UCC academic in global sports campaign

An Irish academic is set to spearhead the promotion of sport and PE on a global level after her appointment to an influential international agency.

Dr Fiona Chambers, the director of Sports Studies and Physical Education at UCC, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Association Internationale des Ecole Superieures d’Education Physique (AIESEP) — The International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education — based in Liege, Belgium.

Dr Chambers is the first UCC academic to be appointed to the association.

She will sit on the board for the next four years with colleagues from 14 countries, including Britain, Switzerland, China, Germany and the US.

AIESEP’s research on sport, physical education and physical activity helps shape government policy on sport around the world.

Dr Chambers is already considered one of Ireland’s and Europe’s leading experts in the field. She is the link convener for the European Educational Research Association Network — Research in Sport Pedagogy.

In 2012, she co-founded All Island All Active with Professor Deirdre Brennan of the University of Ulster.

Meanwhile, Cork Institute of Technology’s (CIT) Innovation Week kicks off this week. A seminar takes place tomorrow on cybercrime and cyberwar with speakers Robert McArdle of Trend Micro, Darius Whelan, a lecturer in law at UCC, and journalist Ralph Riegel.