The winners of the prestigious 2020 Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Science Awards were revealed today by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD, at the annual SFI Science Summit.

Two leading University College Dublin (UCD) researchers, Professor Pat Guiry and Professor Patricia Maguire are among the awardees, and each has been announced as a winner of a 2020 SFI Mentorship Award. This Award recognises outstanding mentorship provided by a researcher funded by Science Foundation Ireland.

Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland congratulating all the award winners, said, “I am delighted to congratulate this year’s award winners on their inspiring success and dedication.”

“The Science Foundation Ireland Awards recognise the expansive contribution that scientists make to our society and economy through innovative breakthroughs, industry collaborations, entrepreneurship, public engagement, and mentorship of the next generation. This year has been an eventful and challenging one for our research community.” 

Professor Pat Guiry is Full Professor of Synthetic Organic Chemistry in the UCD School of Chemistry and is the Director of the Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology at UCD. His research interests include the design, synthesis and application of novel ligands in asymmetric catalysis, natural product synthesis and medicinal chemistry.

He has supervised 55 PhD and 3 MSc students to graduation to date and has worked with over 20 postdoctoral researchers. His group has published over 140 papers, review articles, book chapters and patents with over 7000 citations.

He was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2013 and is an elected member of the UCD Governing Authority and of the Senate of the National University of Ireland. Professor Guiry is also a Head Judge and Chair of the Board of Directors at the annual BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

Professor Pat Guiry said, “I am delighted and honoured to win this year's SFI Mentorship Award. Thanks to my colleagues in the UCD School of Chemistry, and in the two SFI research centres, BiOrbic, the Bioeconomy Research Centre and SSPC, the Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre. However this Award would not have been possible without my former and current research group members with whom it has been and is a pleasure to work. I thank them especially and wish them well in their future careers.”

Professor Patricia Maguire is Professor of Biochemistry at the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science and the Director of the UCD Institute for Discovery which facilitates connections in emerging areas of interdisciplinary research.

Her research interests at the UCD Conway SPHERE research group, led by her and consultant haematologist Professor Fionnuala Ní Áinle, focus on using blood platelets to understand and to assist diagnosis of a host of inflammatory-based diseases, including Preeclampsia, Multiple Sclerosis, Venous Thromboembolism and COVID-19.

She has demonstrated strong and outstanding leadership in research supervision with, to date, 12 graduate researchers (8 PhDs, 3 MSc and 1 MD) completing their theses under her direction and she has worked with 8 postdoctoral scientists. She has published over 50 papers and review articles.

Professor Patricia Maguire said, “I am delighted to win this year’s SFI Mentorship Award and I would sincerely like to thank present and previous mentees at the UCD Conway SPHERE research group for their kind nominations for this award for which, I am truly honoured to receive.”

Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact said, “I am delighted that two leading members of UCD’s research community, Professor Patricia Maguire and Professor Pat Guiry, have both been recognised by SFI through the Mentorship Award. They are both outstanding and generous scientists who have prioritised the development of the next generation of scientific talent at UCD and this Award reflects the many dimensions of their mentorship activities at the University and the impact they deliver in this way.”

In advance of Science Week, this year’s SFI Science Summit has transferred to a virtual platform allowing members of Ireland’s research community to come together online to discuss the challenges and celebrate the significant contributions made over the past year to research and innovation in Ireland.

This year Minister Harris TD announced the winners in eight award categories in total, two categories with double awards, including the SFI Mentorship Award, and one joint award.