CONNECT Centre awards over €500,000 to fund women-led STEAM research projects

Posted on: 07 January 2025

Four awardees will now lead innovative projects with goals that range from improving the communications systems used by autonomous vehicles to creating eco-friendly options for powering wearable technologies.

The platform funding call invited proposals from women researchers who are not currently CONNECT Principal Investigators (PIs) or Funded Investigators (FIs).

Each project selected represents cutting-edge ideas that align with CONNECT’s strategic research themes, addressing critical challenges in areas such as communication systems, sustainable technologies, accessibility, and autonomous vehicles.

The awardees and their projects

Parvaneh Mokarian Tabari (Trinity’s School of Chemistry, and the AMBER Research Ireland Centre), will work on a project to enhance the reliability and performance of infrared communication systems for autonomous vehicles by leveraging advanced sub-wavelength optical structures, paving the way for more efficient vehicle communication.

Sobia Jangsher (DCU), will work on a project exploring innovative radio over fibre solutions, using Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), to enhance wireless communication systems. The research will address the challenges of massive MIMO networks, a cornerstone of next-generation communication technologies.

Alessandra Imbrogno (TNI/UCC), will work on a project with its roots in sustainability, developing green triboelectric nanogenerators to power wearable technologies. The goal is to create eco-friendly, energy efficient solutions for self-sustaining devices.

Eleanor Bantry-White (UCC) will work on a project to design a rights-based framework for creating Internet of Things (IoT) technologies tailored to the needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity in technology design.

This latest platform funding round underscores CONNECT’s commitment to empowering underrepresented groups in research leadership and advancing meaningful innovations. By supporting women researchers in STEAM disciplines, CONNECT aims to drive progress in critical areas that will shape the future of communication and network technologies.

Professor Dan Kilper, Director of the CONNECT Centre, said: “We are incredibly proud to support these talented researchers. Their projects not only align with CONNECT’s mission but also represent the importance and value of diverse leadership in science and technology.”

The projects will run through December 2026, with CONNECT providing ongoing support to help the investigators achieve their research goals.

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