Four University of Limerick researchers have been awarded a combined €941,000 funding in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MCSA) Postdoctoral Fellowship awards.
All four awardees are from the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
The Postdoctoral Fellowship funding programme under MSCA supports researchers’ careers and fosters excellence in research. The awards are the European Union’s flagship programme for doctoral education and postdoctoral training.
The total amount awarded to UL was €941,710.
A total of 193 proposals from Ireland were evaluated by the programme, of which 34 were selected for funding including four for UL to Dr Olwyn Mahon, Dr Dominika Capkova, Dr Marcelo Francin and Dr Sara Esteghlal.
Congratulating the fellows from University of Limerick on their awards, Professor Norelee Kennedy, UL Vice President Research said: “The Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships are hugely important for these early-career researchers in helping support the development of their careers and fostering excellence in research. These awards are for postdoctoral work in key areas which will address critical scientific, health, and sustainable food challenges. The fellowships will provide important support to these emerging researchers, enabling them to develop their track record and transition to become independent research leaders.”
The projects awarded funding in UL are:
Dr Olwyn Mahon, School of Engineering, Bernal Institute
Grant award: €276,864
Currently a Research Fellow in Dr. Eoghan Cunnane’s lab in Bernal Institute, UL and Professor Constantine Mitsiades lab at DFCI, Harvard Medical School, Olwyn is focusing on the development of patient-derived 3D models of urological cancers. As part of her MSCA Global Fellowship, Olwyn will extend this work on pre-clinical models of metastatic urological cancers and multi-Organ on a chip systems at Columbia Biomedical Engineering, New York for two years before returning in the final year to the School of Engineering and School of Medicine at UL to work with Prof Cunnane.
Dr Dominika Capkova, Department of Chemical Sciences, Bernal Institute
Grant award: €199,694
As part of her MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dominika will enhance her knowledge in next-generation batteries at UL where she will be focusing on the development of sulphur cathode and pre-lithiated silicon anode materials to achieve a stable cycle performance of full-cell lithium-sulphur battery with a high capacity. Dominika will work with Professor Kevin Ryan at the Department of Chemical Sciences and Bernal Institute.
Dr Marcelo Francin, Department of Biological Sciences
Award value: €215,534
Working with Professor Daniel Granato, Marcelo will study which polyphenols from Irish cider processing by-products can mitigate inflammation and reactive oxygen species in a cell model of obesity. For this, food-grade ingredients will be designed using green extraction technologies, and their bioactivity will be characterised.
Dr Sara Esteghlal, Department of Biological Sciences
Award value: €249,618
Working with Professor Mohammadreza Khalesi at UL, Sara will focus on the development of plant-based cheeses using certain crops largely grown in Ireland and the EU to address the increasing global demands for sustainable and healthy diets. FerOtChee is a multidisciplinary project that focuses on the development of fermented plant-based Mozzarella-style cheese using oat protein.