Prof. Colm O’Sullivan
Associate Professor (retired)
Physics Department
University College Cork
Ireland
Phone:+353-21-4902390
Fax:+353-21-4276949
Email:ctosull@ucc.ie
Education and Membership of Professional Societies
| 1961 | BSc National University of
Ireland |
| 1963 | MSc National University of Ireland |
| 1969 | PhD Catholic University of America |
| 1972 | MInstP The Institute of Physics |
| 1985 | CPhys The Institute of Physics |
| 1990 | FInstP The Institute of Physics |
Research Interests
- Cosmic ray astrophysics / origin of cosmic rays / gamma-ray astronomy
- Long-baseline cosmic ray coincidence experiments to search for gamma-ray bursts from supernovae and other cataclysmic astrophysical events
Collaboration: Professor Brian McBreen, Dr David Fegan (UCD).
Funded by NSC/NBST/EOLAS grants, 1973-1976, 1977-1980, 1981
- Development of time transfer techniques for widely spaced ground-based experiments
Collaboration: Professor Alan Watson (University of Leeds).
Funded by British Council grant, 1982-83
- Long-baseline cosmic ray coincidence experiments to search for gamma-ray bursts from supernovae and other cataclysmic astrophysical events
- Physics education / computers in physics teaching
- Microcomputer-based experiments for university level physics courses
Collaboration: UNESCO Division of Scientific Education and Research (Paris).
Funded by UNESCO grants 1986-87, 1988-90
- Standardisation of interfaces for microcomuter based school experiments
Collaboration: An Roinn Oideachais (post-primary branch). Dr. John O'Brien, University of Limerick.
Funded by An Roinn Oideachais grants 1990-91
- Computerised Laboratory in Science and Technology Teaching
Collaboration: Collaborating institutions in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Spain, Greece, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia (University of Ljubljana, promoter).
Funded by EU Leonardo da Vinci 2 (Community Vocational Training Action Programme):
Project SI143008 (ComLab-SciTech) 2000-2003; SI-05-B-F-PP-176008 (ComLab-2) 2004-2007
- Learning Environment for Physics Laboratory Activities )
Collaboration: Collaborating institutions in Italy, Poland (Technical University of Lodz, promoter), Sweden and UK.
Funded by EU Socrates Minerva (eEurope initiative): Project 99843-CP-1-2002-1-PL (LEPLA) 2002-2005
- Microcomputer-based experiments for university level physics courses
Professional Societies and Activities
-
Colm O'Sullivan is a member of the European Physical Society, GIREP (Groupe International de
Recherche sur l’Enseignment de la Physique), the Irish Mathematical Society and a
Fellow of the Institute of Physics . He has
been a member of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Physics, the
Institute of Physics Education Group Committee, the National Committee for
Astronomy (Royal Irish Academy) and the National Commission for the
Teaching of Physics (RIA). He has also been
Chairman of the Education Sub-group of the Institute of Physics (Irish Branch)
and a member of the Irish Branch Committee IoP. He has been commissioned to
advise and provide evaluation reports on matters of Science Education by a
number of organisations including An Roinn
Oideachais agus Scileanna (the Irish Department of Education and Skills) and UNESCO. He has served as a Judge at the
annual Young Scientist Exhibition
at the Royal Dublin Society.
Publications
- Cosmic Ray
Astrophysics
- Physics
Education
-
Textbook: Understanding Physics (with Michael Mansfield) published by J Wiley & Sons [1st edition January 1998, 2nd edition January 2011]