From Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
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Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, has today announced 27 new academic and industry research collaborations on behalf of Science Foundation Ireland, valued at €2.1 million.
The SFI Industry RD&I Fellowship Programme will support the temporary placement of academic researchers in 19 companies. These researchers undertake research projects across a variety of areas, including microbiology, virtual reality (VR), chatbots optimisation, biotechnology, coastal erosion, breast cancer, photodynamic therapy and more. The industry partners on these awards will provide co-funding with a combined value of €1.9 million.
Minister Harris said:
“I’m delighted to welcome this fellowship programme bringing together academic researchers and industry partners, to undertake collaborative research that will see them mutually benefit from each other’s invaluable knowledge and expertise. I want to commend Science Foundation Ireland for announcing this funding which will be important in developing some exciting research projects.”
Prof Philip Nolan, Director General SFI, said:
“We are delighted to offer this new fellowship programme to academic researchers looking to apply their knowledge in industry. At SFI, we are keen to be part of a framework that can enable researchers to seek and secure diverse career opportunities in areas such as industry, research funding and administration and government affairs. The applications to the programme have been incredibly strong and we are pleased to see such a high-calibre of projects coming to life.”
Those who are awarded fellowships can take them on a full-time basis between one and 12 months or on a part-time basis, between 2 and 24 months. The maximum award amount funded by SFI is €100,000. The programme was supported by IDA Ireland who see it as an enabler to innovation for their client companies.
The fellowship programme is designed to kick-start postdoctoral academic researchers’ careers in industry and to maximise the impact of their training. The programme also supports academic faculty researchers who want to spend time in industry alongside their academic responsibilities. Simultaneously, the placement will allow industry partners to benefit from their research fellows’ knowledge to collaborate on bringing innovative solutions to industry challenges.
Applications for the 2022 SFI Industry RD&I Fellowship call are now open with two submission deadlines. The first submission deadline is on 18 May 2022; the second submission deadline is on 19 October 2022.
| Research body | Proposal title | Researcher | Industry partner |
| University College Dublin | Toward an Eco-Friendly Heat Treatment Process for Steel Wire | Emad Tandis | Bekaert |
| University College Dublin | Development and application of process analytical technology (PAT) tools for in-line monitoring of milk powder reconstitution processes | Ming Zhao | Lakeland Dairies Co Operative Society Ltd |
| RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences | BreaSt CancEr ImmuNe EcoSystem-derived T Cell ThErapy (SENSE) | Petra Jagust | Remedy Biologics Ltd |
| National University of Ireland Galway | Sustainable Additive Manufacturing of Orthopaedic Implants | Eimear O'Hara | Zimmer Biomet |
| University College Dublin | Investigation of High Gain Circularly Polarized Antenna with Wide Beamwidth for Low Power Wide Area Network | Xiulong Bao | Antenna Company |
| Trinity College Dublin | Reflective Spectroscopy Probe | Jorge Garcia | Miravex |
| Trinity College Dublin | Surface Finishing of 3-D Printed Implant Devices and Instruments | Daire Tyndall | De Puy Ireland Unlimited Company |
| Athlone Institute of Technology | Recovery of PEEK recyclate for use in orthopaedics | James Murray | De Puy Ireland Unlimited Company |
| University of Limerick | Fabrication and Characterization of Silicon based Biointerfaces for Biosensor Application | Balasubramaniam M | Analog Devices, Inc |
| University College Cork | Adaptation of wave structure interaction modelling to characterise the performance of a novel mooring optimisation device for floating offshore wind | Majid Bhinder | Dublin Offshore Consultants Ltd |
| Trinity College Dublin | Aeroacoustics Noise Modelling, Measurement and Prediction to standardise HDD-Chassis interactions used in large-scale Date Centres | Sahan Wasala | Seagate Technology LLC |
| RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences | Preparation of 18F or 19F labelled RNAs via 4’-F and 2’-F-deoxyribose nucleotides and their precursors | Karen Fox | KelAda Pharmachem Ltd |
| National University of Ireland Galway | Putting the Bio in Biosensing: Bioassay Development for a Silicon-based Electrical Transduction Platform | Marie Le Berre | Analog Devices, Inc |
| Tyndall National Institute | Design and fabrication of a novel highly localised drug delivery device for Photodynamic Therapy | Walter Messina | Boston Scientific |
| University of Limerick | Selective Delayering of Low-geometry Materials by Plasma FIB Dx Chemistry for the Failure Analysis of Magnetic Sensors | Ibrahim Saana Amiinu | Analog Devices, Inc |
| Trinity College Dublin | Assessment of coastal evolution and vulnerability along County Wicklow using geospatial techniques | Sojan Mathew | Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions Ltd (GDG) |
| Trinity College Dublin | Anti-Corrosion Sol-Gel Based Coatings for 3D Printed Ceramic and Metal Substrates | Sudhakara Naidu Neppalli | Kastus Technologies |
| National University of Ireland Galway | Mechanical Behavior of Recycled Carbon Fiber Composites Subject to Hygrothermal Exposure | Akash Pisharody | EireComposites Teo |
| University of Limerick | Development of Advanced Coating and Masking Technologies for Bioactive 3D-Printed Implants (MaskBio) | Ahmad Ziaee | De Puy Ireland Unlimited Company |
| University College Dublin | End-User Considerations in the Transition to a Green Gas Network | Mohammad Ali Ekhtiari | Gas Networks Ireland |
| University College Dublin | xSymGen: A Symptom Generation Framework for SAIN using xAI | Shen Wang | Huawei Technologies (Ireland) Co, Ltd |
| Trinity College Dublin | Development of novel analysis technology for rapid detection of infectious particles | James Duffy | Cellix |
| University College Dublin | Floating Offshore Wind: Site Characterisation Framework (FlOWSiChaF) | Srikumar Roy | Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions Ltd (GDG) |
| National University of Ireland Galway | The Next-Gen VR-driven Serious Communication & Collaboration Hybrid Infrastructures for Business | Lukasz Porwol | Fidelity Investments Ireland |
| University of Limerick | Can the evolution of depth cameras enable holographic interaction? | Lilian MottiAder | Analog Devices, Inc |
| Waterford Institute of Technology | Recyclability of metallic Titanium powders for 3D printing of biomedical products | Nima E. Gorji | Boston Scientific |
| National University of Ireland Galway | Goal-oriented Chatbots optimisation with Reinforcement Learning | Jamal Nasir | Fidelity Investments Ireland |