Five Trinity researchers win ERC Proof of Concept grants

Worth €150,000 each, the grants support the development of innovations in areas ranging from communications to sustainable food-sharing

Life

Five researchers from Trinity College Dublin have won highly competitive European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept grants.

The grants, which are worth €150,000 each, maximise the value of the research funded by the ERC to support further work to verify the innovation potential of ideas arising from previously funded projects. They are awarded on the basis of excellence assessed through breakthrough potential, the approach proposed, and the capacity and commitment of the applicant.

Supporting the development of innovations in areas ranging from communications to sustainable food-sharing, and from healthcare to climate change adaptation and land use planning, the five recipients are:

• Prof Valeria Nicolosi – who receives a grant for the fifth time and an ERC grant for the seventh – will assess the economic and technical feasibility of developing new electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials for use in wireless communications via readily scalable additive manufacturing technologies
• Prof Tríona Lally (School of Engineering and AMBER) will generate a new software tool that can help medics diagnose patients who are at risk of stroke (the leading cause of disability and the third leading cause of death in the western world) and select the best treatment to minimise the need for surgery and healthcare-associated costs
• Prof Anna Davies (School of Natural Sciences), whose grant is one of the first to support a social innovation, will develop the Share It platform and its user base to include food retailers and local governments. By designing, testing, and validating consultancy services it will enhance the sustainability of city-based food sharing economies all over the world
• Prof John Goold (School of Physics) will test, develop, and find market opportunities for a new soil fertility monitoring and forecasting method based on the statistical physics of disordered systems. This early warning and large-scale survey of soil degradation offers a climate change adaptation tool for farmers, agricultural organisations, and land use planners
• Dr Matthew Campbell (School of Genetics & Microbiology) will develop a new, localised approach to gene therapy with the aim of restoring normal biological function and preventing the progression of age-related macular degeneration – a disease for which existing therapies are minimally effective

“These awards, which have gone to a diverse array of ERC teams in Trinity, confirm the enormous potential of frontier research to address some of the greatest challenges facing our planet,” said Provost Linda Doyle. “They will support exciting innovations – societal and commercial – which have emerged from the discoveries of ERC teams, and which were made possible by investment in fundamental research.”

Trinity’s dean of research, Prof Wolfgang Schmitt, a previous winner of an ERC Proof of Concept grant, added: “I am pleased to extend my warm congratulations to the five Trinity awardees in this round of the Proof of Concept scheme. Valeria, Triona, Anna, John and Matthew are fantastic mentors and leaders who consistently excelled in their research. These are very exciting and innovative projects and I look forward to seeing how their ideas will be developed.”

TechCentral Reporters

Read More: European Research Council funding research Trinity College Dublin