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Three ��ɫ��Ƶ (UL) academics have been awarded funding for high-risk, high-reward research projects

Associate Professor Romina Gaburro, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and Associate Professors Hugh Geaney and Bar Mosevitzky Lis, both Department of Chemical Sciences, have received funding totalling €2.7 million under Research Ireland’s Frontiers for the Future programme.

UL’s projects will see research being conducted into the areas of use of our natural resources such as wind, wave and geothermal energy, developing new materials to create longer-lasting, more sustainable batteries as alternatives to current lithium-ion technology and improving the production efficiency of ammonia, a staple chemical vital for feeding humanity and for the renewable energy transition.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless, TD, has announced a total of €34.5 million in funding to support 39 cutting-edge research projects.

Announcing the awards, Minister Lawless said: “We are investing in cutting-edge, curiosity-driven research, and empowering individual researchers to progress bold ideas that can lead to groundbreaking discoveries. These awards demonstrate our dedication to building a diverse and inclusive research community that delivers impact for our society and economy. I look forward to seeing the development and outputs of these projects over the coming years.”

The programme provides opportunities for investigators to conduct highly innovative, collaborative research with the potential to deliver economic and societal impact, while also providing opportunities for high-risk, high-reward research.

Congratulating the UL awardees, Professor Kevin Ryan, UL Vice President Research and Innovation said: “These awards demonstrate the UL’s commitment to innovative, cutting-edge research which will help to expand on our research capacity, expertise and reputation. The success in these awards shows that our researchers are working in hugely novel ways to tackle challenges that will have significant impact on society.”

Associate Professor Romina Gaburro’s research will investigate the use of our natural resources, Ireland is facing global challenges like climate change and depleting natural energy sources. It is important that we optimise the current use of natural resources, like wind and wave but also geothermal energy. Ireland is also rich in groundwater resources and minerals, both very important to the economy. This research programme addresses these economic and societal challenges by proposing novel and powerful mathematical techniques to help locate natural resources (minerals and water) and renewable energy (geothermal) in the Irish subsoil. The techniques will improve the monitoring of Ireland's natural environment, thus moving it towards a greener and carbon-free society.

The project being led by Associate Professor Bar Mosevitzky Lis aims to improve the production efficiency of ammonia, a staple chemical vital for feeding humanity and for the renewable energy transition. While ruthenium is believed to be especially efficient in producing ammonia from nitrogen, there are uncertainties resulting from recent scientific publications that inhibit its wide use. The way ruthenium should be dispersed, the nature of interactions between ruthenium and certain metal oxides over which it is dispersed, and the reaction channels by which molecular nitrogen reacts to form ammonia over ruthenium all remain unclear. By resolving these uncertainties, ammonia production efficiency can be significantly improved, lowering ammonia costs.

Associate Professor Hugh Geaney’s project will focus on Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery research. Within the transition to a greener energy infrastructure powered by renewable sources, energy storage technologies such as Li-ion batteries are becoming increasingly important. However, we need to develop longer range and more sustainable battery chemistries to address this. The 14Batt project will develop new materials for Li metal anode systems and a novel dual ion system that will serve as alternatives to current Li-ion batteries. This research is co-funded by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

Dr Diarmuid O'Brien, CEO of Research Ireland, commented: “Research Ireland’s Frontiers for the Future Programme has, at its core, the exploration of high-risk, high-reward ideas, and the building of collaborative teams that produce excellent research. We are proud to be partnering with Children’s Health Foundation, Breakthrough Cancer Research, and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, and supporting 66 PhD students, 47 postdoctoral researchers, and 13 other research positions.”

This year’s Frontiers for the Future Programme was co-funded by Children’s Health Foundation, Breakthrough Cancer Research, and Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, who collectively contributed €2.8 million to the programme.

Fionnuala O Leary, CEO, Children’s Health Foundation, commented: “Children’s Health Foundation is extremely proud to support the Frontiers for the Future Programme which empowers researchers to pursue innovative ideas which have the potential to transform outcomes for sick children. None of this can be achieved without the incredible generosity of the Foundation’s supporters who trust us to invest in the next generation of scientific discovery and helping to drive meaningful, lasting impact for sick children”. 

Orla Dolan, CEO of Breakthrough Cancer Research, said, “Breakthrough Cancer Research focuses our research investment on the lowest survival cancers because we urgently need smarter, kinder, and more effective treatments to improve survival. We are thrilled to partner with Research Ireland to support bold, creative new ideas and researchers to meet the urgent needs of people diagnosed with these very challenging cancers – to deliver impact where it’s needed most.”

William Walsh, CEO of SEAI added: “SEAI is proud to continue our partnership with Research Ireland as we know that investing in cutting-edge research is essential to delivering the technologies and systems that will underpin Ireland’s clean energy transition” said Kerrie Sheehan, Head of Research, Innovation and Electricity at SEAI. “We’re delighted to co-fund two projects focusing on energy storage and an award for offshore energy data collection through the Frontiers for the Future Programme, that will support emerging energy technologies to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

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