Wednesday, 31st July 2024: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Patrick O’Donovan TD, has today announced the first 9 teams to receive Grow Phase funding under the €65 million National Challenge Fund – a competitive programme aiming to deliver solutions for major environmental and societal issues.

Funded by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Fund calls on researchers to identify problems related to Ireland’s Green Transition and Digital Transformation and work directly with those most affected to solve them.

Minister O’Donovan said “I am pleased to announce the first cohort of the National Challenge Fund project teams that are now finalists in this competition-based funding programme. This innovative, solutions-focused programme is a key driver in delivering research and innovation that makes a real and positive impact across society, the economy, and the environment – not just here in Ireland, but across Europe and around the world.”

“I look forward to following the progress these teams of leading researchers make over the next 12 months as they continue to progress their projects that will unlock the transformational potential of digital technologies and support Ireland’s commitment to becoming climate neutral. I am working to ensure continuity on funding calls previously run by SFI and IRC over the coming months, as Research Ireland – Taighde Éireann commences its operations.”

Since its launch, 96 teams have been funded through the National Challenge Fund, and today’s announcement sees the first nine teams become finalists in this competitive funding model. The nine teams selected today will have the opportunity for additional funding in the final phase of the programme, where prize funding of €1 million will be on offer to the most competitive teams under both the 2050 and the Future Digital Challenges.

Dr Ciarán Seoighe, Acting Director General, SFI, said: “The National Challenge Fund is a fast-paced funding programme that supports research teams to work directly with the key stakeholders most impacted by their research. I am excited to see these nine teams continue to develop their real-world, tangible solutions in concert with the societal impact champions who have helped shape their research focus.”

EU Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness, said: “I am delighted to see the progress of the National Challenge Fund teams over the last 18 months. They’re showing what benefits EU funding can bring. The teams are working directly with those most impacted by the climate and digital transitions, to come up with the innovative solutions that we need for a more sustainable future – which will help both Ireland and the European Union as a whole. I wish these teams every success as they progress to the next phase of funding.”

The teams receiving funding today are split across two challenge areas. The 2050 Challenge seeks transformative, forward-looking solutions to current and future challenges for Ireland in becoming climate neutral and resilient by 2050. The finalists in this challenge are researching solutions for key challenges in the areas of nature restoration and renewable energy generation, improving electric vehicle technology, enabling safe, energy-dense hydrogen storage, and developing more sustainable approaches to green hydrogen production.

The Future Digital Challenge seeks to realise transformational societal and economic impact from disruptive digital technologies. The finalists in this challenge are focusing on sustainable peatland management, developing AI-powered bioprinting with industrial reproducibility and scalability, creating an easily deployable collaborative robotic system for manufacturing tasks, improving stroke patient recovery and maximising their functional independence and accelerating nanomedicine development, ensuring patients have faster access to superior medications.

Each team is being awarded up to €500,000 funding for the next 12 months. They will spend the next year advancing prototyping activities and demonstrating how the solutions they are developing can create tangible value by addressing the specific societal needs identified and refined in the previous phases of the funding programme.

 

Background details:

The National Challenge Fund is a €65M research fund established under the Government of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), developed by the Government so that Ireland can access funding under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. Ireland is expected to receive €988 million in grants under the Facility. 

The Recovery and Resilience Facility is the largest component of NextGenerationEU, the European Union’s response to the global pandemic. The aim is to help repair the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the pandemic and to prepare for a post-Covid Europe that is greener, more digital, more resilient and fit to face the future.

The National Challenge Fund supports academic researchers to work with government, enterprise, public sector organisations and societal stakeholders to address national priorities for Ireland. This fund is coordinated and administered by Science Foundation Ireland The initiative addresses key national challenges in the areas of Green Transition and Digital Transformation and consists of eight challenges (five Green and three Digital).

The nine Teams funded today will have the opportunity for additional funding in the final phase of the programme with prize funding of €1 million for the most competitive teams.#

Teams receiving funding are as follows:

The 2050 Challenge seeks transformative, forward-looking solutions to Ireland becoming climate neutral and resilient by 2050. 

Teams (alphabetically by lead researcher): 

Prof. Aonghus McNabola, Trinity College Dublin, co-lead Prof Mary Kelly Quinn, University College Dublin, SubScrewHydro - low-cost fish-friendly micro hydropower energy storage.

Dr Séamus O’Shaughnessy, Trinity College Dublin, co-lead Dr Daniel Trimble, Trinity College Dublin, DRIVE – improving thermal management of batteries in electric vehicles.

Dr Andrew Phillips, University College Dublin, co-lead Dr James Carton Dublin City University, RESR – renewable energy storage for mobile applications.

Prof. Mary Pryce, Dublin City University, co-lead Dr Robert O’Connor, Dublin City University, H2Glas – developing more sustainable approaches to green hydrogen production.

The Future Digital Challenge invites transformational societal and economic impact from disruptive digital technologies. 

Teams (alphabetically by lead researcher): 

Dr Oisín Boydell, University College Dublin, co-lead Dr Eoghan Holohan, University College Dublin, AI2Peat – combining artificial and human intelligence for peatland monitoring.

Dr Andrew Daly, University of Galway, co-lead Dr Karl Mason, University of Galway, aiPRINT – using computer vision to monitor and improve 3-D printing processes.

Dr Philip Long, Atlantic Technological University, co-lead Dr Maria Chiara Leva, Technological University Dublin, ROBOMATE – a collaborative robotic system for manufacturing tasks.

Prof. Eleni Mangina, University College Dublin, co-lead Dr Jibraan Esoof, University College Dublin, STROHAB – using extended reality and artificial intelligence to allow for tele-rehabilitation for stroke patients.

Dr Nan Zhang, University College Dublin, co-lead Prof. Wenxin Wang, University College Dublin, AI-Form – using artificial intelligence to accelerate nanomedicine development.