Cooperative Education Awards

2024 Science and Engineering Winner - Cian Madden

"My Cooperative Education experience significantly enhanced my time at the University of Limerick. Working with the UL Hospital Group allowed me to see how the theoretical concepts from lectures were able to be applied to their practical application in real-world scenarios. From day one, I was welcomed into a very supportive and collaborative team, where comprehensive training and plenty of resources enabled me to quickly adapt and make meaningful contributions. The experience gave me the opportunity to work on a number of diverse and interesting projects, from patient data analysis to optimizing health service delivery processes. This opened my eyes to the wide number of challenges the HSE works on. Working on these projects also enabled me to develop the technical skills I learnt in college and further improve my problem solving skills. Working at UHL helped me develop my soft skills such as my collaboration, teamwork, communication and time management skills. It also gave me insights into how workplace cultures work and how to make sure I was meeting the expectations of my manager and team. Overall, the experience has been invaluable to me in understanding how important working in teams and applying my technical skills are to helping companies develop".

2024 Kemmy Business School Winner - Adam Danaher

"Participating in a cooperative education work placement has been an immensely valuable experience, providing me with a platform to apply and expand upon the skills I acquired during my time at UL. The transition from theoretical knowledge in the first two and a half years of my degree to practical application in the workplace has deepened my understanding of the concepts learned in the classroom.

UL’s focus on cooperative placements played a significant role in my decision to attend the university. I recognized the importance of relevant work experience for future job interviews and the advantage UL offers over other universities lacking a structured work placement. The work experience I had from co-op was a key driver for landing me my graduate programme, due to the opportunities given to me during the 8 months to do meaningful work from the jump.

The cooperative placement also facilitated the development of new soft skills essential for future employment. Collaborating with professionals with extensive experience improved my ability to work efficiently within a team setting, while gaining essential sectoral knowledge. These interactions also honed my networking skills, fostering relationships that could be beneficial to my future career. The cooperative placement provides students with opportunities to develop skills that cannot be taught in a classroom.

Overall, the cooperative education work placement has been instrumental in bridging the gap between academic theory and professional practice, equipping me with a well-rounded skill set that supports my continued growth and career aspirations".

2024 Arts Humanities and Social Sciences Award Winner -  Mark Finnegan

"For my Cooperative Education work placement, I worked as a Clerical Officer in the Department of Foreign Affairs, more specifically Irish Aid’s Humanitarian Unit. It was planned that I would work with the Unit’s NGO Team, as interns from UL had done in years prior. However, COVID-19 was still around in early 2022 and I was working remotely for some of my placement, so it was decided that I would work across the entire Unit, to guarantee that I would get the most out of my placement. Thanks to this, I enjoyed much more variety in my work. As my colleagues were not sure of my skills starting out, I was mainly tasked with writing informative briefs on the humanitarian needs of various countries around the world, as well as attending meetings with partners and taking minutes. However, as humanitarianism is affected by constantly-evolving global politics, my work was often impacted as a result. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022 had a huge impact, and my colleagues became incredibly busy in response to it. Shifting staff responsibilities led to me taking a more active role in the preparation of grants going to humanitarian organisations such as Trócaire and GOAL working in the Horn of Africa, which was undergoing a severe drought at the time. Thanks to my experience on work placement with Irish Aid, I realised exactly what I wanted to use my politics degree for – pursuing a career in the areas of humanitarianism and/or human rights".

2024 School Placement Award Winner - Rachelle Potterton

"The University of Limerick creates a community which means that you are not only guided and supported every step of the way by your lecturers and school placement tutors, but also by your peers who I was fortunate enough to lean on for support throughout my placement and offer that support in return. In this light I believe many of my peers could have easily been selected for this School Placement Award which is a testament to the high quality of teaching and mentorship that UL has provided aspiring teachers through the years. My time on placement highlighted to me how UL prioritises education as well as student wellbeing. As I faced immense personal struggles towards the end of my school placement, my tutors, the school placement coordinator and the course directors of Science Education provided tremendous support, first ensuring my own well being and then providing the guidance and support which aided me to complete my placement and achieve the goals I had set for myself. In this light, every aspiring student teacher will likely face challenges in many different forms on school placement. However, the guidance and mentorship the University of Limerick provides allows students to develop the skills and experiences to be successful and become the teacher they aspire to be". 

Previous Winners