Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have received €500,000 in funding to develop an AI platform to help teachers create assessments and provide feedback to students.

The Diotima project is the brainwave of a former teacher who was looking at ways to lighten the workload of her fellow teachers and to improve the learning experience for pupils.

The project is supported by The Learnovate Centre, a global research and innovation centre in learning technology in Trinity College Dublin, while the funding was granted under Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund, which supports third-level researchers to translate their research into commercially viable products, services and companies.

The project was co-founded by Siobhan Ryan, a former secondary school teacher, biochemist and environmental scientist, and Jonathan Dempsey, an EdTech professional with both start-up and corporate experience.

After a 12-year career in the brewing industry with Diageo, Ryan re-trained as a secondary school teacher before leaving to develop the business case for a formative assessment and feedback platform.  

Her experience in the classroom made her realise that she could have a greater impact by leveraging AI to create a platform to support teachers in a safe, transparent, and empowering way.

Mr Dempsey is a former CEO of the Enterprise Ireland-backed EdTech firm Digitary, which is now part of multinational Instructure Inc.

He held the role of Director of UK and Ireland for US education system provider Ellucian and Head of Education and Education Platforms for Europe with Indian multinational TCS.

The Enterprise Ireland funding has facilitated the hiring of two post-doctoral researchers.

They are now leading AI research ahead of the launch of an initial version of the platform in September 2025.

Diotima aims to conduct two major trials of the platform as they also seek investment.

Ryan said: “We’re delighted to have received such a significant award from the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund.

"The investment is already having a positive effect, allowing us to hire two post-doctoral researchers in AI whose work has been vital to progressing the platform towards the first testing phase.

“We’re extremely grateful to Learnovate for helping us gain access to the funding from Enterprise Ireland, as well as their assistance in hiring and technical expertise.

"Our partnership with Learnovate has exceeded our expectations and we look forward to building on that relationship as we strive towards spinning out in 2026.”

Co-founder Jonathan Dempsey added: We did a detailed feasibility study with teachers and with education organisations for the funding application that showed that educators agree unanimously that individualised feedback for learners is powerful, but difficult for teachers, particularly with large classes.

"It also showed that there is a massive appetite to use AI to help, but also concerns about the reliability of feedback and about compliance with the EU AI Act.  

"Diotima is being built to deliver reliable feedback with AI and is engineered for compliance from the start.” 

Photo: Learnovate Centre Director Nessa McEniff; Associate Professor Ann Devitt, Head of the Trinity School of Education; Diotima Commercial Lead and co-founder Jonathan Dempsey; Tom Pollock, Learnovate Commercialisation Manager; and Diotima Learning Lead and co-founder Siobhan Ryan. Pic Paul Sharp/SHARPPIX