Twelve projects awarded Irish Research Council ‘New Foundations’ funding

Posted on: 16 February 2023

Twelve Trinity research projects have received funding from the Irish Research Council under the ‘New Foundations’ programme announced this week.

New Foundations awards are designed to help civic society organisations and Government departments to devise evidence-based strategies and policies.

The Irish Research Council announced a total of 67 New Foundations projects this week that will reach communities across the country and beyond, focusing on diverse societal challenges and government policy issues.

The 12 Trinity projects are:

Steven Hadley	Creative Arts	Audience Data for Cultural Policy: A Shared Island Approach to the Creative Industries
Michael Monaghan	Engineering	An Ireland-cantered approach unifying stakeholders in research to address cardiac disease in young people
Jane Carroll	English	Collecting Childhood Research Network
Siobhan O'Brien	Genetics and Microbiology	Investigating the impact of anthropogenic change on soil microbiome functioning and crop health
Catherine Barbour	Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies	Creating Community in Times of Crisis: The Role of Creative Writing in Empowering Donegal Women
Margaret Lawler	Medicine	Exploration of suitability and acceptability of social prescribing for adolescents and young adults with cancer
Iracema Leroi	Medicine	Is Ireland prepared for the new disease-modifying therapies (DMT) for Alzheimer's? Scoping perspectives and attitudes of lay stakeholders
Denise McDonald	Medicine	Severe neurological imPairment in IREland: families and professionals Sharing Expertise Together (SPIRE-SET)
Dominic Trepel	Medicine	The VALUE of unpaid CARE in Ireland, and how economic consequence varies by social, economic and health condition
Sate Ahmad	Natural Sciences	Vegetation diversity, water balance and carbon storage in Irish fen peatlands: Revealing spatial patterns and processes for climate mitigation
Susan Flynn	Social Work and Social Policy	Towards better outcomes for children and families: A research review of the Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme
Joe Whelan	Social Work and Social Policy	Walking, thinking and talking: An exploration of the lived experiences and hidden geographies of poverty using walking as a participatory arts methodology.

Welcoming the awards, Dr Linda Doyle, Provost of Trinity, said:

“I warmly congratulate our twelve researchers on securing IRC New Foundations awards.

“The New Foundations research funding programme aims to bring researchers together with civic society and Government departments to collaborate on projects that will have a tangible impact on societal issues.

“These awards are an important opportunity for researchers to contribute evidence-based policymaking to society on a range of national and global challenges.”

Professor Wolfgang Schmitt, Dean of Research at Trinity, added:

"I congratulate all awardees who received funding from the Irish Research Council ‘New Foundations’ scheme. I acknowledge the diversity, disciplinary variety and breath of the funded projects.

"This IRC scheme demonstrates how relatively modest funding can translate to significant societal and scientific impact involving community, voluntary and charity organisations. I look forward to following the progress of the projects and I thank the Trinity researchers and collaborators for their work and dedication."

Of the total 67 projects announced this week, 43 of the projects are funded by the IRC to enhance research partnerships with civic society organisations. Through these partnerships with researchers, diverse community organisations will attain new evidence and insights to enhance their services and their impact.

A further 20 projects are funded by government departments and agencies addressing global development and global citizenship education, north-south reconciliation, our shared island, the National Volunteering Strategy for Ireland, and child protection and welfare policy. Four awards on climate change and biodiversity are funded by Sunflower Charitable Foundation.

Commenting on the funding announcement, Director of the Irish Research Council, Dr Louise Callinan said:

“We are delighted to renew and extend our ongoing partnerships with Government departments and agencies who are funding 20 New Foundations projects, in addition to the 43 collaborative projects funded by the IRC with civic society partners, and the 4 funded by a charitable foundation.

"The collaboration between researchers and policymakers represented in these awards aligns with the ambitions of Impact 2030: Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy to strengthen evidence-based policymaking and deliver enhanced outcomes for citizens and society. While New Foundations awards are relatively modest in value, they play a vital role in supporting and nurturing our research talent, providing an important step on the funding ladder to further awards nationally and internationally.”

Further information about the New Foundations scheme is available here.