Posted 01 September 2011
13 UCD projects funded under SFI Research Frontiers Programme
The Minister for Research and Innovation, Mr Seán Sherlock T.D. has announced Government funding of €15 million, over the next four years, for 79 research projects, including 13 UCD projects, as part of Science Foundation Ireland’s 2011 Research Frontiers Programme.
“It is vital that Ireland has a robust and competitive research environment that contributes to economic recovery,” said Minister Sherlock.
“The projects announced [today] are very much part of this drive to further build Ireland’s research capability in support of our economic development. Science Foundation Ireland is a key organisation in driving this in terms of indentifying opportunities for top-class research in Ireland.”
“Discoveries that can be achieved in these sectors will have an impact on computer science, the environment, health and other important fields with the potential to create and sustain top-quality jobs in Ireland.”
SFI received 291 applications which were evaluated by 123 international researchers. The funding provided to the 79 projects will support employment and training for 94 researchers across 15 research bodies.
“A significant number of the awards announced [today] provide support to early-career researchers with the aim of helping our most promising minds to build their research careers here in Ireland and contribute their ideas and talent to the economy,” said Dr Graham Love, Director of Policy & Communications, SFI.
The 13 UCD research projects awarded funding include:
- Professor Pieter Brama, UCD School of Veterinary Medicine - Unravelling the interzone: a biomimicry solution for difficulties in cartilage tissue engineering?
- Dr Eoin Casey, UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering - Mechanisms of biofilm mediated fouling on nanofiltration membranes applied to micropollutant removal
- Professor Stephen Daly, UCD School of Geological Sciences - A lower crustal xenolith perspective on the composition, tectonic history and economic significance of a major continental suture zone
- Dr Mark Flanagan, UCD School of Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering - Performance Characterization of Low-Density Code Ensembles
- Professor Lorraine Hanlon, UCD School of Physics - A Gamma-Ray Concentrator for Applications in Nuclear Astrophysics and Medicine
- Dr James Jones, UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science - The effect of sacral neuromodulation on inputs to the somatosensory cortex
- Dr Margaret McGee, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science - The characterisation of cyclophilin A as a novel regulator of cytokinesis
- Dr Francesca Paradisi, UCD School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology - Towards the development of robust bio-catalysts: halophilic alcohol dehydrogenases from Haloferax volcanii
- Dr James Rice, UCD School of Physics - Imaging using nano-void array materials
- Dr Helena Smigoc, UCD School of Mathematical Sciences - Positivity in Matrix Theory
- Dr Richard Smith, UCD School of Mathematical Sciences - Descriptive set theory and infinite-dimensional geometry
- Dr Gavin Stewart, UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science - Urea transporters in the human colon
- Dr Dominic Zerulla, UCD School of Physics - Sensitized Solar Cells: Plasmonic Enhancement and Nanoscale Architectures
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
