A million euros will be given to each of 12 researchers and their teams in a blue sky research nitiative from the Irish Research Council.

The IRC said the researchers who will receive funding are at an advanced stage in their careers and will be conducting ground-breaking research in a wide range of disciplines.

Their research areas range from new approaches to breast cancer treatment through the development of 3-D printed batteries, to digitally mapping the full range of cultural activity, across languages and ethnic groups, in early modern Ireland. Each will receive a maximum of €1m over a period of four years.

Education minister Joe McHugh said: “The Irish Research Council Advanced Laureate programme was designed to address gaps in the Irish research and innovation landscape in the area of frontier basic research, as identified in Innovation 2020, Ireland’s five-year strategy for science and technology, research and development.

“Funding frontier research is vital in order for us to compete with our counterparts on the global stage, and to promote Ireland as an attractive location for world-class talent, both homegrown and international, in order to bring new knowledge, skills and innovations to our research institutions.”

In Association with

Almost 150 applications were submitted in the funding call. Nine of the 12 winning researchers are men, with three women gaining awards for their projects. The research programmes being funded by taxpayers include:

• Extracellular Vesicles in Cancer

• Codes within THE CODE: Revealing hidden genetic information

• Examining new sources for the European dimension of Early Modern News, integrating Ireland and elsewhere into the network of circulation, 1550-1700, to understand a forgotten but highly significant media landscape

• Modelling Research in Renaissance Ireland in the 16th and 17th century

• The materiality of the late-medieval Gaelic vernacular manuscript (1100-1600): a study of inks and vellum in the Book of Uí Mhaine

• eMag: a computational platform for accelerated magnetic materials discovery

• New concepts for Superconducting Tunnelling Junctions

The Laureate Awards programme began in 2017 and since then has provided €18m to 36 research projects. 

The 2019 Laureate awardees are:

Photo: IRC research laureate Prof. Michael Zaworotko, University of Limerick. (Pix: Marc O'Sullivan)