UCD research funded as €24m awarded to ‘high-risk, high-reward’ projects
26 February 2025
Two UCD research projects have been funded under the Awards stream of the Research Ireland (opens in a new window)Frontiers for the Future Programme.
The projects are among 23 that will share in a total of €23.6 million that has been awarded to tackle major challenges facing society such AI, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and transport.
The UCD Awardees are:
- (opens in a new window)Dr Olga Lastovetsky, UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science
Project: AG-MICRO: Promoting Sustainable Agriculture through Microbe-Microbe and Microbe-Plant interactions (Awarded €805,963.60) - (opens in a new window)Dr Ekin Ozer, UCD School of Civil Engineering
Project: Harmonizing Nonhomogeneous Crowdsourcing Data and Formulating Citizen Incentives towards Self-Governing Bridge Monitoring (€631,914.20)
The Frontiers for the Future Programme funds high-risk, high-reward research programmes and innovative, collaborative research with the potential to deliver economic and societal impact.
Announcing the awardees, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD said each had “brought forward novel and innovative ideas with strong potential to deliver impactful solutions for major challenges facing society today.
“The programme itself promotes gender balance and provides opportunities for emerging investigators returning to research. I look forward to seeing the awardees’ progress over the coming years.”
Minister for (opens in a new window)@DeptofFHed, James Lawless (opens in a new window)@lawlessj, has today announced €23.6 million to support 23 research projects focused on tackling challenges in AI, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and transport. Read here: (opens in a new window)https://t.co/1dZlrZ2Wf1 (opens in a new window)#IrishResearch (opens in a new window)#AI (opens in a new window)#Energy (opens in a new window)pic.twitter.com/vgfogJvMpn
— Research Ireland (@Researchirel) (opens in a new window)February 26, 2025
Celine Fitzgerald, Interim Chief Executive of Research Ireland, added: “Our Frontiers for the Future Programme is driven by feedback from the research community and represents a strong commitment to developing future talent in key areas.
"These 23 awards will fund a total of 86 research positions, comprising Postdocs, PhDs, Research Assistants and support staff. I’m very pleased with the opportunities that this targeted investment is creating and greatly encouraged that crucial research on pressing issues will be facilitated as a result."
The Frontiers for the Future awardees are from UCD, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, Teagasc, Technological University of the Shannon, University College Cork, University of Galway, and University of Limerick.
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
