Researchers from all career stages in the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences joined with colleagues from across the University to have their achievements recognised in the UCC 2021 Research and Innovation Awards on the 1^st of June in the Glucksman Gallery.

The ceremony was addressed by guest of honour Professor Philp Nolan of Maynooth University and Director of SFI who spoke of the importance of supporting all forms of frontier research across STEM and AHSS in tackling key contemporary societal challenges.

Speaking before the award ceremony to staff across the University, the Vice President for Research and Innovation Professor John Cryan noted that awardees were researchers who have made exceptional and very influential research contributions, pushing boundaries, enhancing knowledge and raising the national and international profile of University College Cork.

The UCC Research Awards are about celebrating our excellence in Research & Innovation. UCC is a research intensive university and these awards are about acknowledging the outstanding contributions made  by our researchers locally, nationally and globally.

CACSSS recipients included individual and team-based awards, highlighting the excellent standards of research being undertaken as well as the collaborative and collegial manner by which staff in the College work to maintain these high standards.

2021 UCC Research Awards for staff in CACSSS:

• Early Career Researcher of the Year – Dr Carlos Garrido – School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
• Best publication of the Year involving an Undegraduate student as an author 2021 - Jennifer Murphy and Dr Hillary Jenkins - School of Applied Social Studies
• President’s Award for Research Impacting the Sustainable Development Goals 2021 – Dr Ger Mulally and the Imagining 2050 project (incl. Dr Clodagh Harris) – School of Society, Politics and Ethics
• Vice President for Research & Innovation Award for Interdisciplinary Research 2021 – Prof Padraig O’Machain & Dr Daniella Iacopino  - School of Irish Learning & Tyndall

Congratulating the awardees from the College, Vice Head for Research and Innovation Dr Helena Buffery commented: These are projects that showcase the range and quality of interdisciplinary research in CACSSS. From work that draws on and nourishes long-term engagement with the local community to cutting-edge collaborations across disciplinary boundaries, all of these researchers have demonstrated impact at local, national and international levels.

Joining colleagues in person to celebrate these awards were recipients of the 2020 University Research Awards. The 2020 Research Awards were held on-line, and this represented the first occasion at which these awardees were able to share in their success together.

The 2020 Research Awardees in CACSSS were:

• Researcher of the Year 2020 Prof Claire Connolly School of English and Digital Humanities
• Open researcher of the Year 2020 Dr James Smith Ports Past and Present and School of English, Dr Giovanni Vitali School of Languages, Literatures and Culture
• Creating a culture for the responsible conduct of Research, Dr Liz Kiely and Ms Liz Hales University Ethics Committee
• Research Supervisor of the Year 2020 Dr Silvia Ross School of Languages, Literatures and Culture