NCI Blog

Between the Grammys, the BAFTAs and the Oscars, awards season is well and truly underway - and the world of academia is no different!

There were many factors in Jamille's decision to study abroad, but some stood out more than others. “I had been to many other places, many other universities, before choosing to study in Ireland. But when I came to NCI, I knew. I just knew. I knew it was the place for me.” In our interview with Jamille, a number of factors clearly influenced her decision to leave Brazil and come to Dublin as an international student. Some of these factors were pragmatic, while some were just human. Either way, we thought detailing these factors would be helpful to Brazilian students - and other international students - who are researching colleges in Ireland and Europe, including those considering our college as part of Science Without Borders.

In tough economic times, staff training and development budgets are often the first to be cut. It’s easy to see why this happens – training costs money, and the return on investment might not be immediately obvious. It can be hard to secure buy-in from senior leadership. However, as most HR managers know, investing in the personal and professional development of staff can be key to an organisation’s success. If you’re struggling to build a business case, keep reading for the top five reasons that employee training and development is an investment worth making. Greater productivity: a highly skilled and educated workforce will perform to a higher level and be more productive long-term. This can give your company the competitive edge and have a direct impact on your bottom-line. Morale and motivation: training is key to job satisfaction and employee engagement. Engaged workers are happy and productive; disengaged workers are disruptive and can be a negative influence on other staff. Attract and retain the best people for your business: opportunities for professional development are perceived as a benefit and can help you attract, and keep, good staff. You will increase your talent pool and decrease your staff turnover costs. Nurture tomorrow’s leaders: with the right encouragement and support, your staff of today will become your leaders of tomorrow. Without that forward planning, you will have to look outside to meet your leadership needs. Create a learning culture: by encouraging your staff to continuously learn and develop you can create a culture of learning in your business, and foster collaboration and innovation at all levels.

To progress in your career you may decide the time is right to look at part-time Masters courses.

You don’t have to be studying or working in the area of mobile technologies for it to have had a huge impact on your life. (Although if you do want to get into this field, we can help – check out the MSc in Mobile Technologies at National College of Ireland, or learn more about working in this exciting industry). In support of UNESCO’s Mobile Learning Week 2015 (23-27 February) we are asking our students to consider the positive impact of mobile technology on your lives. The theme of this year’s week, which is UNESCO’s flagship ICT in education event, is empowering women and girls - and so we are asking our female students in particular to consider the benefits of mobile technology and how it has changed your life for the better.

Kun Qion, from China, tells us of her experiences at the infamous Childline Concert in Dublin's 3Arena. One of the reasons why I chose Ireland as my destination for studying in Europe is that a large proportion of my favourite music artists are actually Irish – Jedward, The Corrs, Westlife, Boyzone and, of course, Bono. As one of their biggest fans, I have been busy keeping up to date with their news by watching videos of interviews and performances.

Do you want to start a career in Accounting and Finance? NCI can help!

Benjamin Wong, an international student of NCI, describes his experiences of Dublin Zoo I felt so delighted after spending an afternoon walking around Dublin Zoo with my friends today. It was a bright and sunny winter’s day, something that I have found to be a bit of a rarity during my time studying in Europe.

In many industries these days, things are changing constantly and, to keep yourself up-to-date on the latest practices, professional development courses may be a necessary step. For a lot of people the thought of going back to college might seem like too big a time commitment and some probably think it’s just too costly to consider. But it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.

On the 17th December, teams of students from NCI will spend just 24 hours designing, developing and deploying websites for charities Today, the 17th of December, marks the second year of a twenty four hour charity appeal – Webmas – run under the auspices of Sam Cogan, a lecturer in NCI's School of Computing. In his running of the Certificate in Web Development course last year, Sam convinced fifteen students from his classes to take part in Webmas 2013; Webmas 2014 has now reached forty participants.