of culture and science.”
The new building is designed to facilitate all aspects of research in the arts and the humanities, from planning to innovation and the training of future researchers. New technologies will also be applied to the arts and humanities research with the specific aim of making it publicly accessible. More than 300 postgraduate researchers and 150 academics are affiliated with the arts and humanities institute that builds on the strengths of seven of the university’s academic schools and the Trinity College Library. World leading academics will also come from outstanding universities from around the globe for up to six month-visits, stimulating and challenging its research environment as part of the Visiting Research Fellowships Programme operated by the Hub.
The Trinity Long Room Hub currently facilitates cross-cutting research initiatives in digital humanities, environmental humanities, medical humanities, South Asian studies and a research programme on creativity, the city and the university.
It also provides two structured PhD programmes: the’ Digital arts and humanities’ programme which promotes advanced practical and academic research in the application of new media and computer technologies in the arts and humanities . Its second programme, ‘Texts contexts and cultures’, integrates new technologies and related professional placements into the traditional PhD.
Highlights of the new four-storey building situated on Trinity’s main campus, include two conference venues and a digitisation unit which will support the Library’s ambitious plans to make their vast collections publicly accessible. Workspaces will be available for research students, postdoctoral fellows, as well as the visiting international scholars.
“The Trinity Long Room Hub is essentially a one-stop shop for the arts and humanities,” explained its academic director, Professor Poul Holm. “Through the academic infrastructure provided for emerging new researchers it will encourage and foster innovative interdisciplinary research across the entire spectrum of the arts and humanities at Trinity, using the Library’s own outstanding collections as a chief research tool. This is a unique partnership that combines the strengths of a great research library similar to the Newberry Library in the US and an institute for advanced studies such as Cambridge’s CRASSH. It will build on Trinity’s strength in the arts and humanities and as a university of global consequence.”
To complement the academic research, the Trinity Long Room Hub has an events programme, including a biannual Lewis Glucksman Memorial Symposium as well as a series of lectures and colloquia.
Key Points about the Trinity Long Room Hub:
– 150 academics and over 300 postgraduate researchers are associated with the Hub.
– 44 research students will be provided workspace in its Open Reading Room, allowing them to study amongst their research peers for various periods of time.
– In its first year, 35 leading academics from international universities will conduct their research at TCD through the Visiting Research Fellowships Programme operated by the Trinity Long Room Hub and office space will be provided for them in the new building.
– A digitisation suite, for the post production of the digitised Library collections, making them publicly accessible.
– Two conference venues will host events, colloquia and seminars throughout the year.
– The Ideas Space has been designed for students and researchers to meet and discuss research and share ideas.
– The Trinity Long Room Hub employs six staff and six digitisation staff working to deliver the libraries digital resources programme.
– The Trinity Long Room Hub building has been shortlisted for the World Building of the Year 2010. In total, seven buildings from Ireland are on the shortlist. The judging will take place at the World Architecture Festival awards in early November.
– The building will be open to the public on Culture Night (Friday, September 24th ) and Open House (October 7-10th).
Trinity in the News:
- Sunday Business Post, 12th September
- Irish Times, 10th September
- Irish Times, 9th September
- Times Higher Education, 9th September
- Times Higher Education, 9th September
