UCC researchers receive €3m in funding from MSCA programme to train the next generation of early-career researchers

3 Jul 2025

University College Cork (UCC) researchers will lead a major European-wide project aimed at embedding circular approaches into future electronic products and will partner in five other cutting-edge projects to receive a combined €3m funding under the 2024 HORIZON Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks programme. 

Coordinated by Dr Daniela Iacopino from the Nanotechnology group in UCC’s research flagship Tyndall National Institute, the €4.1m FERNS Doctoral Network brings together 10 partners and 9 associate partners with expertise across the entire electronics value chain to address the key challenges underpinning the field of sustainable electronics.  The project will train a talented cohort of 15 doctoral researchers to embed circular approaches into electronics design in support of the mutual reinforcement of the EU’s Green and Digital transition ambitions. 

The project will incorporate eco-design and co-creation in the electronic products development phase; develop novel sustainable materials and integration processes for next generation sustainable electronics, targeting three specific application areas (Fitness, Short Use Health, and Farming); create novel models promoting societal and economical acceptance and appropriation of sustainable electronics. 

“FERNS addresses the need to train next generation material scientists, engineers, and social scientists in the use of natural materials and low-cost fabrication techniques to make future sustainable electronics. This holistic approach is necessary to dismantle the linear economic model of make, use, dispose and to promote circularity, in support of EU and national environmental policies, enforcements and ambitions,” said Dr Iacopino. 

The FERNS project has been awarded funding under the HORIZON MCSA Doctoral Networks programme. The programme implements doctoral programmes through partnerships of organisations from different sectors across Europe, to train highly skilled doctoral students. UCC researchers will lead or partner on six projects in the latest round of HORIZON MSCA Doctoral Network programme awards, receiving a combined €3m in funding. These include: 

Entanglements of Migration and Time in Post-industrial Urban Europe (MITIME) 
UCC Funding amount: €682,174 
UCC team: Dr. Caitríona Ní Laoire (UCC PI), Dr. Claire Dorrity, Dr. Claire Edwards, Dr. Mastoureh Fathi and Dr. Piaras Mac Éinrí, Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century. 

MITIME is a pioneering interdisciplinary international doctoral programme, led by University of Oulu, that trains early-career scholars in critical issues of migration, integration and societal change currently faced by European cities. The programme seeks to challenge conventional understandings of human mobility that often envisage linear trajectories of migratory processes from departure to arrival to settlement. 

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Magnesium Alloys for Efficient Solid-State Cooling (MGICIAN) 
UCC Funding Amount: €682,174 
UCC lead: Dr. Kafil M. Razeeb, Tyndall National Institute. 

The MGICIAN project will design an immersive, interdisciplinary, inter-sectorial, and international research and training program and provide training and mentoring to 15 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) in cutting-edge research and innovation in Thermoelectric-based solid-state cooling for a low-carbon, sustainable future. 

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Micronutrients in Sustainable and Nutritious Diet (MICROSUNSET) 
UCC Funding Amount: €341,087 
UCC team: Professor Kevin Cashman (UCC PI), Dr. Alice Lucey and Dr. Aylin Sahin in the School of Food & Nutritional Sciences.  

MICROSUNSET will train young scientists in micronutrient research to ensure that future sustainable diets provide essential nutrients to promote healthy lives for populations in Europe and globally. The training the doctoral students will receive during the project will bring them to the forefront of food and health research in the area of micronutrients and will deliver essential knowledge and human resources to shape the future health of European citizens.  

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Enhanced Vaccine Design Against Antimicrobial Resistance (EVADERE) 
UCC funding Amount €341,087 
UCC team: Professor Anne Moore (UCC PI) from the School of Biochemistry & Cell Biology and NIBRT (National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training), and Dr Sonja Vucen from the School of Pharmacy. 

EVADERE is a multidisciplinary consortium of 14 internationally recognised experts from 9 European countries who will provide 15 doctoral candidates with high-quality inter-sectoral training in discovery and development of vaccines targeting antimicrobial resistance based on innovative antigens, adjuvants, and delivery methods. 

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Confident Data-Driven Decision Support (CoRDS) 
UCC Funding Amount: €682,174 
UCC lead: Professor Barry O’Sullivan in the School of Computer Science & Information Technology, the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics, and the Research Ireland Centre for Research Training in Artificial Intelligence. 

CoRDS involves a consortium of 22 partners comprising 10 universities, 9 companies and 3 non-profits. CoRDS will support 15 PhD students to tackle the severe shortage of professionals trained in machine learning and operations research. CoRDS will create new, human-centred data-driven optimisation methods that harness, exploit, and present data, in a trustworthy way to increase acceptance of such technologies in government, industry and society. 

Congratulating UCC’s awardees, Professor John F. Cryan, UCC Vice President for Research and Innovation said: “The funding from this programme is linked to recruiting new doctoral students and will make a significant contribution to Goal 1.3 of UCC’s strategic plan by increasing PhD enrolment numbers. It is a significant programme in the careers of early-stage researchers at UCC as it designs training specific doctoral programmes to develop entrepreneurial and innovative doctoral candidates through exposure to academic and industry sectors." 

For more on this story contact:

The 2025 HORIZON Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks programme call is currently open, with an application deadline set for 25 November 2025. For queries and support within UCC, contact Dr Paolo Saporito: psaporito@ucc.ie