Following the launch of the new 2024 Seed Funding for Strategic Research Initiatives,
University College of Dublin
and the
(opens in a new window)University of Massachusetts, Amherst
are pleased to announce the successful applications that will foster novel, multidisciplinary collaborations between the two institutions.
The successful candidates and their project title are:
Professor Eoin Casey - Sustainable Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes
The successful candidates and their project title are:
Professor Eoin Casey - Sustainable Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes
The objective of this project is to exploit synergies between UCD and UMass Amherst in the area of biofilm technology which is critical to the development of sustainable water/wastewater treatment processes. The specific objective is to host a research workshop in UCD in 2024 to include participants from both universities and to follow up with a subsequent large-scale funding proposal that will create a longer term partnership enhancing the thematic mission of sustainability at both institutions.
Associate Professor Eoin O'Cearbhaill -
Development and Evaluation of Focused Ultrasound Devices
The UCD Medical Device Design Group and the Kearney Group at UMass Amherst share a common interest in the development of focused ultrasound for non-invasive medical applications. This project will bring together complementary expertise in medical device design and development, ultrasound-activated biomaterial synthesis and associated test models towards the development of the next-generation of non-invasive therapeutic devices.
Professor Cathryn Costello -
The Law & Politics of the Global Refugee Regime
The Research Partnership on the Law and Politics of the Global Refugee Regime, convened by Co-PIs, Professors Rebecca Hamlin (UMass) and Cathryn Costello (UCD) aims to engage in and enable interdisciplinary research on the role of international refugee law in the global refugee regime. In particular, the partnership aims to develop and foster deeper global comparative research on refugee recognition practices, and the role of refugees in shaping the global refugee regime.
Assistant Professor David DeFranza -
The impact of opinion leaders in the propagation and correction of misinformation
This project explores the multi-faceted impact of misinformation, through computational analyses of large-scale social media data in combination with a cross-cultural analysis of social media use in the UK and USA. We analyze 4.5 million social media posts generated by 350,000 users and reveal the role of opinion leaders in spreading and correcting misinformation. We further examine their impact on social media users’ information perceptions with nationally representative surveys in the UK and USA.
UCD and UMass, Amherst would like to acknowledge the high calibre of all applications to this seed fund and wish all applicants good luck with their projects.