Minister James Lawless announces the first National Challenge Fund prize-winning teams
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, today announced over €2.5 million in prize funding for the DRIVE and AI2Peat teams, the first National Challenge Fund prize winners.
Funded by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Fund calls on researchers to identify problems related to Ireland’s Green Transition and Digital Transformation, and work directly with those most affected to solve them.
Minister James Lawless said: “I am delighted to announce the first two teams to be awarded prize funding under the National Challenge Fund. This is a significant milestone for the programme, which has supported 96 research teams since its launch in 2022. I congratulate the DRIVE and AI2Peat teams on their success in securing prize funding.”
The winning teams are working on innovative, solution-focused projects that will help to deliver transformational societal and economic impact and support Ireland’s progress towards becoming a climate-neutral economy by 2050.
Team DRIVE, led by Dr Séamus O’Shaughnessy and Dr Daniel Trimble, Trinity College Dublin with Societal Impact Champion Dr Karl Brown, EV automotive industry expert, has won the 2050 Challenge.
The DRIVE team’s solution manages the temperature of every cell in a battery pack by direct contact between the cells and a dielectric coolant. This improves thermal management of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles that results in increased battery performance, battery lifespan, and safer battery operation.
The AI2Peat team, led by Dr Corrado Grappiolo and Dr Eoghan Holohan of University College Dublin with Societal Impact Champion Dr Shane Regan, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, has won the prize award under the Future Digital Challenge.
AI2Peat – All-Ireland, AI enhanced Peatland Monitoring Platform uses satellite imagery, data from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and machine learning models to monitor peatland condition at scale. The platform generates ecological maps that reflect the condition of Ireland’s raised bogs, which can serve as a decision support mechanism for national efforts in peatland restoration.
Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, CEO, Research Ireland, said: “I am delighted to see the first round of the National Challenge Fund advance to the prize phase. The teams announced today have successfully progressed their projects through three rounds of this competitive funding programme to achieve their prize awards. I congratulate them on this achievement and look forward to seeing their projects deliver ambitious solutions over the coming years.”
EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, said: “The National Challenge Fund shows how strategic EU funding can make a real difference. In this case, support comes from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. The prize funding announced today will help the winning research teams further develop their solutions to major challenges on the road to a more sustainable future. Both Ireland and the European Union are committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. These projects will play a key role in that effort – supporting the shift to a climate-neutral society and helping to build a better future for everyone.”
Dr Corrado Grappiolo, AI2Peat team lead, University College Dublin, said: “We are deeply honoured for having been selected to enter the Prize Phase of the National Challenge Fund – Future Digital Challenge. AI2Peat has collaboration at its core, and our achievements would have never been possible without the expertise and guidance of the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the 200+ stakeholders we have been interacting with. A huge portion of our success is due to the massive support provided by Research Ireland. Thanks to their mentoring and training activities we mastered design thinking and theory of change skills; that allowed us to truly work towards a game-changing solution to monitoring peatland condition at national scale that is the most impactful and useful as possible.”
Dr Séamus O’Shaughnessy, DRIVE team lead, Trinity College Dublin, said: “We’re delighted to be the team selected to progress to the Prize Phase of the National Challenge Fund: 2050 challenge. This wouldn’t have been possible without the continued commitment, hard work, and cutting-edge research carried out by all of our Team DRIVE researchers over the past ~ 2.5 years. The support from Research Ireland over the next 2 years will enable us to further develop and industrialise our novel lithium-ion battery thermal management solution to meet the needs of current and next generation battery applications, in particular electric vehicles.”
Photo Caption: Minister for Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless, Diarmuid O’Brien, CEO Research Ireland, and Dr Ruth Freeman, Director of Research for Society, with members of the National Challenge Fund Prize Teams.