Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris has announced the first 26 teams to receive funding under the €65 million National Challenge Fund – a competition to find solutions to major environmental and societal issues.The 2050 Challenge seeks transformative, forward-looking solutions to Ireland becoming climate neutral and resilient by 2050.
Two iCRAG members and colleagues have been selected:
- iCRG Principal Investigator Prof. Laurence Gill, co-lead Dr Muhammad Ali, Trinity College Dublin, Methane Biofilter – biofiltration of methane generated from on-site wastewater treatment systems.
- iCRAG Funded Investigator Dr Zili Li, University College Cork, co-lead Dr Andrea Visentin, University College Cork, RoadPhone – developing datasets for road pavement quality assessment for maintenance and risk mitigation.
The teams will begin their tasks by working with people directly affected by the problems they are trying to solve, and by learning more about how to build from research ideas to tangible solutions. Teams will be provided with additional opportunities to grow and scale their activities with opportunities for follow on funding in future phases, ranging from €500,000 to €2 million for the most competitive teams.