A group of finance staff from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, visited University College Cork in June, and we were excited to meet with them to discuss the inner workings of UCC Academy!  Birgit Felton (Head of Division of Financial and Accounting), Carolin Felder (Management of External Funding), Janina Meier (Vice Department Manager, Tax Department), Alexander Vorwerk (Finance and Accounting Department), and Julia Böhm (Management of External Funding) were hosted by Mary McSweeney, Senior Finance Manager at UCC. The visit included meetings and tours across UCC locations, including the main campus, Mardyke Arena, and the Beaufort Research Laboratory (MaREI) in Ringaskiddy. Discussions covered a range of topics relevant to financial management in both UCC and RUB, including EU research funding, subsidiary models, financial structures, reporting, philanthropy and donations, and online systems. Cathal O'Mahony, EU Grant Manager at MaREI, commented that the visit included "very insightful discussions on best practices to support research excellence in European funding programmes.

UCC Academy Project Manager attended the UN Climate Change Summit (COP27) at Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November on behalf of the Smart Protein Project.

In a world of tightening marketing budgets, how can businesses create video content that immediately speaks to existing clients, wins the attention of new customers and delivers sales? Nicole McDonagh, Conference and Video Lead at UCC Academy, explains how businesses can leverage relatively inexpensive phones and apps to promote their brands and products in a marketplace full of distraction.