UCC researchers win €4.75m in EU funding 

UCC researchers María Aburto, Piotr Kowalski, and Lijuan Qian competed against over 4,000 proposals from the world’s brightest scientific minds, to secure grants for their research.

Three University College Cork researchers have won a total of €4.75m in European funding for pioneering research projects, the most awards of any Irish Higher Education Institution.

A total of eight Ireland-based researchers from UCC, UL, UCD and Maynooth University secured European Research Council (ERC) ‘Starting Grants’, valued at a total of €12m.

UCC researchers María Aburto, Piotr Kowalski, and Lijuan Qian competed against over 4,000 proposals from the world’s brightest scientific minds, to secure grants for their research.

María Aburto received €1.75m for her project, which examines the relationship between the brain and the gut. The project builds on her research at APC Microbiome Ireland and UCC, and could have ground-breaking implications for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, and precision medicine.

Piotr Kowalski received €1.5m to develop cutting-edge circular RNA technology and new delivery methods to tackle unmet medical challenges such as sepsis, which is the cause of one in five deaths worldwide.

Lijuan Qian received €1.5m to examine how indigenous cultures are widely threatened worldwide, and work with remote communities in China to adopt new digital media technologies, and sustain their languages, traditional songs, music and dances.

“It is excellent news for the research in an Irish university to gain such European recognition and strong support and I congratulate these researchers," said UCC president, Professor John O'Halloran.

"Talent, such as these researchers will help secure our future through blue skies research and discovery,” he added.