Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Patrick O’Donovan TD has announced a €14.6 million investment in projects to support early career researchers under the SFI-IRC Pathway programme. The 25 research projects will be funded through 13 research bodies. Eight projects are funded through UCD.
Minister O’Donovan said: “This Pathway funding will help facilitate a defined journey from post-doctoral research to independent researcher. Bridging this gap is a challenging but critical milestone, and the research selected for investment will address key challenges and opportunities, ranging from new therapies for Parkinsons to the development of sustainable supercapacitors.”
The SFI-IRC Pathway programme is a collaborative initiative between Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council (IRC) to support early-career research across all disciplines and to encourage a cohesive research ecosystem in Ireland.
Commenting on the awards, Dr Ruth Freeman, Director, Science for Society at Science Foundation Ireland, said: “We are delighted to work with in partnership with our colleagues in the IRC to deliver the SFI-IRC Pathway programme. It provides targeted support to early-career researchers who will use the funding to pursue independent research at the frontiers of knowledge. Investment in these projects will generate novel discoveries and insights across diverse research topics, from environmental sustainability to disease treatment and prevention, to wireless network security.”
The awards will enable postdoctoral researchers to develop their career pathway and transition to become independent research leaders. The funding, covering a four-year period, will provide additional support for a postgraduate student who will be primarily supervised by the awardee.
The 8 projects funded through UCD are:
Dr Despina Bazou, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, Extramedullary disease in Multiple Myeloma - Finding new therapeutic targets by dissecting the cell heterogeneity with an integrated transcriptomic and proteomic analysis.
Dr Judith Evers, Ad Astra Fellow, UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, Closed-loop cortical stimulation for Parkinson's disease.
Dr Sean Kelly, UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, PLAS-ME: Plasma for Agriculture Sustainability through Manure Enhancement.
Dr Darren O'Connell, UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, The genomics of adaptation in a hyper-diverse genus of bees: the past, present and future of important wild pollinators.
Dr Qian Xu, UCD School of Medicine, A multi-therapeutic strategy for diabetic wound healing based on the injectable ECM-Mimetic hydrogel delivery of tailored ADSC-derived exosomes.
Dr Chinmoy Kundu, UCD School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Designing secure integrated sensing and communication systems for next-generation wireless networks (SECURE-ISAC).
Dr Sujit Jung Karki, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, REVBY: Ramularia collo-cygni Effector Virulence in BarleY.
Dr XianXian Zhao, UCD School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electromagnetic Transient Modelling and Stability Analysis of a Wind and PV Dominated Irish Power System for 2030 and Beyond.
Pictured: Dr Sujit Jung Karki (UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science) and Dr Ruth Freeman (SFI) at UCD Rosemount Environmental Research Station.