Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD, today announced an investment of €4.3 million in 50 enterprise-focused research awards under the Irish Research Council’s Enterprise Partnership Scheme.

UCD has secured just over €1.1 million of the funding for 13 awards.

The IRC Enterprise Partnership Scheme has been operating for 15 years in the Irish research and innovation landscape and connects enterprise, early-career researchers (postdocs and postgraduate students) and higher education institutions. The awards cover a broad range of topics including the areas of health, food production, law, agriculture and heritage.

Minister Simon Harris TD said, “I am delighted to announce funding for 50 research and innovation projects as part of the 2020 Irish Research Council Enterprise Partnership Scheme. This scheme provides a valuable opportunity for enterprise and employers to access research talent and expertise within Ireland’s higher education system.”

He added, “The research will cover a broad range of areas, including sexual violence, the delivery of healthcare, how we produce better dairy products, the impact of jellyfish blooms on salmon aquaculture in Ireland, and how we improve bone health in jockeys.”

He concluded, “We must continue to promote Irish research and offer our researchers every opportunity and every support. We must continue to support this type of engagement to attract foreign direct investment into our knowledge economy, to assist indigenous SMEs and NGOs to innovate.”

Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact said, “I would like to congratulate the 13 UCD postdocs and postgraduate students who have been successful in securing research awards, under the Irish Research Council’s Enterprise Partnership Scheme. This is a key scheme helping to forge collaborative links between early-career researchers and enterprise and such collaborations are vitally important in driving an innovation economy. I wish the awardees every success with their research projects.”

The EPS provides key benefits for all parties, industry and employers, including social innovation organisations, are supported to enhance their research and innovation capacity on a low-risk basis, and companies gain access to a pipeline of research talent for their future development needs. The scheme also promotes long-term collaborations and engagement between higher education institutions and industry/employers.

The Director of the Irish Research Council, Peter Brown, said, “The Council has a long history of supporting early career researchers across all disciplines, and the Enterprise Partnership Scheme is a keystone of this ongoing mission.”

“By bridging research, industry and enterprise, this programme gives participating scholars and fellows a dynamic research opportunity, allowing them to gain experience of working on a project with enterprise impact and innovation potential, and providing insight into career paths beyond academia. The Council wishes the new awardees and their partners every success with their projects.”

A long-standing partner in the scheme is Analog Devices, which this year is supporting three researchers, including UCD’s Mohamed Shehata. He is receiving an EPS Postgraduate Award for a project entitled, ‘A Rotary Travelling-Wave Oscillator (RTWO) Based Frequency Multiplier for Millimetre-Wave Radar Systems.’

Shane Geary, Vice-President Internal operations and technology and General Manager Ireland site, Analog Devices, said, “Analog Devices is delighted to partner with the Irish Research Council again on the 2020 Enterprise Partnership Scheme. We have been involved in the programme for many years, with great success, and are looking forward to working with this year’s awardees.”

“This programme enables us to collaborate with excellent researchers and integrate their expertise into our processes and innovations. We also aim to provide the researchers with the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of working in industry, promoting it as a high potential career path.”

The other 12 successful UCD awardees are;

Deirdre Cullen, who has received an EPS Postgraduate Award for a project entitled, ‘The Long Gallery at Castletown: a rare example of the neoclassical taste for painted rooms all' antica and an expression of the intellectual and cultural worlds of Ireland's eighteenth-century elite’ with enterprise partner, The Office of Public Works.

Dr Husvinee Sundaramurthi, UCD School of Medicine, who has received an EPS Postdoctoral Award for a project entitled, ‘Evaluating anti-neoplastic activity of HDAC6 inhibitors in uveal melanoma cells and in zebrafish patient-derived uveal melanoma xenograft models’ with enterprise partner, Breakthrough Cancer Research.

Ioanna Bampouri, who has received an EPS Postgraduate Award for a project entitled, ‘Application of High-Resolution Ultrasonic Spectroscopy for Real-Time, Non-Destructive Monitoring of the State of Wafer Surfaces. Assessment of the Effects of Composition of Cleaning Liquids Utilised in Semiconductor Manufacturing’ with enterprise partner, Intel Ireland Ltd.

Joseph Young, who has received an EPS Postgraduate Award for a project entitled, ‘Killruddery: Listening to the Archive. Exploring the Anglo-Irish heritage experience with immersive 3D audio soundscapes’ with enterprise partner, Killruddery Arts, Culture, Ecology and Heritage.

Justine O'Brien, who has received an EPS Postgraduate Award for a project entitled, ‘Uncovering novel drugs that restore vision by combining biological and computational drug discovery processes’ with enterprise partner, Cresset Biomolecular Discovery Ltd.

Dr Karen Fox, UCD School of Chemistry, who has received an EPS Postdoctoral Award for a project entitled, ‘Breakthroughs in Phosphorus Chemistry applied to the Wittig Reaction: Dramatic Scope Improvement and Long-Term Sustainability’ with enterprise partner, Kelada Pharmachem Ltd.

Kate Barones de Smeth, who has received an EPS Postgraduate Award for a project entitled, ‘Remembering hydromorphology: sensitivity of past and future flooding to changes in channel capacity, land use and river disturbances’ with enterprise partner, The Office of Public Works.

Dr Mark Coughlan, UCD School of Civil Engineering, who has received an EPS Postdoctoral Award for a project entitled, ‘Mapping the Shallow Geology of the Irish Sea for Marine Spatial Planning of Offshore Renewable Energy (Map-MORE)’ with enterprise partner, Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions Ltd.

Dr Mary Mishler, UCD School of English, Drama and Film, who has received an EPS Postdoctoral Award for a project entitled, ‘Mapping Gothic Dublin: Historical and Literary Hauntings, 1820-1900’ with enterprise partner, Museum of Literature Ireland.

Marzia Pendino, who has received an EPS Postgraduate Award for a project entitled ‘Evaluation of the Therapeutic and Adverse Potential of Cannabinoids in Vision’ with enterprise partner, Breakthrough Cancer Research.

Melissa Johnson, who has received an EPS Postgraduate Award for a project entitled, ‘Diabetic Wound Healing through an Injectable and Tuneable Extracellular Matrix Derived Hydrogel as a Stem Cell Delivery Niche’ with enterprise partner Blafar Ltd which is headquartered at NovaUCD.

Thomas Divilly, who has received an EPS Postgraduate Award for a project entitled, ‘Tackling the evidence-based medicine manifesto for better healthcare in sports and exercise medicine and sports physiotherapy’ with enterprise partner, BMJ Publishing Group Limited.