Two University College Cork researchers are among the winners in the Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) 2024 awards.

Dr Aaron Lim, from the Department of Geography/Environmental Research Institute was named Early Career Researcher of the Year, and Dr Luiza Wasiewska, from Tyndall National Institute and APC Microbiome Ireland, is awarded the Thomas Mitchell Medal of Excellence.

The awards celebrate the best of IRC-funded researchers deemed to have made highly significant and valuable contributions to knowledge, society, culture, and innovation. The awardees were selected by an independent expert panel, chaired by Emeritus Professor of Education, Áine Hyland.

Unlocking the secrets of Earth's most remote environments

Dr Aaron Lim is a lecturer in Marine Geosciences in UCC College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, Director of MSc Applied Coastal and Marine Management, and Head of the Earth and Ocean Lab at UCC. Dr Lim has been awarded over €4 million in research funding since 2017 and published over 30 peer-reviewed articles. He has supervised eight postgraduate research students to completion and his research group currently has ten members.

Dr Lim’s research interests include seabed habitat mapping, development of novel seabed mapping and monitoring methods, and contemporary seabed processes. He has worked in senior scientific management in the offshore survey/renewable industry. He has previously been a member of the EuroFleets+ Scientific Advisory Committee and has participated in over 15 research cruises (chief scientist on four) ranging from the Mid-Atlantic, North Atlantic, Celtic Sea and Irish Sea.

Dr Lim said: "This award represents not just recognition of our research, but the growing awareness of how crucial it is to understand our changing oceans. By developing new ways to map and monitor the seafloor and our coastlines, we are unlocking the secrets of some of Earth's most remote and vulnerable environments. Our work at UCC is helping bridge the gap between what we know about our oceans and coasts and what we need to know to protect them. As climate change continues to impact marine ecosystems, innovative approaches to deep-ocean research have never been more vital," said Dr Lim.

Photo: Dr Aaron Lim (Early Career Researcher of the Year) and Dr Luiza Wasiewska (recipient of the Thomas Mitchell Medal of Excellence). Image credit: Keith Atkins.

Medal of excellence

Dr Luiza Wasiewska was awarded the Thomas Mitchell Medal of Excellence for being the top-ranked postdoctoral researcher in the STEM category. Dr Wasiewska is a postdoctoral researcher in Tyndall National Institute and APC Microbiome Ireland, under the supervision of Dr Sofia Teixeira and Professor Colin Hill.

Dr Wasiewska’s PhD project was completed between Tyndall National Institute in Cork and Teagasc in Dublin and investigated the development of biosensors for the DNA-based detection of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). After her PhD, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher on an industry-funded project at APC Microbiome Ireland in the microbiota-gut-brain axis group, where she studied the influence of microbial metabolites from prebiotic fermentation on gut-brain-axis targets.

Her current IRC postdoctoral fellowship focuses on the development of electrochemical biosensors, which are rapid detection devices for the detection of relevant pathogenic bacteria. A novel approach used in this work is the use of endolysins, enzymes produced by bacteriophages, which are viruses that kill bacteria. These enzymes are specific to the bacteria that the bacteriophage can kill, and based on the literature, they can be used in biosensor development for the specific recognition of pathogens.

"Winning this prize is a great honour, and it means a lot to me. Learning that I was a top-scoring candidate in my area was a huge shock to me, but it proves that other people recognise the massive potential in using endolysins for bacterial detection. I will do my best to make the rapid detection of pathogens in clinical setting a reality."

Congratulating both UCC award winners, Professor John Cryan, UCC Vice President for Research & Innovation, said: "I wish to extend the warmest congratulations to Dr Aaron Lim and Dr Luiza Wasiewska on receiving these prestigious national awards from Research Ireland. Both awardees have achieved incredible research success in their short research careers and are deserving recipients of these awards. We are all immensely proud of their achievements to date and look forward to watching them both develop further into world-leading researchers."

Peter Brown, Director, Researcher Development in Research Ireland congratulated the Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) awardees, adding, "The awardees are wonderful examples of those that have gone above and beyond to bring new knowledge and understandings to the fore. At different stages in their research journey, they are enriching their respective fields and Ireland’s research and innovation system. Across the humanities, science and medicine, the awardees are contributing to a better, healthier, more sustainable, and more culturally enriched world, benefiting us all."

In August 2024, the Irish Research Council (IRC) amalgamated with Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) to become Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland, the new national funding agency for research and innovation in Ireland. As the award recipients were previously funded by the Irish Research Council, this 2024 awards round have been made as Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) Awards.

Nominations were also invited to celebrate ‘Research Allies’ as part of the IRC legacy awards. Research Ally prizes are made to mark the crucial role played by higher education personnel in supporting the academic research community across all career levels. Amongst the 67 Research Allies recognised by for their contribution to supporting research in Ireland in 2024 were Dr Patrick O’Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in the School of Law, and Kathleen White, Research Officer in the Department of Sociology and Criminology.

Main Photo: Dr Aaron Lim (Early Career Researcher of the Year), Emeritus Professor of Education Áine Hyland (Chair of the Researcher of the Year Awards expert panel) and Dr Luiza Wasiewska (recipient of the Thomas Mitchell Medal of Excellence). Image credit: Keith Atkins.