irc annual report 2014 - irish research...
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ANNUAL REPORT 2014IRISH RESEARCH COUNCIL
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Irish Research Council Annual Event 2014, Ms MadiSharma, Plenary Speaker, Mr. Damien English, T.D. Prof. Orla Feely, Prof. Miguel Seabra, Chair, ScienceEurope, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, November 2014
contents
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Foreword: Minister of State for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English, T.D. 5
Introduction 7
1. The Irish Research Council 2014 8
2. Researcher Career Progression Awards - Opportunities and New Initiatives 24
3. Partnering on Research with Enterprise, Government and Civic Society 35
4. Leading for Ireland in Europe 47
Appendix 1 51Council Members and Executive
Note: The Accounts for the Irish Research Council will be published as part of the HEA C&AG auditedAccounts 2014 in Q3 2015
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Source : Thomson Reuters InCites2, 2003-2013
Arts and Humanities are not included in the Essential Science Indicators. The QS WorldUniversity Rankings 2013/14 and other ranking processes show strong evidence that theseareas contribute significantly and positively to Irish higher education institution rankings.
Essential Science IndicatorWhere Irish HEIs in top 1% of worldhigher education institutions
World research impact ranking (citations)
Immunology 1Nanoscience/Nanotechnology 2Computer Science 4Materials Science 7Neuroscience & Behaviour 7Pharmacy & Toxicology 9Biology & Biochemistry 11Molecular Biology & Genetics 11Chemistry 11Psychiatry/Psychology 15Physics 19Agricultural ScienceClinical MedicineEconomics & BusinessEngineeringEnvironment/EcologyGeosciencesMicrobiologyPlant & Animal ScienceSocial Sciences General
Ranked 18th in terms ofHuman Capital and Research(Global Innovation Index 2014)
Ranked 3rd in EUmember statesperformance inHuman Resources(IU Scoreboard 2014
Ireland’s ResearchPerformance 2014
Ireland is:
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FOReWoRDOne of the Irish Research Council’s principal mandates is to fund excellent research across all disciplinesand, in doing so, to enhance Ireland’s international reputation as a centre for research and learning. Infulfilling this aim, 2014 has been a very successful year: a total of 1,146 Postgraduate Scholars and 272Postdoctoral Fellows were funded. The prestige of this funding is significant as the Irish Research Councilschemes are highly competitive. More detailed information about these and other awards made in 2014are being presented within this Annual Report.
An additional aim of the Council is to enrich the available pool of knowledge and expertise in order toaddress Ireland’s current and future challenges, particularly through collaboration and knowledgeexchange. To this end, a variety of partnerships have been formed by the Council with governmentdepartments and agencies, enterprise and civic society. Specifically, in relation to enterprise, it isnoteworthy that 25% of all Postgraduate Scholar awards made in 2014 were co-funded by an Enterpriseor Employment Partner. To date, approximately 300 private-sector and other employers have partneredwith the Irish Research Council. Of these, taking the Employment Based Postgraduate Programme as anexample, SMEs account for more than 70% of Employment Partners. In building these fundingprogrammes, the Irish Research Council offers a range of opportunities and supports diverse careerpaths for researchers.
In seeking to address ongoing challenges faced by Ireland, the Irish Research Council has funded anumber of large research projects that have a societal focus. Several of these projects are interdisciplinaryand will form the building blocks of future Horizon 2020 proposals from Ireland.
Finally, solid foundations were laid in 2014 for future achievements: preparation of Creating Ireland, a newpublication on the public value of funding research in the humanities and social sciences; the formation ofnew civic-society collaboration with The Wheel; and the development of a new Research for Policy andSociety funding scheme. I congratulate the Irish Research Council on its achievements in 2014 and lookforward to reading more about these and other milestones in this and future Council reports.
Mr. Damien English, T.D.
Minister of State for Skills, Research and Innovation
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The mission of the IrishResearch Council is to supportexcellent research andrecognise creative individualswith innovative ideas, thusenabling a vibrant research community which enrichesIrish research, the economy and society
The mandate of the Council, as set out in 2012, is aligned with delivering on this mission:
• To fund excellent research within, and between, all disciplines, and in doing so toenhance Ireland’s international reputation as a centre for research and learning.
• To support the education and skills development of excellent individual early-stageresearchers and cultivate independent researchers and thinkers, whilst offering a rangeof opportunities which support diverse career paths.
• To enrich the pool of knowledge and expertise available for addressing Ireland’scurrent and future challenges, whether societal, cultural or economic, throughcollaboration and knowledge exchange with government departments and agencies,enterprise and civic society.
• To provide policy advice on postgraduate education and on more general researchmatters to the HEA and other national and international bodies.
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introduction2014 marked the second full year of operation for the Irish Research Council. We have continued to build onthe work and success of the former Councils, IRCSET and IRCHSS, whilst also consolidating and developingour mission.
In the course of 2014, the Council set out its vision for a healthy research ecosystem in Ireland, one whichprovides a diversity of supports and opportunities and which enables the country to reap the full value andbenefits of research. This balanced ecosystem would address the breadth of economic and societal needs anddevelop the knowledge, understanding and insights required by citizens, employers and government.
The Council, in line with its mandate, plays a distinctive role in the research ecosystem. We support the besttalent and provide opportunities for excellent researchers with original ideas, regardless of the discipline orresearch topic. Through our approach, we cultivate individual thinkers to question, to discover and tocontribute to the development of the skills, competencies and expertise required for the future. We empowercreative and innovative people who can translate new ideas and knowledge into benefits for the economy andfor society, both in Ireland and globally. We enable researchers to connect with employers and we have astrong ethos of partnering with other government entities and with civic society to deliver benefits fromresearch to all. And to enable this, in addition to our core funding from the government, we are continuing toleverage funding from non-Exchequer sources nationally and at EU level.
Significant progress was made in 2014, progress which will form the bedrock for the work programme in 2015.This progress is summarised in the following pages and we would like to thank you for taking the time to perusethis report. If you require any more information, please do not hesitate to contact us or visit our website atwww.research.ie.
Professor Orla Feely (Chair) and Dr. Eucharia Meehan (Director)
8
31.4mExchequer budget
€3.3mleveraged funding from
other sources
€
30
1418 1146
9 Individuals, 4 of our Irish
research council alumni and 5
of our Government of Ireland
Academic Supervisors Secured
prestigious European Research
Council Awards in 2014.
principal
investigator-led
projects
WEB RESEARCHLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.I R i s h R e s e a r c h C o u n c i l o v e r v i e w 2 0 1 4
+
fundedresearchers
SUCcESSFUL PARTICIPANTS,
from AHSS & Stem, SUPPORTED
BY THE IUA AND IRISH RESEARCH
COUNCIL JOINTLY OPERATED
Marie Skłodowska-Curie
OFFICE = €14m Funding Secured
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9
AHSS – Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths RPO – Research PerformingOrganisation HEI – Higher Education Institution GOI – Government of Ireland MSC - Marie Skłodowska-Curie SME – Small Medium Enterprise MNC - Multi National Company
13partnering with
Government
Departments/Agencies300private-sector & other employershave partnered with & co-fundedwith the Irish Research council
EU Commission reported the Irish
Research Council in the top 5 most
successful Co-fund participating
organisations in FP7.
45272
Irish researchcouncil/ MSCco-fund Projects
I R i s h R e s e a r c h C o u n c i l o v e r v i e w 2 0 1 4
postgraduateresearch students
postdoctoralfellows
10
male
116218
NEW AWARDS 2014
Government Of Ireland Scholar AWARDS
69Government Of IrelandPOSTDOCTORAL Fellow AWARDS
48
female
102
male
37female
32
elevate irish research council/msc co-fund awards
30
54ENTERPRISE Partnership POSTGRADUATE & POSTDOCTORAL AWARDS
research project awards
11
male
26
female
22
Eu
43
non-eu
5
stem
35
Ahss
13
male
41
female
13
Eu
46
non-eu
8
male
4female
7
male
18female
12Eu
25
€16.8MValue of awards
€5.5M
stem
49
Ahss
5
€1.2M
EMPLOYMENT BASED POSTGRADUATE SCHEME
€8M
Value of awards
€4.5MValue of awards
€5.7MValue of awards
Value of awards
Value of awards
Ahss
11
11
Eu
196non-eu
22
Eu
59non-eu
10
stem
112 106Ahss
stem
16Ahss
14non-eu
5
stem
3633Ahss
employmentpartners
of stem scholar awards co-fundedwith Enterprise/employer partner40%
of All scholar awards co-fundedwith employer partner25%
7MNCs
6Other
33SMEs
15MNCs
9Other
22SMEs
Enterprisepartners
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A year in the life of the Irish Research Council
JanuarySponsored by the Irish ResearchCouncil, ‘New Horizons in theHumanities’ was jointly hosted by theIrish Humanities Alliance and RoyalIrish Academy.
BT Young Scientist – the IrishResearch Council sponsors theinaugural award for aninterdisciplinary research project.Daragh Exton and Matt Lucey fromGaelcholaiste Luimnigh amazed withtheir project "The Vibe of the Hive"combining biology and ecology.
FebruaryThe Irish Research Council organizeda Horizon 2020 interdisciplinaryworkshop, ‘Creative Connections’ onthe societal challenges of Health &Wellbeing, Food (including MarineResearch/Blue Growth) and SecureSocieties on the 11th February 2014.(Photo of Minister Sherlock andplenary contributors below). TheHRB, Department of Agriculture,Food & Marine, and EnterpriseIreland partnered in the event. Heldin Croke Park, there were 180delegates and 12 guest speakers.
MARCHResearch Data Alliance Third Plenary Meeting:The Data Sharing Community: Playing your Part.This event was sponsored by the Irish ResearchCouncil.
The Irish Research Council, as member of GENDER-NET, attended the second Consortium meeting inBrussels, a third meeting was held in October.
Irish Research Council were delighted with thesuccess of 7 talented young researchers who werechosen in a competitive process to attend the 64thLindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. The meeting thisyear was dedicated to physiology, medicine andeconomics.
JULYMr. Abhishek Sharma,Founder & CEO of BeyondEvolution Tech Solutions inGurgaon, India, and theFP7 BIC InternationalAdvisory Group member,carried out a guest lectureat Waterford IT. The lecturewas funded by the IrishResearch Council.
New Foundations schemeand was co-organizedby Waterford Institute ofTechnologyTelecommunicationsSoftware and System Group(TSSG) and Trinity CollegeDublin.
AUGUSTEU funders Humanities in theEuropean Research Area (HERA) ‘ofwhich the Irish Research Council is amember’ successfully applied to theEU Commission’ for a third funding call'Uses of the Past'. Funding of €21m wasawarded.
Irish Research Council academicsupervisors have been listed amongthe top 1% of researchers worldwide,as revealed by a 2014 Irish Timesarticle. The piece refers to workcarried out by Thompson Reuters,used in citations. The eleven Irishresearchers achieved a position in thecoveted first percentile, placing themwithin the top 3,000 scientists activelypublishing their findings.
SEPTEMBERThe Schools of Law and Applied Social Studies,University College Cork, co-hosted an internationalconference on adoption ‘Redefining Adoption in aNew Era: Opportunities and Challenges for Law andSocial Work Practice’. This event was funded by aIrish Research Council New Foundations Award2013.
The Irish Research Council featured prominently inthis year’s Career Zoo, with hundreds of early-stageresearchers, including Masters, PhD and postdoctoralcandidates, in attendance. Career Zoo is Ireland’spremier career event for researchers, graduates andprofessionals seeking exciting career opportunities.
Irish Research Council announces 30 ElevateInternational Career Development Fellowships co-funded by Marie Curies Actions. The Fellowshipsrepresent an investment of €8m over 3 years.
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JUNEAt the official opening of the €5m CREATE buildingat Cork Institute of Technology on 6th June,Minister Sean Sherlock announced the discovery ofa new bacterial species. Campylobactercorcagiensis - the Corkonian in honour of itshometown - was isolated from lion-tailed macaques(a rare breed of monkeys) by CREATE researchers.The discovery was part of an Irish Research Councilproject carried out by CIT PhD student MonikaKoziel under the supervision of Dr. Roy Sleator andDr. Brigid Lucey.
The Minister for Research and Innovation SeánSherlock T.D. announced €5.7 million to support 50new enterprise-academia research partnershipsthrough the Irish Research Council's (IRC)Enterprise Partnership Scheme – Silver Healthcarewas named 250th enterprise partner.
APRILDr. Charlotte Blease, Irish ResearchCouncil Government of IrelandPostdoctoral Fellow ("HypocriticalOaths – Medicine’s dirty secrets") &Dr. Catarina Marvao, ELEVATEPostdoctoral Fellow: ("Dancing as asource of success and happiness")participated inTEDxFulbrightDublin. Visionary,dynamic, and succinct talks weredelivered by rising members,established alumni and friends ofthe Fulbright community based onthe TED conference structure. Dr. Charlotte Blease was selected asTEDx Editor's Pick!
MAYTo commemorate the 150thanniversary of the naming ofHomo neanderthalensis, NUIGalway gathered some of themost important figures inneanderthal research for aninterdisciplinary symposium.This conference wassupported by the IrishResearch Council under itsNew Foundations programme.For details of the symposium,see www.neanderthal150.org/
OCTOBERMinister for Research, Innovation andSkills, Damien English, T.D. announcedthe award of over €5.5 million infunding to support postdoctoralresearchers under the Irish ResearchCouncil’s 2014 Government of IrelandPostdoctoral Fellowship Scheme.
The Irish Research Council announcesPostgraduate Scholarship Awardsvalued at €16.8 million over four years.
Ghosts, ghouls and other supernaturalcreatures all make their presence felt atHalloween, both on-screen and off-screen, but for four Irish ResearchCouncil-funded researchers, the darkand supernatural are a year-roundfascination. Go to www.research.ie formore info.
NOVEMBERThe Irish Research Council heldits 2014 Annual Event on the19th November at the RoyalHospital Kilmainham, Dublin.The overarching theme was‘Connecting Communities -Future Opportunities'. The eventfocused on cultivatingconnections across disciplinesand across academia, industryand civic society.
Maritime History Conference –‘A Safe Place for Ships’: Cork,Ireland, Europe and the Sea.Funded by the Irish ResearchCouncil’s New FoundationsScheme with help from the Portof Cork, this conferenceexplored Ireland’s sea-going pastand culture, along with that of itsEuropean neighbours.
DECEMBERThe Irish Research Council announced €4.5million in funding to enable some of Ireland’stop postgraduate researchers to work inleading companies around the country.The funding, under the Employment-BasedPostgraduate Programme, was awarded to 48researchers at a ceremony, which took place onboard the MV Cill Airne, a former passengerliner docked on North Wall Quay in Dublin.
Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation,Damien English T.D. welcomed theannouncement of awards to eight Irishresearchers worth approximately €11 millionthrough European Research Council StartingGrants. The Council is an ERC National ContactPoint.
The Irish Research Council sponsored theScience of Christmas supplement in the IrishIndependent featuring several Irish ResearchCouncil awardees.
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Genetic Discrimination:TransatlanticPerspectives on the Casefor a European LevelLegal Response(edited by GerardQuinn, Aisling dePaor, Peter Blanck)
Aisling de Paor wasawarded a Government ofIreland, Irish ResearchCouncil PostgraduateScholarship & a ‘New IdeasScheme’ Award.
November 2014
Freedom and the FifthCommandment: CatholicPriests and PoliticalViolence in Ireland,1919–21 byBrian Heffernan
Brian Heffernan wasawarded a Government ofIreland, Irish ResearchCouncil PostgraduateScholarship.
March 2014
The End and Beyond:Medieval IrishEschatology(edited by John Carey,Emma Nic Cárthaigh andCaitríona Ó Dochartaigh)
John Carey was awarded aGovernment of Ireland,Irish Research CouncilProject Grant.
December 2014
Late-Victorian CrimeFiction in the Shadows ofSherlock by Clare Clarke
Clare Clarke was awarded aGovernment of Ireland,Irish Research CouncilPostdoctoral Fellowship.
September 2014
Reforming Food in Post-Famine Ireland:Medicine, Science andImprovement,1845–1922by Ian Miller
Ian Miller was awarded aGovernment of Ireland,Irish Research CouncilPostdoctoral Fellowship.
July 2014
The South Sea Bubbleand Ireland Money,Banking and Investment,1690 – 1721by Patrick Walsh
Patrick Walsh currentlyholds an Irish ResearchCouncil CARA PostdoctoralFellowship.
July 2014
Irish Officers in theBritish Forces, 1922 –45 by StephenO’Connor
Steven O’Connorcurrently holds aGovernment of Ireland,Irish Research CouncilPostdoctoral Fellowship.He previously held aGovernment of Ireland,Irish Research CouncilPostgraduate Scholarship.
March 2014
A selection of
2014
publications
by current
and previous
award
holders
Do you have a publication in2015?Please let us know [email protected]
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Population Genomics Reveal RecentSpeciation and Rapid EvolutionaryAdaptation in Polar Bears, Cell,Volume 157, Issue 4, 2014
Shiping Liu, Eline D. Lorenzen, Matteo Fumagalli, Bo Li, Kelley Harris, Zijun Xiong, LongZhou, Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen, Mehmet Somel,Courtney Babbitt, Greg Wray, Jianwen Li, WeimingHe, Zhuo Wang, Wenjing Fu, Xueyan Xiang,Claire C. Morgan, Aoife Doherty, Mary J.O’Connell, James O. McInerney, Erik W. Born, LoveDalén, Rune Dietz, Ludovic Orlando, ChristianSonne, Guojie Zhang, Rasmus Nielsen, EskeWillerslev, Jun Wang
Claire C. Morgan and Mary J. O’Connell werefunded by the Irish Research Council forGovernment of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarships.
Skeletal Manifestations of Stress inChild Victims of the Great IrishFamine (1845-1852): Prevalence ofEnamel Hypoplasia, Harris Lines,and Growth Retardation,American Journal of PhysicalAnthropology, Volume 155,Issue 1, 2014.
Jonny Gerber currently holds aGovernment of Ireland, Irish ResearchCouncil Postdoctoral Fellowship.
‘Masks of Refinement:Pseudonym, Paratext, andAuthorship in the EarlyPoetry of Thomas Moore’,European Romantic Review,Volume 25, Issue 5, 2014.
Justin Tonra was awarded anIrish Research Council CARAPostdoctoral Fellowship.
High-Performance GermaniumNanowire-Based Lithium-IonBattery Anodes Extending Over1000 Cycles Through in SituFormation of a ContinuousPorous Network, NANO Letters,Volume 14, Issue 2, 2014
Tadhg Kennedy, Emma Mullane,Hugh Geaney, Michal Osiak, ColmO'Dwyer, and Kevin M. Ryan
Tadgh Kennedy was an Irish ResearchCouncil/Intel Enterprise PartnershipScheme awardee
A Transcription Factor NetworkCoordinates Attraction, Repulsion,and Adhesion Combinatorially toControl Motor Axon PathwaySelection, Neuron 81 (6), 2014.
Aref Arzan Zarin, Jamshid Asadzadeh,Karsten Hokamp, Daniel McCartney,Long Yang, Greg J. Bashaw, and Juan-Pablo Labrador
Aref Arzan Zarin was funded by anGovernment of Ireland, Irish ResearchCouncil Postgraduate Scholarship
Bernard Shaw, Henry Higgins,and the Irish Diaspora, NewHibernia Review, Volume 18,Issue 1, 2014
David Clare has been employedon two different IRC-fundedprojects: Prof. Patrick Lonergan’s“Performance, Nation, andGlobalization” and his own “TheHibernicising of the ‘Anglo-Irish’Playwright”.
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Researchers Win the ‘Solar Science Lottery’Dr. Paul A. Higgins, (Visiting LMSAL, Palo Alto, CA, USA) Irish Research Council Enterprise Partnership
Scheme Research Fellow, Astrophysics Research Group, Trinity College Dublin.
From time to time, the Sun bombardsthe Earth with enormous blobs ofsolar plasma that are hurled towardus at speeds upward of 1000kilometres per second. Uponimpacting the Earth, the effects mayinclude the polar aurorae, satellitemalfunctions, rerouting of air traffic,and blackouts of radio, GPS, andpower grids. These solar storms canbe observed as solar flares andcoronal mass ejections. The mostextreme type of solar flare, or the X-class flare, is the most energetic andthe rarest. An X-class flare resulted ina geomagnetic storm that caused theQuebec blackout in 1989.
No one really knows what triggersthese large flares to occur, partiallybecause very few have been studiedin detail. X-class flares occur less thanonce per month on average, and ayear or more can pass without anyoccurring at all. Also, since the coreof the flare is limited to a ‘tiny’ areaon the Sun (a few times the size ofthe Earth) and the field-of-view ofmany telescopes is equally small, it isincredibly difficult to catch one ofthese events in action.
On 29 March 2014, an internationalteam of scientists, including Dr. PaulHiggins (an Irish ResearchCouncil Research EnterprisePartnership Scheme PostdoctoralFellow in the Trinity CollegeDublin Astrophysics ResearchGroup), obtained the mostdetailed observations to date of anX-class solar flare.
The huge solar eruption wasrecorded simultaneously frommultiple telescopes on the groundand in space. The event is one of thebest observed flares using moderninstrumentation. The team’s successwas helped by Dr. Higgins, a flareprediction expert, who assisted theteam in New Mexico by making anaccurate forecast of the event andinitiating a ‘Major Flare Watch’ hoursbeforehand, putting observatoriesaround the world on high-alert.
Lead by Dr. Lucia Kleint (Bay AreaEnvironmental Research Institute), thefortunate team was observing theSun at the National SolarObservatory (NSO) in New Mexicoand managed to record the rareevent with multiple instruments atthe ground-based Dunn SolarTelescope. The team was able tomeasure the magnetic fields withinthe erupting structure, which is acritical part of the flare process. Co-Investigator Dr. Alberto Sainz Dalda(Stanford University) and the teamagree that the data are better thanthey ever hoped for, “We were verylucky to catch such a rare event andthat the flare occurred during idealobserving conditions.
The magnification of our images is solarge, that the cameras can onlyrecord 0.1% of the solar disk. We canresolve details in the flare with sizesof less than 200 kilometers in a regionthree times larger than the Earth.”
Astronomer and co-observer Dr.Kevin Reardon (National SolarObservatory) adds, ‘This observationis very unique - so rarely do all theconditions come together. Studyingthese data should give us a glimpseof what to expect when we try tocapture these flares with much betterspatial resolution using the twenty-five-times bigger Daniel K. InouyeSolar Telescope (DKIST) currentlybeing built on Maui, Hawaii.’
Dr. Higgins concludes, ‘This datasetprovides unprecedented detail ofthe solar flare’s evolution, from itsonset in a region of just a fewthousand kilometres, and through itsexpansion into interplanetary space.By studying such large and rareevents in detail, scientists hope tolearn how to better predict futureflare occurrences and protect ourinfrastructure and the lives of ourpilots and astronauts’.
Image: The 29 March 2014 X-class flarecaptured by the team in variouswavelengths of light. Credit: Dr. LuciaKleint (BAER Institute), Dr. AlbertoSainz-Dalda (Stanford University) & Dr.Kevin Reardon (National SolarObservatory).
Some other interesting News
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Dr. Dylan Trigg, Irish Research Council PostdoctoralResearch Fellow at UCD, School of Philosophy, has beenawarded a highly prestigious Marie Curie FP7 InternationalOutgoing Fellowship beginning in October 2014.Notably, Trigg achieved a score of 99.1% for the grant.His proposal received the highest score of all socialsciences and humanities proposals from Ireland competingin the 2013 International Outgoing Fellowships Call, rankingsecond in all Europe from over 250 applicationssubmitted in response to the Call.
Trigg will spend two years at the University of Memphisworking with Professor Shaun Gallagher, the leadingspecialist in the field of embodied cognition. In the thirdyear, he will return to UCD to work alongside his currentIrish Research Council mentor, Professor Dermot Moran.
Trigg’s project, “Toward a Phenomenology of the AnxiousBody” (TPAB), is a study of anxiety, which employs aninterdisciplinary methodology involving philosophy,cognitive science, and psychoanalysis. This project buildson his current Irish Research Council research at UCD,“Merleau-Ponty and the Prehistory of the Subject.”Interdisciplinary in focus, Trigg’s Irish Research Councilresearch involved not only a critical analysis of Merleau-
Ponty’s philosophy, but also a consideration of how aphilosophical study of the body might impact psychoanalysisand related disciplines. In his Marie Curie Fellowship, Triggwill develop these themes through studying anxiety.
The issue of anxiety is a central problem in today’s society.Anxiety is the most common form of mental illness in theUS and UK, affecting 18% of the population in the US and13% in the UK. Despite this, a rigorous analysis of anxietyat both an experiential and conceptual level remainsoverlooked.
Trigg’s research will attend to this oversight throughcombining first-person phenomenology with technical skillsacquired in embodied cognition. In the final year of hisresearch, Trigg will collaborate with medical practitionersin order to implement the research at policy level.Alongside publishing in leading journals, several workshopsand conferences are planned throughout the duration ofthe research. The impact of the TPAB project will be toposition the issue of anxiety on the research horizon and tomake an enduring contribution to the EU strategy for thefuture of mental health by tackling societal challenges suchas stigma and exclusion.
From National toEuropean SuccessMarie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow, UCD,
School of Philosophy & University of Memphis,
Department of Philosophy (2014 – 2017).
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Researchers at Maynooth University have found the “off” switch for a powerful toxin producedby a fungus that is a life threatener for cancer and organ transplant patients. The discoverycould lead to new treatments for these patients but might also point the way towards switchingoff other common fungal infections.
Details of the work have just been published in the Cell Press journal Chemistry & Biology,and funding for the work comes from the Irish Research Council and Science Foundation Ireland. The team includes Prof.Sean Doyle with Drs Gary Jones, David Fitzpatrick, Rebecca Owens and Gráinne O’Keeffe and PhD student Stephen Dolan.Mr. Stephen Dolan BSc, the lead author on the paper, is an Irish Research Council Postgraduate Scholar (2012-2015) underProfessor Doyle’s supervision.
The dangerous Aspergillus fumigatus is one of the most common disease-causing agents affecting immunocompromisedpatients but is also a problem in food safety. It poses a significant risk in leukaemia, organ transplants and HIV patientsand aspergillosis infections kill an estimated 600,000 people a year worldwide.
Prof. Doyle in Maynooth’s Department of Biology has led a team for years studying the fungus and the harmful substanceit produces, gliotoxin. The team’s latest discovery tops all others however: a molecule called GtmA that shuts down theproduction of gliotoxin.
Prof. Doyle described it as a “breakthrough” because learning how the toxin is switched off in one fungal species “willprovide insights into how to do this with other human, animal and plant-disease causing fungi”.
He believes it may lead to pharmaceuticals and food additives that can diminish the production of this “extremely damagingtoxin”.
Mr. Dolan, the Irish Research Council-funded PhD student in this team, has received further recognition of his significantacademic achievements. He was awarded the best poster prize at the International Asperfest Meeting which was held inSeville, Spain on 21–22 March 2014. This meeting was attended by over 200 fungal genetics researchers from throughoutEurope, North America and beyond, and the winning poster addressed the topic “Exploring the Enzymatic Mechanismand Biological Function of Gliotoxin S-methylation in Aspergillus fumigatus”. The prize, a monetary award, was won in theface of top-class competition from over 100 PhD students from around the world.
In June 2014, Mr. Dolan was awarded a prize for Best Presentation at the Irish Fungal Society Meeting held at NUI Galway.
Dolan, S.K., Owens, R.A., O’Keeffe, G., Hammel, S., Fitzpatrick, D.A., Jones G.W. and Doyle, S. (2014) Regulation of Non-ribosomal Peptide Synthesis: Bis-thiomethylation Attenuates Gliotoxin Biosynthesis in Aspergillus fumigatus, Chemistry& Biology. 21(8), 999–1012.
Irish Research Team,including Irish ResearchCouncil Scholar, discovers“off switch” for life-threatening toxin
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Irish ResearchCouncil FellowFights toProtect PygmyShrew fromInvading Rival
Indirect competition between a native species and aninvading rival has a way of delaying researchers inunderstanding the relationship between the two, which inturn hinders acquisition of endangered and protectedstatus for the species under attack. Without understandingthe relationships between animals in a given ecologicalniche, we can’t possibly fight to preserve a given species, letalone an entire ecosystem. Such rivalries will no doubt leadto one extinction after another lest biologists around thecountry practise constant vigilance. One such scientist,always alert and willingly watchful, is Irish Research Councilfunded post-doctoral fellow Dr. Allan McDevitt, of UCD’sSchool of Biology and Environmental Science.
Dr. McDevitt, who maintains a primary interest in cataloguingthe spatial and temporal movements of species usingmodern molecular techniques, first became interested inshrew research upon the completion of his undergraduatezoology degree, which he nurtured with the undertaking ofa doctorate immediately thereafter, both of which werepursued in UCD. Dr. McDevitt’s latest, Irish Research Councilfunded project, ‘Modelling the Evolutionary Consequencesof a Recent Invader in Ireland,’ harkens back to thosecarefree postgraduate days, specifically his unwaveringinterest in the welfare of Ireland’s pygmy shrews Sorexminutus.
Among the smallest mammals in the world, the pygmyshrew’s thousands of years of comfort in Ireland faceimminent threat at the hands of the greater white-toothedshrew, Crocidura russula, which Dr. McDevitt and his teamfear could overtake the island by the year 2050.
“The invading population of the greater white-toothedshrew currently covers an area of 7,600 km2 and is found incounties Tipperary, Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny,
Offaly and Laois,” says Dr. McDevitt. This is almost tenpercent of the total area of the country, a frighteningly fastfeat for a species first identified here as recently as 2007.“According to our data they have not yet crossed theShannon,” he observes, adding that Ireland lacks thelandscape complexity to facilitate indefinite niche partitioning.
“The displacement of the pygmy shrew will continue inIreland as the greater white-toothed shrew carries onspreading rapidly, with the invader only being temporarilyhindered by rivers and other barriers,” agrees colleague Dr.Jon Yearsley.
The team hope to use their findings in their application tohave the greater white-toothed shrew recognised as aninvasive species, so that local authorities may takeappropriate action to ensure the protection of the pygmyshrew, including the provision of bigger hedgerows andmore deciduous woodlands, as suggested by Professor IanMontgomery of Queen’s University Belfast, who alsocontributed to the research. “The ecological impact of thesealien species is likely to be far greater than, for example, thegrey squirrel,” he warns.
Dr. McDevitt’s findings have been published in open accessjournal PLOS ONE. The Irish Research Council has alsoprovided funding to John Lusby, a contributing researcheron the project, via an EMBARK Scholarship.
McDevitt AD, Montgomery WI, Tosh DG, Lusby J, Reid N,et al. (2014) ‘Invading and Expanding: Range Dynamics andEcological Consequences of the Greater White-ToothedShrew (Crocidura russula) Invasion in Ireland’, PLoS ONE9(6)
Image: the pygmy shrew has called Ireland its homefor thousands of years, but has recently come underattack. Its greater white-toothed shrew rival is morethan twice its size. Photo Credit: Ruth Carden
Creating an energy-neutral smart beehive: UCC
students, led by Irish Research Council Scholar, win
IEEE/IBM Smarter Planet Challenge 2014!
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(2B)OR!(2B)?
A project using smart technologyto help the plight of the humblehoney bee has won a globalcompetition for UCC studentsagainst challengers fromMIT/Boston University (2nd) andTU Delft (3rd).
The UCC students created anenergy-neutral smart beehive forthe IEEE/IBM Smarter PlanetChallenge 2014. The competitionorganisers asked studentsworldwide to come up with aninnovative solution to a grandchallenge facing their community.
The UCC pilot project uses bigdata, mobile technology, wirelesssensor networks and cloudcomputing to look at the impact ofcarbon dioxide, oxygen,temperature, humidity, chemicalpollutants and airborne dust levelson the honey bees, using solarpanels for an energy-neutraloperation.
The energy-neutral smart beehive,currently in its first pilot phase, canautonomously monitor the activityof the bee colony and conditionswithin the beehive. The data whichare stored in an active beehive areprotected through traditionalmethods including cryptography,but the bees also protect it.As team leader Fiona EdwardsMurphy says, “honey bees arevicious when protecting their hive,including our data!”
The students’ research will alsoallow bee keepers to monitor theirhives at times that were previouslydifficult or impossible such asduring the night, heavy rain or inthe depths of winter.
In the competition, the studentprojects had to fit into one or morekey areas, including: bigdata/analytics, cloud computing,cyber security or mobiletechnologies. The IEEE/IBMSmarter Planet Challengecompetition is run by the largest
engineering organisation in thefield, the Institute of Electrical andElectronic Engineering, and theprize of €5,000 was sponsored byIBM. The five prizewinning UCCstudents came from Electrical andElectronic Engineering (FionaEdwards Murphy, Liam O’Learyand Killian Troy), the School ofFood and Nutritional Sciences (LilyPinson) and the School ofBiological, Environmental and EarthSciences (Katie Hetherington).
The Irish Research Councilfunds the PhD of the teamleader Fiona Edwards Murphy,who is designing a smartbeehive.
The students were mentored byDr. Emanuel Popovici, Electrical andElectronic Engineering,Dr. Pádraig Whelan, Schoolof Biological, Environmental andEarth Sciences and Dr. EdwardLahiff, Food and NutritionalSciences. Dr. Popovici andDr. Whelan also co-supervise MsEdwards-Murphy’s PhD research.
The team involved in the project: L-R Lily Pinson, Fiona Murphy Edwards (Team leader & Irish ResearchCouncil Scholar), Katie Hetherington, Dr Pádraig Whelan, Dr Emanuel Popovici, Mick O’Shea, Liam O’Leary,Professor John O’Halloran and Killian Troy Image: Provision.
UCC has a great track record in thiscompetition, winning it in 2011 andcoming second in 2013.
For the competition, the studentsused a Boolean themed project whichwas also inspired by Shakespeare,entitled: (2B) OR!(2B): From thebeehive to the cloud and back
In their creative video entry that wonthem the competition(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0YBn1mEMJM), the studentshighlighted that the EU, UN and otherbodies have predicted growingconstraints on global food suppliesand prices, as honey bee colonies,identified as the most importantpollinator insect for food production,suffer a dramatic decline.
To describe the problem logically,the students presented the problemas a Boolean equation that also paidhomage to Shakespeare’s timelesscontemplation on life (To be, or notto be…?)
“Population Increase” OR “ClimateChange” = “Less Food”
“Less Food” AND “Fewer Bees” =(2B)OR!(2B)?
The enterprising UCC students haveproven that question to be always‘True’ according to the theory ofGeorge Boole – and outlined apotential solution to saving the honeybee, so vital to human, animal andplant life, and a key species in manyecological systems. The students havedesigned a path to a potentialsolution that will use bee data on aunique scale and in an unobtrusivemanner using mobile and cloudtechnology to monitor the honeybees.
Dr. Michael Murphy, President ofUCC said: “At UCC we are hugelyproud of our first Professor ofMathematics, George Boole, whosebicentenary we are celebrating thisyear. Boole’s theories of logic andprobabilities are as powerful todayas they were back in the 1800s. I amdelighted that his work has inspired
our current students to create novelsolutions to an urgent globalproblem and helped them win aninternational competition in theprocess.”
Data from initial observations werecaptured in two scientific papers andthree invention disclosures withsmarter hive features andexperiments being carried out at theUCC Embedded Systems Laboratory.
Dr. Emanuel Popovici, the Director ofEmbedded Systems Group at UCCcomments:
“(2B) or !(2B) is an exceptionalinterdisciplinary project where longestablished technologies andbeekeeping practices meet thelatest advances in electronictechnology. It is a project whereBoole proves that Shakespeare’sfamous existential question isalways true. It is a project wherefive very bright and enthusiasticstudents from three disciplinesinteract and exchange some brilliantideas to help humanity”.
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In November 2014, the Irish Research Council held itsAnnual Event at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin.This was our biggest research event of the year and theoverarching theme was ‘Connecting Communities–FutureOpportunities’.
The event focused on cultivating connections acrossdisciplines and across academia, industry and civic society.
The event was opened by the Minister for Skills, Research andInnovation. Speaking at the conference Minister English said:
“Irish researchers and the higher educationinstitutions continue to push the boundaries inEuropean and world research. This event is anopportunity for the research community toexamine what the next opportunities are and toplan and set out how we will continue to punchabove our weight amongst the internationalresearch community.”
A range of expert speakers, drawn from academia,enterprise, government and civic society, addressed over200 delegates.
Speaking before the conference, Professor Orla Feely, Chairof the Irish Research Council, said: “Interdisciplinaryresearch is about drawing on different skill-sets andareas of expertise when dealing with multi-facetedproblems and issues so as to ensure the best possibleresearch outcomes.
Professor Feely continued: “Since its establishment in2012, in addition to supporting excellent research in alldisciplines, the Irish Research Council has placed anemphasis on supporting interdisciplinary research, and
we firmly believe that exciting developments will occurin Ireland as a result. With teams of highly-skilledresearchers working together, we can developinnovative solutions to major global challenges.”
A couple of examples of interdisciplinary researchcurrently being undertaken in Ireland are: ‘TheProgrammable City’ in Maynooth University, which islooking at how information on citizens and places iscaptured and processed as data, how software is used togovern and manage cities, and how our everydaybehaviour within a city is influenced by software – fromtraffic management systems, to restaurant review apps onour smartphones.
‘Project Life Course’, currently taking place in NUI Galway,will produce research on policy reform to enable citizensto achieve their potential and to live fulfilling andproductive lives, including health and well-being and civicengagement.
Internationally acclaimed public speaker andentrepreneur Madi Sharma, who runs the Madi Group ofcompanies, focused on combining innovation and localaction to address major global challenges.
Commenting at the conference, Ms. Sharma, said: “Inaddition to encouraging different research disciplines towork together, we must also encourage other sectors tointeract proactively with the research community.Business, government and civil society can all benefitthrough research-focused collaborations. Byencouraging such cross-sectoral partnerships, we candevelop better public policies and better services for allcitizens.”
Irish Research Council Annual Event
Dr. David Prendergast, (Intel) Prof. Catherine Lyall (University of Edinburgh),Prof. Miguel Seabra (Chair of Science Europe, FCT Portugal), Ms Madi Sharma(Social Entrepreneur), Prof. John Brewer (QUB)
Dr. Eucharia Meehan, Ms Ann O’Dea (Silicon Republic), Prof. Orla Feely,Ms Colleen Dube (Fulbright Commission), Ms Catriona Ward,(Enterprise Ireland)
The conference includedoverview of theopportunities presentedby Horizon 2020, thebiggest EU research andinnovation programme todate, with a budget ofnearly €80 billion overseven years.
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DamienEnglish T.D.
MiguelSeabra
CatherineLyall
ColleenDube
Elizabeth M.Daly
Poul Holm Henk A. J.Mulder
PadraigMurphy
MartinDrury
MadiSharma
AnnO’Dea
JohnBrewer
DeirdreGarvey
WilliamHynes
EoinKilfeather
DavidPrendergast
PaulKilkenny
CatrionaWard
AliceDijkstra
OrlaFeely
ConnectingCommunities-FutureOpportunities
Dr. Elizabeth M. Daly (IBM), Prof. Pol Holm (TCD),Dr. Henk A.J. Mulder (University of Groningen)
Dr. Seán McElwaine (bouzouki) Mr. Donal McCague (fiddle)Dr. Seán McElwaine was supported by the Monaghan County CouncilHeritage Office and the Arts Council.
Under this scheme, 1051 eligibleapplications were assessed. 218scholars awards were made with atotal value of €16.8m. There wereseparate funding streams for Arts,Humanities & Social Sciences and forScience, Technology, Engineering &Mathematics and applications wereassessed independently by peerreviewers.
Dr. Eucharia Meehan, Director of the IrishResearch Council, said when announcingthe results that “The Irish ResearchCouncil is a crucial port of call forstudents seeking funding. The mainaim of our funding programme isto provide opportunities forresearchers, particularly those at anearly stage of their career, in orderto encourage them to becomeindependent researchers and have arange of career opportunities open tothem.
‘The sheer breadth of diversity insubject areas in the PostgraduateScholarship Scheme awards announcedtoday demonstrates the role of theIrish Research Council in addressingthe broad skills and research needswithin society, and enabling a vibrantresearch community in Ireland.’
The successful students in the 2014Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme arestudying towards the award of aMaster’s by research or a doctoraldegree (PhD), and are drawn fromseventeen different higher educationinstitutions.
Concussion in Rugby, householdenergy demand, the impact of obesityon motor development, theconstruction of Irish identity andpotential therapies for autoimmunedisease are just some of the researchtopics that received funding underthe latest round of awards.
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Irish
Research
Council
announced
Government
of Ireland
Postgraduate
Scholarship
Awards
valued at
€16.8million over
four years
2. ResearcherCareer ProgressionAwards-Opportunitiesand New Initiatives
Government of Ireland PostgraduateScholarship Scheme 2014
For a list of Scholars and Projects visit www.research.ie
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Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme 2014
Irish
Research
Council
announced
Government
of Ireland
Postdoctoral
Fellowship
Awards
valued at
€5.5million over
two years
For a list of Fellows and Projects visitwww.research.ie
The Irish Research Council Governmentof Ireland Postdoctoral FellowshipScheme is designed to supportresearchers at an early stage of theirresearch careers, enabling them toassociate with internationallyrecognised research teams. The Councilstrongly believes in the importance ofencouraging individuals to becomerigorous independent researchers. Thispostdoctoral programme is designed tofacilitate researchers’ crucial first stepson their career paths while at the sametime enabling valuable novel research.
When launching the scheme MinisterEnglish said: “These highlycompetitive awards emphasise thedevelopment of the skills of theindividual researcher, cultivatingcreative and innovative people whocan transmit new ideas andknowledge and who will become keymembers of our research community.”
Under this scheme, 398 eligibleapplications were assessed. 69 Fellowawards were made with a total value of€5.5m. There were separate fundingstreams for Arts, Humanities & SocialSciences and for Science, Technology,Engineering & Mathematics and thesewere assessed independently by peerreviewers.
Mortgage stress and the property crash,benefits of exercise in the treatment ofAlzheimer’s, climate change, true crimemurder literature and the developmentof a biochip for the rapid and ultrasensitivedetection of bacteria associated withbacterial meningitis are just some of theresearch topics that received fundingunder the latest round of grants.
ELEVATE is an International Career Development Fellowship whichis financially supported by the Irish Research Council & Marie-CurieActions. The aim of this initiative is to allow Irish-based experiencedresearchers to benefit from research mobility. Researchers have theopportunity to spend two years of their Fellowship at anInternational Host Organisation in any country outside of Ireland(outgoing phase) followed by a one year return phase at a host HEIof their choice in Ireland. Utilising newly acquired knowledge andexpertise, this Fellowship allows experienced researchers to establishnew, and strengthen existing research networks, and to work withleading experts in their respective fields. In 2014 the Council made30 Awards to excellent Fellows across all academic disciplines: 17Awards were STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics) based, and 13 Awards were based on projectsspanning Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS).
Dr. Janet Metcalfe, Chair and Head of Vitae, and a member of theMarie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Advisory Group and the EuropeanCommission’s Steering Group for Human Resources and Mobility,delivered a workshop on Careers for Researchers. The purpose ofthis workshop was to prepare the Fellows for their mobility phase,and to provide a roadmap for career progression with a view toestablishing these Researchers as world leaders in their field on theirreturn to Ireland.
Barbara Moynihan, from ‘On Your Feet’, also delivered an interactiveworkshop entitled ‘Present with Power’, where ELEVATE Fellowslearned key presentation skills and strategies that will enable themto demonstrate the societal impacts of their research to the generalpublic, and will help in the dissemination of their findings to keynetworks and stakeholder groups.
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The IrishResearchCouncil hasawarded 30PostdoctoralFellowshipsunder ELEVATE,an InternationalCareerDevelopmentProgrammeCofunded byMarie CurieActions.Awardsare valued at€8M over threeyears
ELEVATE 2014
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University of Aberdeen,Scotland
University of Guelph,Canada
KTH Royal Institute ofTech, Sweden
University ofBirmingham, England
Aberystwyth University,Wales
Queen Mary Universityof London, England
H. Lee Moffitt CancerCenter and ResearchInstitute, Florida, USA
RWTH AachenUniversity, Germany
Universidad de Almería,Spain
Queen’s UniversityBelfast, Northern Ireland
Harvard University,Boston, USA
Home & INTERNATIONAL HOST ORGANISATIONS
University CollegeLondon, EnglandUtrecht University, TheNetherlandsFreie Universität Berlin,GermanyUniversity of California,Santa Barbara, USAMassachusetts Instituteof Technology, USAStanford UniversitySchool of Medicine, USA
University of Denver,USA
SmithsonianEnvironmental ResearchCenter, Maryland, USA
University of TokyoCenter for Philosoph,Japan
University of Oxford,England
University of BritishColumbia, Canada
INRIA, France
Paris Observatory, France
The University of Oxford,England
Georgia Institute ofTechnology & EmoryUniversity School ofMedicine
University of York,England
The University of Bergen,Norway
University of California,Berkeley, USA
Durham University,England
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Project Abstract: Magnetizationdynamics, how magnetic materialschange in space and time, is a topic ofconstant interest and research bothfundamentally and technologically.This research covers state-of-the-artapplications with its prime example ofgiant-magneto-resistance devices toread data in hard disks, and alsoextends into multidisciplinaryscientific research fields, for instanceusing single molecular magnets(SMM) in future multimedia devices.Potential applications of SMMsinclude quantum computing, high-density information storage andmagnetic refrigeration as a lessexpensive alternative tosuperconductive cooling. It is knownthat fundamental processes andinteractions that determine magneticdynamics in complex materials occuron timescales of attoseconds-to-femtoseconds and on lengthscales ofmicrometers-to-nanometers.However, an experimental capabilitythat covers the necessary propertiesof element-specific magneticsensitivity combined with ultra-hightime and space-resolution currentlydoes not exist.
The goal of the proposed project isto overcome these limitationssimultaneously and to develop thefirst “complete” tool for the study ofmagnetization dynamics in complexmagnetic materials. Pilot experimentsthat demonstrate the scientificpotential and impact of this completeimaging system across the scientificdisciplines will be performed.
The development of such anexperimental tool requires the uniquecombination of cutting-edge expertsin x-ray laser science, magneticdynamics, and mathematical physics.The Fellow is an expert mathematical,computational and experimentalphysicist, who is currently developingx-ray light sources for lithography andbiological imaging. She will extendher skills in modern pulsed x-ray lasersources and ultrafast magnetizationdynamics with the AeschlimannGroup at the University ofKaiserslautern (Ger), who are leadingscientists in these fields. Theproposed project is at the cuttingedge of ultrafast science and willpromote EU research in this fieldduring the return phase with Prof.
O’Sullivan (Ire) at University CollegeDublin, a key opinion-leader forEUV/x-ray sources, who will mentorDr. Kilbane in establishing this field inUCD. The proposed project will helpthe fellow researcher gainprofessional maturity and to activelyparticipate in shaping the nextgeneration of ultrafast research withpulsed x-rays, an area that is rapidlyexpanding with increasing worldwideavailability of high-harmonic and free-electron laser light sources.
Prof. Martin Aeschlimann, University of Kaiserslautern:
As an ELEVATE fellow Deirdre israising the profile of theAeschlimann Group. In addition toher research skills she is acquiringseveral transferable skills anddemonstrating to junior members aholistic approach to early-stagecareer development. She is on herway to becoming a highly qualifiedacademic and skilled scientificresearcher, contributing to the nextgeneration of ultrafast scienceresearch.
ULTRAFAST MAGNETIC NANOSCOPY’ – ELEVATE CASE STUDY
Fellow Name: Deirdre KilbaneHigher Education Institute in Ireland: University College DublinInternational Higher Education Institute: University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
Dr Deirdre Kilbane: I view the fellowship as an integral step towards achieving my long-term aim, an academicposition at a university or research institute in Europe, where I can lead an ultrafast science research team as ahighly skilled scientific researcher. As a member of the Aeschlimann Group I am able to accomplish my immediategoal, to demonstrate ultrafast magnetic nanoscopy and in doing so acquire and use basic transferable skills suchas project management, leadership and communication. I will gain experience in developing project ideas andsuccessfully apply for funding, establish collaborations, manage projects and organize meetings. Understandingspin-dynamics in complex systems on its fundamental time- and length- scales is the driving force behind ultrafastmagnetization dynamics. The training I receive in the Aeschlimann Group in ultrafast x-ray laser science andmagnetization dynamics will provide me with the expertise to run and develop new x-ray HHG tabletopexperiments, skills that are transferable to large-scale x-ray facilities and EU funded research such as the x-ray free-electron laser (FEL) (cf. EuroFEL in FP7 and LURE, FAIR-LSF, XRAY FEL PUMP-PROBE, FLASH and EUFELE in FP5).At the end of the project, the combined scientific research and complementary skills will enable me to pursue anumber of channels: junior professorship/lecturer, leader of a junior research group – all leading to a position incutting-edge research in Europe.
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The Research Project Grants (RPG) Scheme is designed with the objective offacilitating researchers and research teams to build capacity in their researcharea by way of stimulus project grants and knowledge transfer initiatives. Therationale for this scheme is to provide funding for researchers to enable themto expand their research activities and become competitive for internationalfunding opportunities. This is being facilitated through:
• Small-medium sized projects such as exploratory investigations which maylead to larger and more sustainable research projects and programmes;
• Research staff;• Knowledge transfer initiatives; and • Networking and collaboration on national or international levels.
These projects investigate a diverse range of research questions within the arts,humanities and social sciences, as listed below.
The IrishResearchCouncilawardedfunding foreleven StarterResearchProjectGrants
€1.2m
Irish Research Council Starter Research ProjectGrant– Case Study
Project Title: The role of the European Commission in multi-level financialmanagement in the European Union: a step closer to governmentalizing and furtherintegration? Awardee: Dr. Emmanuelle Schön Quinlivan Higher Education Institute: University College Cork
A case-study approach of a WSA approach to guidance counselling provision in the Irish post-primary sectorAttention bias modification training for socially anxious adolescents: a randomized control trialBiobehavioural correlates of unemploymentPOLSENT: Policy, sentiment, and financial marketsOptimisation of strategic noise mapping and population exposure estimation for meeting the requirements of theEuropean Noise Directive (OASIS)Territorial Rights and Rivers: a philosophical exploration of territorial rights over riversObjective measurements of listening to, attending to and imagining musicBright side of work projectThe role of the European Commission in multi-level financial management in the European Union: a step closer togovernmentalizing and further integration?Interculturalism, migration and performance in contemporary IrelandThe cultural transmission of motherhood in Europe: a case study
Building in a novel way on the existing literature on the European Union as a dual executive, Dr. Schon-Quinlivan’s researchargues that the Commission has governmentalized through its increased power in the area of finance. It assesses the waysin which institutional governmentalizing has happened with respect to structures, processes and procedures but alsoculture and norms. Finally, in a context of changing economic multi-level governance which gives the institutionopportunities for strengthening its executive position, this project examines whether the Commission has become a leadingcore executive at the heart of new networks allowing it to revive a soft approach to deeper European integration throughbudgetary and fiscal policies.
Research ProjectGrants 2014
Visitors travelling through the Irishlandscape often come upon thecountry’s uniquely rich medievalmonastic remains. This is part of ashared European history as thesehouses were founded byinternational orders – Augustinians,Benedictines, Carmelites, Cistercians,Dominicans, Franciscans and otherorders. Monasteries and friaries are inmany Irish towns often standing onthe site of a medieval gateway orclose to a river, medieval route way orcastle. Magnificent buildingsdominate rural landscapes, somedeliberately located in isolatedplaces, others marking the location ofmedieval settlements that did notflourish. The artistic and architecturalskills of master craftsmen and masonscan be seen in fine stonework, inexceptional carvings and in theremnants of wall paintings. Tombsdepicting knights and noble ladiesremind us of the patrons whoendowed these houses, the great Irishand Anglo-Norman families (Barrys,Fitzgeralds, O’Donnells, O’Conorsand many more). These placesprovide a tangible link to nobleancestors and craftsmen and thecommunities of friars and monks whonot only prayed, but also played a
pivotal role in the economic, politicaland social life of their environs. Theirstories and those of their foundationsare a gateway both to the history ofmedieval Ireland and the Europeannetworks that it fostered.
This project on Monastic Irelandinvolves a partnership betweenDr. Rachel Moss, the Department ofHistory of Art and Architecture,Trinity College Dublin (PrincipalInvestigator), Dr. Edel Bhreathnach,the Discovery Programme and Dr.Malgorzata Krasnodębska-D’Aughton,the School of History, UniversityCollege Cork. Funders for theoutreach aspect of the projectlaunched include the Department ofArts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht andFáilte Ireland together with the IrishResearch Council.
In December, Heather HumphreysT.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage andthe Gaeltacht, launched two newwebsites www.monastic.ie andwww.schools.monastic.ie which areexciting resources for visitors to someof Ireland’s most important medievalmonasteries and friaries and forteachers and students to connectthem with their local heritage.
The aim of the tourist website,coordinated by Dr. Keith Smith, is toprovide visitors with access toeducational, practical and entertaininginformation based on high qualityhistorical and archaeologicalinformation.
This information is accompanied by atour of each site. This is a responsivewebsite that can be accessed withoutcharge on laptops, mobile phonesand tablets.
The educational resource, acollaboration between Dr. KeithSmith and Irish Research CouncilEnterprise Partnership PostdoctoralFellow, Dr. Danielle O’Donovan, is forteachers and students wishing todevelop local history andarchaeological projects. This websiterevolves around the existence ofmonastic and church sites in everylocality in Ireland and how thesebuildings and landscapes can be usedto connect young people with theirhistoric and archaeological environsand make them the custodians oftheir own heritage.
Both websites will continue to bebuilt upon as the project progresses.
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Irish Research Council Advanced Research ProjectGrant – Case Study
Project Title: Monastic Ireland: landscape and settlement Awardee: Dr. Rachel Moss Higher Education Institute: University College Cork
For a list of Fellows and projects visit www.research.ie
Dr. Eucharia Meehan, Dr. Rachel Moss,Dr. Edel Bhreathnach, Dr. MalgorzataKrasnodebska - D'Aughton, MsHeather Humphreys T.D., Minister forArts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
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VALUEd at
3D polymer prints ofancient bronze artefactsscanned at the NationalMuseum of Ireland, laserscanning of the anvil fromthe Bishopsland Hoard,and a 3D digital model of aBronze Age palstave axe.
The Irish Research CouncilNew Foundations-fundedproject "Damaged goods?recording andrepresenting use-patternsof Bronze Age metalwork"enabled Professor AidanO'Sullivan to collaboratewith Dr. Barry Molloy infine tuning his ideasduring the preparation ofa successful applicationfor a Marie Sklodowska-Curie InternationalFellowship for 2015-2017,with an award amountingto almost €190,000 to bebased at UCD School ofArchaeology.
“We expect that thisIrish Research CouncilNew Foundationsproject will befoundational for thenext, exciting stage ofDr. Molloy's researchcareer!" Prof. AidanO'Sullivan, ProjectPrincipal Investigator.
“A New Foundationsgrant enabled us totailor 3D image captureand processing methodsto archaeological metalartefacts, and to createan initial digital archive
and physical referencecollection using 3Dprinting. Establishing thepractical methods anddemonstrating thepotential forarchaeological researchthrough the work of thegrant was crucial fordeveloping a successfulMarie Sklodowska Curieapplication”. Dr. BarryMolloy
Project Title: "Damaged goods? Recording and representing use-patterns of Bronze Age metalwork"Awardee: Prof. Aidan O'SullivanHigher Education Institute: University College Dublin
NEWFOUNDATIONS
The Irish Research Council ‘NewFoundations’ scheme supports eligibleresearchers who intend to pursueresearch, networking and/ordissemination activities within andacross the diversity of disciplines. Thisscheme provides support for researchactions, the development of networks,conference development, conferenceparticipation or attendance, workshopsand/or more general disseminationactivities designed to bettercommunicate the outcomes and valuesof academic research in Ireland andbeyond.
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Image: (from left to right) Dr. Aisling Parkes, Jane Libberton (Philomena’s daughter), Philomena Lee, and Dr. Simone McCaughren
The Schools of Law and AppliedSocial Studies, University CollegeCork, co-hosted an internationalconference on adoption ‘RedefiningAdoption in a New Era: Opportunitiesand Challenges for Law and SocialWork Practice’. This event was fundedby the Irish Research Council NewFoundations Award 2013. It was thefirst interdisciplinary conference of itskind in Ireland where the convenors,Dr. Aisling Parkes and Dr. SimoneMcCaughren, brought together notonly leading scholars andprofessionals in the area of adoption,but also those people with directexperiences of adoption.
Community groups such as AdoptionRights Alliance, Adoption Loss NaturalParents’ Network of Ireland, andFamilies through Adoption, all ofwhich had a representative from theirgroup speak at the conference. Therewere also many attendees fromcommunity organisations such as BrúColumbanus and Know my Own.
Deputy Anne Ferris, Labour T.D., gavea powerful opening address, whereshe explained how her own personalexperiences, both as an adoptedperson and as a natural mother,informed her decision to introducethe Open Adoption Bill 2014 forconsideration in the Dáil this year.Furthermore, Deputy Ferrishighlighted the fact that PhilomenaLee’s story has opened the eyes andminds of the people of Ireland to thescandalous reality of adoptionpractice in the past. She furtheradded that the ‘State owes [her] anapology and a thank you’ and that her‘brave decision to speak out hasempowered other natural mothers –and many more adopted children – tospeak out too’.
Philomena Lee delivered a verymoving and eloquent account of thelong and painful search she and herdaughter, Jane, undertook to find herson, Anthony, who was placed foradoption in the early 1950s.
She spoke with dignity and heartfeltemotion about not only having beenlocked away from society due to theperceived shame of becomingpregnant outside of marriage, but alsoabout having to be parted from hertwo-and-a-half year-old son withoutforewarning or consent.
The conference provided a platformand initiated debate on some of themore controversial aspects ofadoption. Internationally renownedkeynote speakers included NigelCantwell, independent child rightsconsultant; Dr. Pien Bos fromUniversity of Humanistic Studies;Dr. Peter Selman, University ofNewcastle; and Dr. Fergus Ryan,Lecturer in Law from NUI Maynooth.Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, Chair of theAdoption Authority of Ireland,opened the second day of theconference and chaired some of thesessions on the day
Conference Title: Redefining Adoption in a New Era: Opportunities and Challengesfor Law and Social Work PracticeAwardee: Dr Aisling ParkesHigher Education Institute: University College Cork
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The joint Irish Research Council andFrench Embassy/Campus France Ulyssesresearch funding call was launched inJune. The programme is named Ulyssesafter James Joyce’s famous novel tocelebrate the Joycean links betweenIreland and France. This programme isdesigned to support new researchcollaborations between Irish and Frenchresearchers.
To mark the launch in 2014 the Frenchambassador, Jean-Pierre Thébault, waspresented with a book on James Joyce co-edited by Dr. Katherine O’Callaghan, anIrish Research Council Fellow based at theSchool of English in Trinity CollegeDublin, and by Dr. Oona Frawley.
In its seventeenth year, the Ulyssesprogramme continues to support Irish andFrench researchers across a range ofmutually important areas. Collaborationshave often continued long after the Ulyssesaward has finished, and in many cases leadto further research funding. Successfulresearchers each receive up to €2,500 tospend a short period in the other countryto carry out their research.
France will be a key partner-country forIreland in applications for funding underthe European Union’s €7bn Horizon 2020Framework Programme as Irishresearchers are developing joint projectswith their counterparts in France on agreater scale than ever before.
Ulysses Research Programme
304projects have beenfunded to dateunder the Ulyssesprogramme
awards were made in 2014
Prof. Orla Feely., Dr. Katherine O’Callaghan, French ambassador, Jean-Pierre Thébault
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LINDAU FELLOW
AWARDSSince 1951, the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings havebeen bringing together the most esteemed scientists oftheir times with outstanding young scientists from all overthe world annually. The Meetings focus alternately onmedicine and physiology, physics, chemistry, andeconomic sciences. These annual Lindau Nobel LaureateMeetings provide a globally recognised forum for thetransfer of knowledge between generations of scientists.The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings Award offers theunique opportunity for up to 600 aspiring youngscientists from all around the globe to meet the luminariesof science, the Nobel Laureates, for an intense exchange ofknowledge, ideas and experiences. An internationalcompetition selects participants. In May 2013, theorganisers of the Lindau Meetings and Council signed amemorandum of understanding establishing for the firsttime the opportunity for the participation of young Irishscientists. The President of Ireland is the patron of theFellow award given to those researchers nominated by theIrish Research Council who succeed in selection throughthe international competition.
The Irish Research Councilwere delighted with thesuccess of 7 talentedyoung researchers whowere chosen in acompetitive process toattend the 64th LindauNobel Laureate meetingsin June & August 2014.The meetings werededicated tophysiology/medicine andeconomics. The Irishresearchers in physiologyand medicine were Fergus McCarthy from UCC, aspecialist in maternal & foetal medicine, Sean Saundersfrom TCD, a specialist in immunology, Aideen Ryan fromNUIG, also a specialist in immunology and Fionn O’Brienfrom UCC, and a specialist in Pharmacology. Theresearchers in Economics were Michael Curren and SarahMitchell from TCD and Patrick O’Sullivan from UCD.
In recognition of their success the Minister for Skills,Research and Innovation, Mr. Damien English, T.D., andProfessor Orla Feely, Chairperson of the Irish ResearchCouncil, presented the researchers with their speciallydesigned awards at a ceremony that took place in Meathon 15th September.
Patron of the Fellow award, thePresident of Ireland, Michael D Higgins
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3. Partnering onResearch withEnterprise,Government andCivic SocietyThe Irish Research Council uses two funding mechanismsto support enterprise engagement with research andresearchers in Irish universities and institutes oftechnology:
• Employment Based Postgraduate Programme
• Enterprise Partnership Scheme
The key focus of these schemes is to provide early-stagecareer researchers, namely postgraduate students andpostdoctoral researchers, with diverse career opportunitieswhile developing their skills with relevant industry/societalcompanies and organisations. Facilitating the involvementof enterprise and employment partners with the educationand training of graduates from Irish higher educationinstitutions contributes to the Council’s commitment toenabling research with both a knowledge and societal focus.Through these funding schemes the Council has developedworking relationships with hundreds of enterprise andemployment partners as well as strategic partnerships acrossgovernment and civic society.
It provides industry with flexible and easyaccess to an exceptional pool of competitivelyselected, high-calibre researchers and theopportunity to build links with relevantacademic research groups.
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The IRISH RESEARCH COUNCIL is proud to have partnered with
For a list of our 2014 award winners please visit our website www.research.ie
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EMPLOYMENT-BASEDPOSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMEawards 2014
MINISTER English announced
€4.5min funding toresearchers foremployment-basedresearch
46Employment Partners
12Institutions
13ahss
35stem 48
Awards
Mr. Damien English T.D. Professor Orla Feely & Dr. Eoin Syron (Oxymem)winner of The Irish TimesIntertrade Ireland Innovatorof the Year 2014
The funding was awarded to 48 researchers at a ceremony which tookplace on board the MV Cill Airne. The €4.5 million was allocated underthe Irish Research Council’s Employment-Based Postgraduate Programme,which enables postgraduate researchers across all academic disciplines towork and undertake research in a business, not-for-profit, NGO or publicsector organisation. Employers participating in the programme includeIBM, enBIO, Oxymem, Galvanic, Future Analytics, Merchants Quay Ireland,Tusla - The Child and Family Agency.
The research projects that received funding cover topics such as:optimising innovative, energy-efficient wastewater treatment facilities,developments in surface treatment for the European Space Agency,undertaking risk assessment for urban development and planning andenhancing stress reduction through gaming.
Professor Orla Feely, Chair of the Irish Research Council, said: “Thisprogramme continues to deliver on the Action Plan for Jobs throughthe creation of research-based employment opportunities andincreased participation of indigenous SMEs. By embracing researchand using researchers’ expertise to enhance their offerings, Irishcompanies gain a true competitive edge.”
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Scholar Name: Ms Aoife Doyle Project Title: Towards an integrated approach to urbanresilience enhancement Employment Partner: Future Analytics Consulting Ltd.(FAC)Higher Education Institute: Dublin Institute ofTechnology (DIT)
Employment-Based postgraduate CASE STUDIES
“
”
Future Analytics Consulting (FAC) is a dynamic SME consultancy specialising in spatial planning (national, regionaland local level - urban and rural planning), development and economic research. Based at 23 Fitzwilliam Square,Dublin 2, the consultancy specialises in applying evidence-led analysis to all its projects, and successfully combinesprofessional knowledge and experience with that of active spatial planning practitioners. The company currentlyworks on a range of European research projects aimed at improving the security and resilience of urban areas, inparticular within the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (EU FP7) for Research and Development(R&D) activities.
Employment Mentor
Future Analytics Consulting Ltd are delightedto partner with Dublin Institute of Technologyas part of the Irish Research CouncilEmployment-Based Postgraduate Programme.FAC has become a national leader in appliedresearch development and projectmanagement, and the programme has enabledus to further our own research objectives andaccelerate innovation processes. TheProgramme is of significant importance insupporting innovation and advancing theresearch agenda in Ireland. Dr. WilliamHynes, Future Analytics Ltd.
“
”
scholar
The Irish Research Council Employment-BasedPostgraduate Programme has provided me with theopportunity to conduct PhD research while employedby Future Analytics Consulting (FAC). As an employee,my active engagement within a number of EU researchprojects in the field of urban resilience has exposed meto the vast knowledge base and differing perspectivesof several multi-disciplinary consortia. Within traditionalPhD programmes, this type of access to multi -disciplinary research activity is often not supported byfaculty-based university organisational structures. The Irish Research Council Programme has beeninvaluable in this respect. Ms. Aoife Doyle
Academic Supervisor
“”
Employment Partner Profile
The Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) is thrilled to partner with Future Analytics Consulting Ltd (FAC) aspart of the Irish Research Council’s Employment-Based Postgraduate Programme. DIT has a long establishedrecord of industry associations and applied research and this postgraduate programme complements both ofthese strategic objectives. This programme is vital to enhance research capability within Irish companies and in cementing strong industry bonds with the academic sector in Ireland.Dr. Paddy Prendergast, Dublin Institute of Technology
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Scholar Name: Mr. Patrick WardProject Title: Speciation analysis of trace elements insupplementsEmployment Partner: Alltech BiotechnologyHigher Education Institute: Dublin City University
At Alltech, our mission is to improve the health and performance of people, animals and plants through natural nutritionand scientific innovation. Alltech improves health and performance by adding nutritional value to food and feed throughits innovative use of yeast fermentation, enzyme technology, algae and nutrigenomics. The company’s pursuit of thismission is guided by its founding ACE principle, our promise that in doing business we have a positive impact on theAnimal, the Consumer, and the Environment.
Employment Partner Profile
Research Project
Modern cities have evolved asepicentres for a variety of conflicts,tensions and vulnerabilities, withurban insecurity emerging as one ofthe most enduring challenges facingurban growth. A growing number ofcities across Europe are experiencingor are increasingly susceptible tointense inter-communal conflict andviolence reflecting ethnic, nationalistor economic urban fractures. Indeeda number of recent outbreaks ofviolence in traditionally ‘stable’European cities highlight the fragilityof inter-group relations in anincreasingly urbanised world. Thisresearch aims to examine the role ofurban planning and management inenhancing the security and resilienceof cities. It is guided by four broadobjectives as follows:
Explore how incidents of inter-groupconflict can influence processes ofurban development.
Investigate how urban policy hasbeen shaped by incidents ofneighbourhood insecurity in anumber of selected case study areas.
Examine how such conflict has in turnbeen shaped by urban policy(exploring the role of urban planningand management in enhancing thesecurity of these neighbourhoodsand the city as a whole).
Investigate how a more holistic,integrated and citizen centredapproach to urban (security)resilience can be achieved withinurban planning and management.
Research Collaboration
FAC and DIT have a long establishedcollaborative relationship, with FACactively seeking to pursue a ‘triplehelix’ model (university-industry-government relationships) in theadvancement of research activities.FAC is actively engaged in a number
of EU FP7 research projects in thefield of urban security, safety andresilience. The PhD research projectis informed by these studies, drawingfrom research gaps and building onongoing innovation in the field. It isenvisaged that the PhD study,developed under the guidance ofDIT (Dr. Patrick Prendergast) will aidthe continued development ofcurrent and proposed EU researchactivity within FAC.
Research Impact
The PhD research topic has beeninformed by these overarchingresearch themes and aims tocontribute to ongoing knowledgeproduction in these areas. It isenvisaged that the researchconducted as part of this study willaid and contribute to furtheradvancement of current EU projectsand the development of newagendas within FAC research.
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“
”
Employment Mentor
The IRC Employment-Based Programme assists ourresearch efforts by facilitating interaction between ourcompany and the academic institution. This overlapbenefits us as an industrial partner and also thestudent who has opportunities that may beunavailable to researchers in either setting. We havedeveloped a strong relationship with Patrick’sacademic supervisor and her research group at DCU.Some advantages from the EBP programme includeaccess to instrumentation and expertise as well ascontinued professional development by attendingtraining courses. All parties experience positiveoutcomes from this arrangement and wecontinue to work on improving communicationand interaction. Dr. Cathal Connolly, Alltech
“
”
scholar
The Employment-Based Programme hasopened an academic support network to me.I would not be able to avail of this academicsupport in industry alone. The analyticalinstrumentation which is accessible to mepresents more research options andtherefore increases the potential for my goals.Advice is always on hand from both myemployment mentor and my academicsupervisor. This collaboration allows for amore balanced outlook on researchcapabilities combining the best of bothworlds, where efficiency meets novelty.Mr. Patrick Ward
Research Project
The objective of this study is to increase sample through-put for selenomethionine analysis and to reducethe extraction time of selenoamino acids from selenized yeast, from the current three days to at most oneday. This reduction will be investigated using microwave assisted enzymatic and/or chemical extractions.Development and optimisation of these methods would follow on to validation of both the microwaveassisted enzymatic extraction and the chemical hydrolysis extraction. Once both methods are sufficient forroutine analysis and increase sample through put, both assays will be used to further investigate the otherselenocompounds, not only in our products, but in commercially available selenium-enriched yeasts too. Thisresearch allows Alltech to efficiently monitor its products by speeding up the analysis of batch to batch yeastswhile also checking product reproducibility.
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ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP SCHEMEAWARDS 2014
MINISTER Sherlockannounced
€5.7mto supportenterprise-academiaresearchpartnerships
16HEI’s
46Enterprise
Partners
5ahss
54POstgraduate POSTdoctoral
AWARDS
The Enterprise Partnership Scheme is an innovative initiative whereby the IrishResearch Council, in partnership with private enterprises and public bodies, awardsco-funded postgraduate scholarships and postdoctoral fellowships to the mostpromising researchers in Ireland.
The awards in June marked the 10th year of the Enterprise Partnership Scheme andthe engagement of 250 companies. The awards, granted to students andfellows on the basis of excellence, demonstrates how the Scheme engagesenterprise, not just in collaborative research activity, but also in the skillsdevelopment of future higher education graduates.
The Minister said that he was “pleased that the Scheme has seen aconsistent increase in the number of SMEs engaging in collaborativeresearch with academic institutions, and that this year are almost double that ofMNCs”.
Ken Cahill, CEO of SilverCloud Health (the 250th company to engage on thisScheme), an innovative Irish online health & wellness e-therapy platform commentedthat the Scheme will enable them to “extend our already established research inonline delivered healthcare, build our traction in new international markets, andfurther position Ireland to be a leading player in the technology and healthcaresector”.
49stem
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enterprise partnership scheme CASE STUDIES
Scholar: Michelle Kearns
Project Title: Sharing hope: the communityimpact of pieta house suicide prevention centres
Enterprise Partner and Mentor: Pieta House
Higher Education Institute and AcademicMentor: University of Limerick
enterprise partnership scheme CASE STUDIES
“
”
Pieta House provide free therapeutic support to those who engage in self-harm or have suicidal ideation. Our visionis to provide our support services within 100 kilometres of everyone in Ireland so that we can reduce the numberof deaths by suicide, the number of people engaging in self-harm, and to bring about social change. Our therapymodel and practice is increasingly evidenced-based. We collaborate with students, academics, researchers, andclinicians across Ireland to design and conduct projects that will improve the quality and efficiency of our service,and the experience of our clients.
Enterprise Mentor
The Enterprise Partnership Scheme enabled us toundertake a project that would otherwise havebeen unachievable due to staffing and resourcelevels. Driven by the energy and expertise of ULand the reputation and quality assurance of theIRC, we are now in a position to gather community-level data that will provide invaluable informationon the impact of Pieta House on a communitybefore, during, and after the establishment of anew centre. This will afford unprecedented insightsinto the impact of a suicide intervention service ona local community, and enable us to make informeddecisions about future development.Dr. Paul Surgenor, Pieta House
“
”
scholar
Coming from a psychological background wheremany studies are laboratory-based andtheoretical in nature, this current project offersan exciting new challenge by engaging theresearch skills I have developed to tackle realworld issues; an opportunity that could neverhave been afforded without the resources,support and guidance offered by the IrishResearch Council and Pieta House. Theknowledge that my work may have practicalimplications for the prevention of suicide andself-harm in our society is a fantastic incentive,made all the more rewarding by collaborating with an organisation so driven by this cause. Ms Michelle Kearns
Academic supervisor
“
”
ENTERPRISE Partner Profile
Academics, particularly in the social sciences are often motivated by social justice and go into research in thehope of improving people’s lives. Too often the research that is then undertaken is overly academic, withfindings that appear to make sense in carefully controlled conditions not quite so robust in real-world settings.The enterprise partnership scheme helps researchers move beyond these carefully controlled settings and testwhether our ideas work where there are harsh realities at play. And of course our research efforts are only useful if they work in the real world; if they don’t then we cannot effect our aim to improve people’s lives. Prof. Orla Muldoon, Dr. Rachel Msetfi, University of Limerick.
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Scholar: Joshua Chao
Project Title: Scaffold-mediated stem cell delivery asan effective therapeutic for critical limb ischemia
Enterprise Partner: Orbsen Therapeutics Ltd.
Higher Education Institute: National University ofIreland, Galway.
Research Project Pieta House is a growing non-profit organisation that currently operates nine suicide prevention centres across Ireland,with a further three envisaged to open over the next two years. This project will examine, at a community level, the impactof this service provider opening in a town. Pieta House at its core is a community-led initiative. Towns work togetherthrough means of fundraising, community action and visible displays of support to bring Pieta suicide prevention servicesto their locality. The current project will examine how the shared goal of coming together to provide this vital serviceimpacts on communities in terms of attitudes, awareness and behaviour. In order to achieve this key variables related tosuicidality and mental health will be tracked over time. The primary aims of this project are (1) to investigate if comingtogether to provide suicide prevention services have community consequences that extend beyond the direct benefitsof individual counselling, (2) to evaluate if open and visible access to services at a local level can de-stigmatise suicide andmental illness and (3) to assist Pieta House with its future service development by identifying attributes of communitiesassociated with support for and uptake of Pieta services.
enterprise Partner Profile
Orbsen Therapeutics is developing stromal cell-based therapies based on its proprietary technologies. The core productsinclude the highly purified, immuno-selected CD362/Syndecan-2 positive stromal cells (MSCs) isolated either from humanbone marrow (Cyndacel-M™) or from human umbilical cord (Cyndacel-C™). The company is developing a diverse portfolioof clinical-stage products to treat major conditions with unmet medical needs.
“Enterprise Mentor
We’re delighted to be joined by Mr. Joshua Chaoas part of this Enterprise Partnership Scheme toadvance our development of the Cyndacel™therapy for patients with critical limb ischemia(CLI). Prof. Timothy O’Brien at NUI Galway is agenuine thought leader in this arena and we expectthis project to yield specific and significantadvances to Cyndacel™ delivery for patients withCLI. We expect that this project will generate datathat is comprised within a Clinical Trial Applicationusing Cyndacel™ as a treatment for patients withCLI within the next 30 months. This is an excitingand real world development project and we’rethrilled that Josh chose Orbsen as part of thisscheme. Dr. Stephen Elliman, OrbsenTherapeutics
“
”
scholar
This remarkable opportunity for industry -academia partnerships fuels the drive towardproducing effective clinical products. We reallywanted to take advantage of this collaborativeeffort, and the experience gained from thesynergy and teamwork between OrbsenTherapeutics and REMEDI. The biomedicalresearch field is changing rapidly and we are inan interesting time where we are observing ashift as an increasing number of academic labsare partnering up with industry companies, andwe are extremely excited to see where thisproject takes us over the course of thescholarship.Mr. Joshua Chao
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Academic supervisor
“”
The programme is an excellent opportunity to enhance collaborative interaction between enterprises and theUniversity. The interaction between the University and enterprise partners will facilitate translation of discoveriesfrom university laboratories to commercial products that benefit patients.Prof. Timothy O’Brien, National University of Ireland, Galway
Research Project The central research question ofthis project is to assess thetherapeutic potential of stem celldelivery in re-vascularizingischemic tissue in patients whopresent with critical limb ischemia(CLI). Typically caused by theaccumulation of deposits in thearterial wall, peripheral vasculardisease (PVD) is thenarrowing/obstruction of arteriesthat carry blood to the arms andlegs, brain, and heart. PVD is agrowing health problemparticularly in Western societies,affecting nearly ten million peoplein the US, with a prevalence of 12-20% among those ages 65+. PVDpresents with varying degrees ofseverity, ranging from intermittentclaudication to critical limbischemia, a more chronic problemtypically involving tissue loss. Whilethe optimal treatment of CLI is tore-vascularize using stents/bypass,40% of patients are not suitableand the only therapeutic option is
amputation. The development ofnew therapies for these “no-option”patients is the principal goal of thisproject.
Research Collaboration Orbsen Therapeutics Ltd was spunout of the Regenerative MedicineInstitute (REMEDI) at NUI Galwayto commercialize and translate tothe clinic, the novel and definedstromal cell therapy – Cyndacel.Orbsen and NUI Galway havesince collaborated in winning 3distinct EU FP7 project awards, anSFI TIDA, an SFI IndustryFellowship, and this Irish ResearchCouncil PhD Studentship. In thelast 3 years, Orbsen has grownfrom 1 employee to 12 full-timescientists. Orbsen is based oncampus at NUI Galway and isfocused on developing Cyndacelfor three EU FP7 funded clinicaltrials, starting in 2015 with a Phase1b clinical trial of Cyndacel as atopical treatment for patients withnon-healing diabetic wounds.
Orbsen and NUI Galway are alsocommitted to working together tobring the next generation ofdefined stromal cell therapiesthrough clinical trials in patientssuffering with primary sclerosingcholangitis, diabetic nephropathy,and acute respiratory distresssyndrome (ARDS).
Research ImpactThe Irish Research Council hasprovided us with the resources toexplore promising stem cell andtissue engineering strategies. Bycombining cells, biomaterials, andmicroenvironmental factors, wehypothesize this approach willinduce differentiation signals,promote tissue repair, and restorefunctional ability in ischemictissues. The Enterprise PartnershipScheme has further opened up awide array of commercial avenuesin developing the next generationof stromal cell therapies for clinicaluse.
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Department of Children andYouth Affairs
(DCYA)
Department ofAgriculture, Foodand the Marine
(DAFM)
Departmentof ForeignAffairs andTrade(DFAT)
Departmentof SocialProtection(DSP)
EnterpriseIreland(EI)
HSE CrisisPregnancyProgramme
(CPP)
HigherEducationAuthority(HEA)
National Forumfor the
Enhancement ofTeaching andLearning
SustainableEnergyIreland(SEAI)
ScienceFoundationIreland(SFI)
Teagasc
Tusla
WE ARE PROUD TO PARTNER WITHGOVERNMENT Departments & Agencies
Funded by theDepartment of SocialProtection, the SocialProtection ResearchInnovation Award(SPRIA) is designed tosupport researchwhich may inform the
future developmentof social protectionpolicies in line withthe Programme forGovernment and theEurope 2020 Strategy.The project, usingappropriate social
research methods, willcapture best practiceand innovativeapproaches toactivation for loneparents in an Irish andinternational context.
AWARDEE 2014:
Dr. Michelle Millar(NUI Galway), Anactive inclusionapproach to loneparents
CASESTUDY
MarineInstitute
The Irish Research Council seeks toenrich the pool of knowledge andexpertise available and accessiblefor addressing Ireland’s current andfuture needs, whether societal,cultural or economic, by fundingexcellent research and researchers.In order to deliver on this mandate,the Council has set out a strategicobjective to maximise partneringand collaboration with societalstakeholders, including enterprise,and with a particular focus to begiven to government and civicsociety so as to address their needs.
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A strategic partnership between The Irish Research Council and The Wheel has been established to provide astructured mechanism to foster and promote effective engagement and transfer of knowledge and understandingbetween stakeholders in the academic community, the community and voluntary sector and into society in general.Effective engagement between the higher education sector and the community/voluntary sectors is a key objectiveof the National Strategy for Higher Education.
Specifically this partnership will encourage higher education researchers to disseminate their work and exchangeknowledge with colleagues from beyond academia in order to ensure that research is available to inform thecommunity and voluntary sector and to inform policy for civic society. Even more particularly this initiative willencourage the exchange of knowledge so as to develop research questions to better understand and develop oursociety.
The Irish Research Council and The Wheel will partner to:
• Support the community and voluntary sector and academic researchers develop strong collaborative researchnetworks. Specifically the Irish Research Council will provide funding for higher education researchers to work onprojects with non-academic partners in the community and voluntary sectors (Irish Research Council NewFoundations – ‘Engaging with Civic Society’ Strand). The Wheel will support the community and voluntary sectoras they engage with this competitive funding initiative.
• Work together to engage with Horizon 2020 and other European research funding mechanisms for the benefit ofthe research and community/voluntary sectors in Ireland.
• In the medium term, support the community and voluntary sector and academic researcher to develop strongEuropean collaborative research linkages.
• Increase the awareness of the benefit and impact of funded research on the economy and quality of life amongparticipants, policy makers and the general public .
• Lead the way nationally and internationally in developing, and advising on, mechanisms to enhance knowledgeexchange and collaborative research between the academic and community/voluntary sectors.
Both parties will furthermore engage with all community/voluntary, public-sector/government and private-sectorstakeholders to deliver on the objectives of the partnership.
Strategic Partnershipbetween the Irish ResearchCouncil and the Wheel
civic society
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• The Council forms part of a network of ResearchCouncils across Europe which allows countriesto relate to each other and collaborate on researchagendas. The Council has secured an internationalreputation and an expertise on Europe which is notreplicated nationally anywhere else.
• In 2014 an International Advisory Group was set up toassist the Council to establish a clear strategy for itsinternational engagements so as to better assist theresearch community. At this time with the advent ofHorizon 2020 and other development in the Irish andEuropean research landscape, the Council wishes toestablish a clear strategy for its internationalengagements so as to better assist the researchcommunity.
• The Irish Research Council is a core member of the twoestablished European networks of Humanities and SocialScience research councils: NORFACE (NewOpportunities for Research Funding Agency Co-operation in Europe) and HERA (the Humanities in theEuropean Research Area).
• The Irish Research Council is presently the leadcoordinator for the HERA network. Through networkmembership the Council facilitates researchers’ access todedicated streams of EU funding which are ring-fencedfor these particular networks.
• Ireland is a member of two European ResearchInfrastructure Consortia-the European Social Survey (ESS)and the Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts andHumanities (DARIAH). The Irish Research Council nowrepresents Ireland in the two consortia. ESFRI, theEuropean Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures,produced a roadmap in 2008 which identifies 44 researchinfrastructures of pan-European interest corresponding tothe long-term needs of the European researchcommunities, covering all scientific areas. There are a totalof five infrastructures in the roadmap which span thehumanities and social sciences area, and these include theESS and DARIAH initiatives. The Irish Research Councilhas been involved with both these initiatives, in their pre-European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC) form,for some time, and this has resulted in considerablebenefits to the Irish research community.
• The Council is a member of Science Europe, theassociation of European Research Funding Organisations(RFO) and Research Performing Organisations (RPO).Science Europe promotes the collective interests of theResearch Funding and Research PerformingOrganisations of Europe. It supports its memberorganisations in their efforts to foster European research.It will strengthen the European Research Area throughits direct engagement with key partners. In doing so, itwill be informed by direct representation of all scientificcommunities in its reflections on policies, priorities andstrategies.
• NET4SOCIETY is an international network of NationalContact Points for Socio-economic Sciences andHumanities (SSH) in FP7. As a learning network throughwhich the IRC Social Sceince and Humanities NationalContact Point gains full and easy access to all theessential tools to enable them to support SSHresearchers in the H2020 proposal preparation process.
• Participation in these networks has also been used bythe Council to lobby for development and inclusion ofresearch priorities sought by the Irish researchcommunity in EU funding calls and the Council hasestablished effective communication structures with Irishresearchers to facilitate this.
4. LEADING FOR IRELANDIN EUROPEThe Irish Research Council is committed to facilitating the enhancementof opportunities for Irish researchers within the European Research Area.
Margaret Kelleher University College Dublin
Rob Kitchin Maynooth University
Michael Breen Mary Immaculate College,University of Limerick
Paul Murphy NUI Galway
Patrick Paul Walsh University College Dublin
Susan Schreibman Maynooth University (formerly TCD)
Conor O'Carroll European Steering Group on HumanResources & Mobility
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The Horizon 2020Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)support researchers at all stages of their careers, allresearch disciplines & in all employment sectors.The Actions reinforce cooperation betweenacademia & industry in particular through cross-border & cross-sector mobility of researchers. Theyfocus on excellent & innovative research training,career development & knowledge exchange.
The Irish Marie Skłodowska-Curie Office(IMSCO) is jointly operated by the IrishUniversities Association (IUA) and the IrishResearch Council (IRC), with support fromScience Foundation Ireland (SFI). The officeprovides advice and support on preparingapplications for Marie Skłodowska-Curiefunding and the management of MSC awards.
The predecessor Marie Curie Actions under FP7were a clear success story for Ireland. Of the €620million won by Irish organisations from FP7, €115million can be attributed to the Actions. Thisfinanced networks for doctoral training,industry-academic partnerships, personalfellowships and co-funded a number of nationalfellowship programmes, including three operatedby the Irish Research Council: INSPIRE, CARA andELEVATE. In fact, the Council is ranked in the list oftop 5 European organisations successful in securingfunding from this COFUND programme.
Ireland started strongly in the 2014 Calls for MSCA.To date, around €14 million of funding (1.8% of theavailable budget) has been won. 2014 highlightshave included:
Horizon 2020, the EU’s largest research and innovationprogramme, has three key pillars: excellent science,industrial leadership and societal challenges. Horizon2020’s societal challenges advocate collaborationbetween different fields and disciplines, namely,
• Health, demographic change and wellbeing.• Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry,
marine and maritime and inland water research, andthe bio-economy.
• Secure, clean and efficient energy.• Smart, green and integrated transport.• Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and
raw materials.• Europe in a changing world-inclusive, innovative and
reflective societies.• Secure societies-protecting freedom and security of
Europe and its citizens.
Supporting the European Commission’s vision ofcooperation between various disciplines, the IrishResearch Council is encouraging researchers in theHumanities and social sciences to consider theopportunities Horizon 2020 holds beyond ‘challenge 6’and find partners and submit proposals for a number ofchallenges. “New Horizons” project-funding will be madeavailable by the Irish Research Council in 2015 to IrishAHSS researchers to best position themselves forinterdisciplinary funding opportunities available fromH2020. See www.research.ie for more details.
Dr. Jennifer Brennan andDr. Suzanne Miller-Delaney, Irish MarieSkłodowska-Curie Office
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• The TRUSS Innovative Training Network,coordinated by Dr. Arturo Gonzalez fromUniversity College Dublin. This project is bringingin over €1 million to three Irish organisations: UCD,Trinity College and Arup Consulting Engineers.http://trussitn.eu/
• 24 researchers successfully secured prestigiouspersonal fellowships through the IndividualFellowships Call, which received over 7,000applications from across the world. Seven of the24 successful applications were ranked in the top10 in their research area panel, including theapplication from Dr. Fiona Smyth from TrinityCollege, who achieved the top score of 98% in theSocial Sciences and Humanities panel. Dr. Smythwill spend two years at Harvard Universityworking on her project in architectural acoustics,and will be funded to return to Trinity College fora year to consolidate her work.
• A number of successful applications with an “All-Island“ partnership at the core, including theENACT project which links Queen’s UniversityBelfast with University College Dublin andlaboratories in the UK and Argentina, and theSAGE-CARE project between Ulster University,Waterford Institute of Technology and industryand public bodies in Northern Ireland and Croatia.These projects were funded by the RISE Researchand Innovation Staff Exchange Scheme and wereshowcased at the recent “Building CollaborativeNorth South Partnerships in MSCA” hosted by theIMSCO. http://www.iua.ie/building-collaborative-north-south-partnerships-in-msca/
• Through the 2014 COFUND Call, UniversityCollege Dublin has secured around €900,000 toco-finance a new research fellowships programmein omics driven personalised medicine. Theprogramme will bring ten high-potentialresearchers to UCD over the next five years. Itbuilds on UCD’s previous COFUND success withthe UCD Energy-21 programme.
Overall, the IMSCO are delighted with these earlysuccesses and are looking forward to building onthem in partnership with the Council, other researchfunders and the Irish research community.
For information on the MSCA and the supportsoffered by the IMSO, visit www.iua.ie/mariecurie.
The European Research Council(ERC) is a European funding initiative,set up under the “Ideas” pillar of theEU Framework Programme 7. TheERC’s mission is to encourage thehighest quality research in Europethrough competitive funding and to
support investigator-initiated frontier research across allfields of research, on the basis of scientific excellence. TheIrish Research Council Strategy for ERC focusses on buildingup existing research excellence in the humanities and socialsciences cultivating quality applications. General supports toapplicants is provided in a range of ways, helping to increasethe number of successful applications.
• Guidance on proposal preparation and resolution oftechnical queries in conjunction with the ERCEA.
• Assistance on Enterprise Ireland proposal developmentsupport applications and endorsing such applications inconjunction with Enterprise Ireland.
• Mock interviews for Stage 2 Applicants in the Starting andConsolidator grant schemes.
erc Success case
study: Dr. Eilionoir
Flynn: Centre for
Disability Law and
Policy
In 2014 the Irish Research Council supported and helpdevelop the successful Starting Grant application for Dr.Eilionoir Flynn to the European Research Council.
The right to make one’s own decisions and to have thesedecisions respected by law is a basic human freedom whichmost adults take for granted. However, for many people withdisabilities (especially people with intellectual, psycho-socialand other cognitive disabilities) this fundamental right hasbeen denied – informally, in the private sphere, and formally,in the public sphere through States’ laws and policies. TheVOICES project will take a radical approach to develop newlaw reform ideas based on this concept of ‘universal legalcapacity.’ Its primary objective is to develop reformproposals based on the lived experience of disability, andthis will be a powerful argument for legal change. Dr. EilionoirFlynn is a former Irish Research Council GOI Scholar
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HERA – Humanities in the European Research Area - is apartnership between 24 humanities research councilsacross Europe and the European Commission, with theobjective of firmly establishing the humanities in theEuropean Research Area and in the European CommissionFramework Programmes. The humanities are crucial to theunderstanding and conceptualising of fundamentalchanges in contemporary European society. Linkingnational programmes and launching joint researchprogrammes dealing with all-encompassing social, cultural,political and ethical developments will generate newknowledge and enable policy-makers, scientists and thegeneral public to interpret the challenges of a changingworld. HERA aims to set new and innovative research
agendas and thus enhance the humanities’ contribution tothe European Research Area as well as to the ongoingdebates on issues of particular relevance to Europeansociety.
In 2014 the Network was pleased to announce a newHERA Joint Research Programme (HERA JRP 3) on “Uses ofthe Past”. With up to €21 million available, the researchprogramme will fund new and exciting humanities-centredprojects involving researchers from four or morecountries. Funding is provided from HERA partners andthe European Union is providing top-up funding via aCOFUND grant to the HERA JRP UP initiative. Theseawards will be announced in October 2015.
Irish ResearchCouncil and HERA
New Opportunities for ResearchFunding Agency Cooperation inEurope (NORFACE) is a partnershipbetween fourteen social sciencesresearch councils across Europe whichwas established in 2004, when the
network successfully bid for an FP6award to coordinate activities. Thetwelve partners involved are theresearch councils for the socialsciences from Estonia, Denmark,Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland,The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,Slovenia, Sweden and the UnitedKingdom, Canada and Austriaparticipate in NORFACE as associatepartners. This partnership is built on ahistory of less formal co-operation
and joint activities between theNordic and UK research councils.NORFACE formalises this existingworking relationship and provides aframework and a vision for a durablemulti-national strategic partnership inresearch funding and practice. It is anambitious programme ofcommunication, enquiry, sharing ofexperience and action.
MIGRATION
CHIST-ERA stands for European Coordinated Research on Long-term Challenges in Information andCommunication Sciences & Technologies ERA-Net. CHIST-ERA is a coordination and co-operationactivity of national (and regional) research funding organisations mainly in Europe and is supported by
the European Union under the ERA-Net funding scheme of the FP7. The aim is to reinforce the transnational collaborationbetween the participating states in challenging multidisciplinary research in the area of ICST with the potential to lead tosignificant breakthroughs. The partner organisations identify emergent scientific fields allowing researchers to engage inhigh-risk, high-impact projects by launching each year a transnational call for research proposals.
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Appendix 1 Council Members
Professor Orla Feely (Chair), Vice-President for Research,Innovation & Impact. School of Electrical, Electronic andCommunications Engineering, University College Dublin
Professor John Brewer, President of the BritishSociological Association, Department of Sociology,University of Aberdeen
Professor Thomas M. Cooney, Academic Director of theInstitute for Minority Entrepreneurship, Dublin Instituteof Technology
Dr. Ivan Coulter, Chief Executive Officer, Sigmoid PharmaLtd
Professor Caroline Fennell, School of Law, Head of theCollege of Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences,University College Cork
Professor James P. Gleeson, Department of Mathematicsand Statistics, University of Limerick
Professor Sheila Greene, Fellow Emeritus, Professor ofChildhood Research and former Director of theChildren’s Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin
Professor Anita R. Maguire, Department of Chemistry,Vice President for Research & Innovation, UniversityCollege Cork
Professor Rowena Pecchenino, Dean of the Faculty ofSocial Sciences, Head of Department of Economics,Finance and Accounting, National University of Ireland,Maynooth
Professor Sean Ryder, Head of the Department ofEnglish, Chair HERA Network Board, National Universityof Ireland, Galway
Professor Alan F. Smeaton, Director, Insight Centre forData Analytics, Dublin City University
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2014 Council Executive
Dr. Eucharia Meehan, Director
Dr. Gemma Irvine, Assistant Director
Dr. Johanna Archbold
Ms Sorcha Carthy
Ms Fiona Davis
Ms Margaret Egan
Ms Angela Ennis
Mr Paul Kilkenny
Ms Leonora Harty
Dr. Ross McKiernan
Dr. Eavan O’Brien
Ms Sharon O’Rourke
Dr. Kate Ryan
Ms Olive Walsh
Postdoctoral Internship holders in 2014:
Dr. Zsuzsanna Zarka
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Notes
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Notes
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