THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY IS IRELAND'S LEADING BODY OF EXPERTS IN THE SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The Royal Irish Academy/Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann champions research. We identify and recognise Ireland’s world class researchers. We support scholarship and promote awareness of how science and the humanities enrich our lives and benefit society. We believe that good research needs to be promoted, sustained and communicated. The Academy is run by a Council of its members. Membership is by election and considered the highest academic honour in Ireland.

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Royal Irish Academy Discourse Series

The RIA’s discourses are the oldest and most renowned series of public talks in Ireland. The first discourses were presented in 1786. Historically, they served as occasions for the most distinguished academics to first reveal and discuss their work in public. Robert Mallet revealed his pioneering work on earthquakes and William Rowan Hamilton talked about quaternion algebra first at RIA discourses. The purpose of our modern discourse series is to bring thought leaders to the RIA to discuss important contemporary issues.

Recent speakers have included Nobel Laureates, Venki Ramakrishnan, Amaryta Sen, William Campbell and Sir Paul Nurse. Other distinguished speakers were Mary McAleese, Catherine Day and Sir Stephen O’Rahilly.

The Royal Irish Academy Public Discourse Series from September 2017 to May 2022 was sponsored by Mason Hayes & Curran LLP.

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Watch Videos from the 2019-2023 Discourse Series

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