COALESCE funding for research exploring how AI can assist care-plan design for survivors of gender based violence

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, has announced funding of over €3.5 million for 16 research projects under Research Ireland’s COALESCE (Collaborative Alliances for Societal Challenges) 2025 programme.

Dr Sulagna Maitra, UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action and Co-PI Dr Vivek Nallur, UCD School of Computer Science, have received funding for their project Harm2Healing: Transforming Survivor Centred GBV Response Using Human Centred AI Agents. 

The project focuses on developing AI simulations that can assist case-workers in creating care-plans that are responsive to the needs of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) survivors and are sensitive to their cultural contexts.

The awards COALESCE support excellent, interdisciplinary research that addresses national and global societal challenges by fostering collaboration between researchers and policymakers, civil society, and enterprise. 

Announcing the awards, Minister Lawless said: “Harnessing the power of research is key to tackling the most pressing challenges facing our society. These awards are not just about academic excellence – they are about delivering real, tangible benefits for people and communities. Whether it’s supporting survivors of gender-based violence, driving climate action, or safeguarding our cultural heritage, these projects will make a meaningful difference. This is research with purpose, and I commend all the awardees for their dedication to the public good.”

Dr Diarmuid O'Brien, CEO of Research Ireland, commented: “The projects being announced today bring together diverse disciplines, communities, and policy partners to co-create knowledge that matters. We are proud to support projects that amplify underrepresented voices and tackle issues that are often overlooked. These research projects are advancing knowledge, sustainability, justice, and inclusion.”

Two of the projects are funded by Cuan: The Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (DSGBV) Agency, under a newly-launched strategic strand.

Dr. Stephanie O’Keeffe, Cuan CEO, stated: “Cuan is delighted to partner with Research Ireland to establish a new research funding strand for COALESCE 2025, dedicated to Domestic Sexual and Gender-Based Violence research. A key objective for Cuan is to strengthen the existing knowledge base and build an evidence-informed response to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, informed by the lived experience of victim-survivors.  

In this regard, the creation of this important research strand is of great significance to Cuan. Given so many academic disciplines are of relevance to the study of domestic and sexual violence, Research Ireland’s COALESCE funding strand provides a rich opportunity to support action and policy-oriented research, providing much-needed insights for policy makers and practitioners, and improving outcomes for victims and survivors.”

TheHarm2HealingProject

When the survivor of GBV seeks refuge or assistance, case-workers  typically use their organisational knowledge, and intuition, to come up with a care-plan. This can be contingent on the resources and priorities of the parent organisation, rather than what the individual survivor needs, resulting in a disconnect between the intentions of the case-worker and the goals of the survivor. To complicate matters, there may exist a cultural gap between the survivor and the case-worker.

Harm2Healing aims to create an agent-based simulation of survivors from various cultures and their experienced care-plans. The simulation, powered by artificial intelligence, will allow care-workers to explore multiple different care-plans, and their effects on survivors. 

Dr Sulagna Maitra is Assistant Professor in Humanitarian Action and Coordinator of the International School on Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies at UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action (CHA) at UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, she explained, "This research is inspired by the formal and informal interactions with the Community of GBV professionals in Humanitarian Action, especially experts who contribute towards UCD CHA's Addressing GBV in Emergencies course. 

We are aiming to leverage human-centered agent-based simulations to help GBV case workers deliver optimal, survivor-choice-driven care in the face of escalating crises and aid cuts. The project was co-developed organically over numerous cups of coffee at Pi which, spatially, is a meeting point between humanitarian action and computer sciences". 

Project Co-PI Dr Vivek Nallur, UCD School of Computer Science, added, “I am looking forward to working on this project, which represents a new direction for my research in computer science. I sincerely hope that this interdisciplinary collaboration will help break new ground in both GBV research as well as agent based simulation.” 

The 16 funded projects funded in this round span the following 10 research institutions. For a full list visit the (opens in a new window)Research Ireland website. 

Editorial Credit: UCD Research