Minister Lawless announces €23.6 million Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future funding 

AI for diagnostic imaging and COVID-19’s impact on children’s gut bacteria among the successful projects

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD has today announced €23.6 million to support 23 research projects focused on tackling challenges in AI, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and transport.

Insight Principal Investigator Dr Alessandra Mileo of DCU has been awarded over €715,000 for her project Holistic and Human-centred neural-cognitive learning and
reasoning to enHance eXplainable Artificial Intelligence in clinical diagnostics from MEDical imaging.

The Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future Programme funds high-risk, high-reward research programmes and innovative, collaborative research with the potential to deliver economic and societal impact.

Announcing the awards, Minister Lawless said: “The Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future programme supports the development of world-class research across a range of disciplines. The awardees – spanning 9 research institutions nationwide – have brought forward novel and innovative ideas with strong potential to deliver impactful solutions for major challenges facing society today. The programme itself promotes gender balance and provides opportunities for emerging investigators returning to research. I look forward to seeing the awardees’ progress over the coming years.”

Welcoming the announcement, Celine Fitzgerald, Interim Chief Executive of Research Ireland, commented: “Our Frontiers for the Future Programme is driven by feedback from the research community and represents a strong commitment to developing future talent in key areas. These 23 awards will fund a total of 86 research positions, comprising Postdocs, PhDs, Research Assistants and support staff. I’m very pleased with the opportunities that this targeted investment is creating, and greatly encouraged that crucial research on pressing issues will be facilitated as a result.”
Examples of the initiatives being funded include:

• AI for diagnostic imaging, with a focus on cardiac MRI (Dublin City University);
• Investigating long-term effects of COVID-19 on children’s gut bacteria, social skills, and language development (RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences);
• Mining micro-organisms living in seaweed to identify novel compounds with strong potential for crop improvement (Technological University of the Shannon);
• Machine Learning to tackle complex issues using varied and sensitive data whilst ensuring data privacy and clear communication (University of Limerick).

The Frontiers for the Future awardees are from the following research bodies: RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, Teagasc, Technological University of the Shannon, University College Dublin, University College Cork, University of Galway, and University of Limerick.