A number of researchers at University of Limerick have been awarded grants under the SFI Industry RD&I Fellowship Programme.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD announced 27 new academic and industry research collaborations on behalf of Science Foundation Ireland, valued at €2.1million.
There are fellowships for four UL researchers - based at UL’s Department of Chemical Sciences and one in the Department of Computer Science and Information.
The SFI Industry RD&I Fellowship Programme will support the temporary placement of academic researchers in companies to undertake research projects across a variety of areas.
The industry partners on these awards will provide co-funding with a combined value of €1.9 million.
Minister Simon Harris said: “I am delighted to welcome this Fellowship programme bringing together academic researchers and industry partners, to undertake collaborative research that will see them mutually benefit from each other’s invaluable knowledge and expertise. I want to commend Science Foundation Ireland for announcing this funding which will be important in developing some exciting research projects.”
Prof Philip Nolan, Director General SFI, said: “We are delighted to offer this new Fellowship programme to academic researchers looking to apply their knowledge in industry. At SFI, we are keen to be part of a framework that can enable researchers to seek and secure diverse career opportunities in areas such as industry, research funding and administration and Government affairs. The applications to the programme have been incredibly strong and we are pleased to see such a high-calibre of projects coming to life.”
Those who are awarded Fellowships can take them on a full-time basis between one and 12 months or on a part-time basis, between 2 and 24 months. The maximum award amount funded by SFI is €100,000. The programme was supported by IDA Ireland who see it as an enabler to innovation for their client companies.
The Fellowship programme is designed to help kick-start postdoctoral academic researchers’ careers in industry and to maximise the impact of their training. The programme also supports academic faculty researchers who want to spend time in industry alongside their academic responsibilities. Simultaneously, the placement will allow industry partners to benefit from their research fellows’ knowledge to collaborate on bringing innovative solutions to industry challenges.
The UL researchers are:
- Balasubramaniam M, for the project ‘Fabrication and Characterization of Silicon based Biointerfaces for Biosensor Application’, with Analog Devices, Inc. as industry partner
- Ibrahim Saana Amiinu, for the project ‘Selective Delayering of Low-geometry Materials by Plasma FIB Dx Chemistry for the Failure Analysis of Magnetic Sensors’, with Analog Devices, Inc. as industry partner
- Ahmad Ziaee, for the project ‘End-User Considerations in the Transition to a Green Gas Network’, with Gas Networks Ireland as industry partner
- Lilian Motti Ader, for the project ‘Can the evolution of depth cameras enable holographic interaction?’, with Analog Devices, Inc. as industry partner
Applications for the 2022 SFI Industry RD&I Fellowship call are now open with two submission deadlines. The first submission deadline is on 18 May 2022; the second submission deadline is on 19 October 2022.
