Seven UCD researchers recognised in €34m SFI Frontiers for the Future awards
Posted 28 May, 2024
Seven UCD researchers have received (opens in a new window)Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Frontiers for the Future awards as a part of a new €34 million funding round.
The awardees were among 28 announced winners whose new funding will support some 124 research positions including 58 postdoctoral positions, 53 PhD students and 13 research assistants and other positions.
The SFI Frontiers for the Future awards at UCD are:
- (opens in a new window)Professor Fiona Doohan, UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, for ‘WheatHealth: Enhancing Our Understanding Of Wheat-microbe interactions to improve disease control and food security’.
- (opens in a new window)Professor Cormac Taylor, UCD School of Medicine, UCD Conway Institute for ‘GLYCOPLEX: A New Entity Regulating Glucose Metabolism in Hypoxic Cells’.
- (opens in a new window)Professor Madeleine Lowery, UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, for ‘Closed-Loop Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson’s Disease: Foundations for Clinical Translation’.
- (opens in a new window)Professor Fionnuala McAuliffe, UCD School of Medicine, UCD Conway Institute, for ‘Preterm birth Prevention with Oral Probiotics: A Double-Blinded Placebo Controlled Randomized Controlled Trial on Lactobacillus-Crispatus-Containing Probiotic Therapy in Women at Risk of Preterm Birth (The PrePOP Study)’.
- (opens in a new window)Professor Ulla Knaus, UCD School of Medicine, UCD Conway Institute, for ‘Raising Oxidants for Immune Protection in Infectious Disease’.
- (opens in a new window)Professor Walter Kolch, UCD School of Medicine, UCD Conway Institute, The Role of Dynamic Protein-Protein Interaction Changes in Adaptive Drug Resistance.
- (opens in a new window)Professor Pieter Brama, UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, is a co-applicant on the Trinity College Dublin-led project ‘Engineering Structurally Anisotropic And Mechanically Functional Musculoskeletal Tissues By Guiding The Fusion, Differentiation And (Re)Modelling Of Stem Cell Derived Cartilage Spheroids’.
The 28 awardees will undertake their work across several research bodies including UCD, Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Teagasc, and University of Galway.
“These awards support the development of world-class research in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Patrick O’Donovan TD.
"The projects and higher education institutions are focusing on will help deliver solutions to some of the major challenges facing society, including in healthcare, the environment and technology."
Dr Ruth Freeman, SFI Director of Science for Society added: “The SFI Frontiers for the Future awards provide opportunities for independent investigators to conduct highly-innovative, original research on important questions. I would like to thank SEAI for collaborating on this programme with SFI, supporting vital research in the area of sustainability.”
This round of the SFI Frontiers for the Future programme is funded in collaboration with Sustainability Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
“These awards are excellent examples of national innovation and creativity. By supporting independent researchers, we can help grow Ireland’s national capacity to conduct excellent scientific research,” said Margie McCarthy, SEAI Director of Research and Policy Insights.
“We look forward to the new insights and knowledge that the co-funded awards will bring to offshore wind energy support structures and anaerobic digestion ecosystems, and how their results will advance Ireland’s clean energy transition.”
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations (with materials from Emma Loughney, UCD Research and Innovation)
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
