Four Atlantic Technological University (ATU) research teams have secured funding from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) to come up with solutions to societal challenges through engagement and collaboration with communities, under the National Challenge Fund announced recently by Higher Education Minister Simon Harris. The Challenge sees 25 research teams lead projects aimed at helping Ireland prepare for its green transition and digital transformation.
Bridge management & infrastructure investment
Dr Amaya Vega’s and Dr Myra Lydon’s project “EMBRACE-Mobility” takes a community-centric approach to bridge management and infrastructure investment prioritisation to ensure the mobility needs of rural communities are taken into consideration. They will engage with the Western Development Commission (WDC), Galway County Council and other stakeholders.
Reversing social isolation
Dr Ruth Quinn’s and Dr Natalie Delimata’s interdisciplinary project will explore how to address the dual issues of social isolation and environmental decline. It aims to support people’s mental and environmental health by empowering communities to create spaces that enable social connection through interaction with nature.
“How these spaces will work and what they look like will emerge through a series of conversations where diverse groups of people, facilitated by an interdisciplinary team of specialists, will together co-design and co-create sustainable shared spaces that reflect the needs, wants and interests of the local community and the natural environment,” according to Drs Quinn and Delimata.
Detecting disease in fish
The NanoSA team lead by Dr Niall Maloney (ATU) and co-lead Professor Enda McGlynn (DCU) are working with team Societal Impact Champion Catherine McManus (Mowi Ireland) to further improve the sustainability of the Irish Aquaculture Industry by developing technology for the rapid diagnosis of pathogenic infections at farm sites.
“Current methods for the diagnosis of pathogens in aquaculture are time consuming and are carried out in laboratories that are sometimes far from farm sites. By developing technology for use directly at the farm site we can reduce sample to answer times and ensure more timely and appropriate disease management practices can be implemented.” said Dr Maloney.
Securing crops and soil health with sustainable fungicides
ATU Sligo’s Dr Shane O’Reilly and DCU’s Ruairí Brannigan’s project, named LeafLock, will develop bio-based polymeric ‘stickers’ from unwanted biological by-products like woody biomass.
Fungal diseases are a persistent threat for global food supply, yet the production of fungicides relies on the petrochemical industry which has its own problems in terms of climate and carbon emissions. Degradation products from current fungicide formulations may also be harmful and threaten soil health.
“By adding these novel stickers into antifungal formulations, the LeafLock team aims to increase the effectiveness of fungicides and reduce the environmental burden in terms of emissions and contamination of soil with harmful compounds.” said Dr O’Reilly.
