Ulysses scheme funds 14 Ireland and France-based research collaborations

Research Ireland is today proud to highlight 14 collaborative projects involving Ireland- and France-based researchers that will share a total of €94,000 in funding for research networking under the Ulysses Programme 2025. 

Now in its 27^thyear, Ulysses is funded and administered by Research Ireland in Ireland, in collaboration with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Embassy of France in Ireland and Campus France.  

Selected projects are also supported by strategic partners, namely EirGrid, Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE-France), Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and ADEME — the French Environment and Energy Management Agency.  

Project topics receiving Ulysses 2025 funding include: 

• Critical perspectives on artificial intelligence and education and its impact on learning;  

• Acceleration of the transformation of power systems into smart grids;  

• Sustainable direct recycling of lithium iron phosphate batteries, and 

• Changes over time in compliance with recommended childhood vaccinations in Ireland and France. 

The Ulysses scheme – named after James Joyce’s celebrated novel and highlighting the Joycean links between Ireland and France – aims to foster new collaborations by facilitating the exchange of innovative ideas and approaches between researchers based in Ireland and France, across all disciplines. 

Seed funding is allocated to project leaders in both French and Irish higher education institutions to enable researchers to make reciprocal travel visits between France and Ireland.  

Welcoming the latest Ulysses awards, Celine Fitzgerald, Interim CEO Research Ireland,said: “Research Ireland is delighted to continue this long-standing collaboration with the French Embassy and our funding partners on the Ulysses programme. This initiative continues to foster rich partnerships between Irish and French researchers focusing on relevant topics that generate a shared interest among our two countries”.  

“I would like to thank the scheme’s strategic partners and to congratulate them on their continued support in recognising the vital role that researchers in Ireland and France play in solving real-world problems, especially through impactful Franco-Irish collaborations. Their commitment to the Ulysses programme focusing on priority aspects relating to health, climate, renewable energy and other areas besides is commendable.” 

John Ging, Head of Interconnection at EirGridsaid: “EirGrid are committed to furthering research and innovation pursuits across the spectrum of academic disciplines, from engineering to the humanities. After all, you cannot interconnect systems if you cannot interconnect people. As a result, we are delighted to continue our relationship with RTE, the French Transmission System Operator, to co-fund cutting edge and collaborative research in both Irish and French universities through the Ulysses programme in order to transform the power system for future generations”.  

Kerrie Sheehan, Head of Research, Innovation and Electricity at SEAIsaid:“SEAI recognises the value of our strategic co-funding partnership with ADEME in stimulating novel ideas and collaborations between Ireland and France-based researchers in the highly successful Ulysses programme. By providing joint seed funding, focusing on the transition to clean energy, we have seen researchers develop and expand their work well beyond the initial project. We are delighted to co-fund the 2025 awardees and follow their progress”. 

The UCD projects are:

Sustainable direct recycling of lithium iron phosphate batteries

Dr Georg Pesch, UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering and Anna Vanderbruggen Université de of Lorraine 

Project funded by SEAI & ADEME 

INTEGRATE: INTEGRative mixture models for joint differential Analyses of nesTEd multiomics data

Prof Claire Gormley, UCD School of Mathematics and Statistics and Andrea Rau, INRAE

Project funded by Research Ireland & The Embassy of France in Ireland

AGROPATH: Agropastoralism, herding intensification and the emergence of pathogens in Southwest Asia in the past studied using dental remains

Dr Kevin Daly, (Ad Astra Fellow) UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science and Marjan Mashkour, AASPE - Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements

Project funded by Research Ireland & The Embassy of France in Ireland

For a full list of awardees visit the (opens in a new window)Research Ireland website.