SCIENCE FOUNDATION IRELAND has awarded €1.7 million to ten female researchers as part of its Advance Award Programme.
The aim of the programme is to encourage women to enter or stay in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation Damien English announced the winners at the SFI Science Summit in Athlone yesterday.
English said that the initiative is aimed at “boosting diversity and gender-balance within the Irish private and public research system by enabling more women with science degrees who have taken a career break to return to the sector”.
We are delighted to have created opportunities for these ten high calibre individuals in order for them to pursue their passion in STEM. The quality and scope of the research involved highlights the commercial and societal benefits that SFI is delivering through its funded programmes.
The winning projects cover a diverse range of areas.
Dr Catherine Mooney from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland will receive funding to research seizures in newborns, while Dr Caitriona Long-Smith from University College Cork is examining how a seaweed-derived supplement may protect the brain against stress and memory decline.
A full list of the programme’s award winners and the projects they’ll be working on is available here.
Also at the Science Summit, Professor Barry Smyth, Digital Chair of Computer Science in UCD’s School of Computer Science and Informatics, was named Researcher of the Year 2014. He has published more than 400 scientific papers.
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