Government announces frontiers research funding for University of Limerick

University of Limerick research funding – Bernal researcher, Dr Christophe Silien pictured above, is the recipient of one of 76 research grants, valued at a total of €53.7 million.

The funded UL research will cover areas such as traumatic brain injury, manufacturing, microscopy and nanoelectronics.

University of Limerick researchers are to receive grants to support frontiers research, it has been announced today.

The University of Limerick researchers, all of whom are based at UL’s Bernal Institute, have been awarded €2.26m under the SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme announced by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris.

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UL-based principal investigators Professor Usel Bangert, Professor Vivek Ranade, Dr George Barreto and Dr Christophe Silien were among 76 grants valued at €53.7 million to support frontiers research across ten Higher Education Institutions announced today.

The University of Limerick research funding will benefit study in areas such as traumatic brain injury, manufacturing, microscopy and nanoelectronics.

In line with SFI’s gender strategy, the programme seeks to provide opportunities to address gender imbalance and to provide support for investigators returning to research after a period of leave. 42% of the research grants supported will be led by female researchers and 32% by emerging investigators early in their research careers.

The programme is run in collaboration with Geological Survey Ireland and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) who are co-funding a number of the grants.

Commenting on the SFI Future Frontiers Programme, Minister Harris TD, said: “Congratulations to all the researchers who have received funding today as part of the SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme. I am delighted to support this programme which funds individual-led research, with an emphasis on fundamental research at the cutting edge of science and engineering which will help us build a better future for Ireland through discovery, innovation, and impact.

“Not only will these grants support research in important areas for Irish society, they will also fund 216 people in varying research positions across 10 Higher Education Institutes to further develop their research careers. We are investing in talent. I would like to offer my thanks to the Higher Education Institutions for their support in delivering this programme again this year.”

Luuk van der Wielen, Director of the Bernal Institute said: “I am delighted to see the continued support of SFI for our researchers in general and for the just granted projects that focus on our strategic commitment to health-related and other grand challenges.

“The four projects range from fundamental physics, biology and molecular mechanisms and their interactions to the development of new manufacturing processes for personalised health-related products.

“All four projects are exciting new examples of what multidisciplinarity of science and engineering under a single Bernal roof can bring.”

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