UL scientist given €1.5m for clean energy research

A University of Limerick (UL) researcher has been given €1.5m for pioneering work on generating clean energy through photosynthesis — the only Irish scientist granted by the European Research Council (ERC) in the physical science field this year.

Electrochemist and lecturer Dr Micheál Scanlon is one of only three Irish-based researchers overall to be awarded an ERC starting grant in 2017.

Based in the €86m science and research Bernal Institute and the Department of Chemical Sciences at UL, Dr Scanlon is working on a pioneering experimental approach that seeks to imitate photosynthesis in the leaves of plants. The goal of his research is to efficiently generate clean electricity or solar fuels, such as hydrogen gas.