SETU Research Excellence Awards
These awards are an opportunity to recognise and honour colleagues who exemplify research excellence — those whose work advances knowledge, fosters collaboration, and delivers real-world benefit across our region and beyond.
By nominating a colleague or research supervisor, SETU staff help to shine a light on the dedication and achievements that make SETU a dynamic, research-led university. We encourage all staff to take part in this year’s call and to help us showcase the breadth of talent and commitment that define research at SETU.
The 2025 SETU Research Excellence Awards winners will be announced at the Research Excellence Awards Ceremony on 16 February 2026 at our Cork Road campus.
You can access the live stream of the ceremony here.
2025 Awards Categories
Research Excellence Award
Recognition of outstanding individual achievement, leadership, and innovation in research that advances knowledge and enhances SETU’s reputation.
Category nominees:
Dr Dean Callaghan, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Dr Adriana Cunha Neves, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Bernadette Flanagan, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Dr Bhaskar Murari, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Professor Helen Hughes, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Deirdre Kilbane, Walton Institute
Dr Denise O’ Meara, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Sweta Rani, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Leana Reinl, Faculty of Business
Dr Pat Chambers, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Dr Edmond Tobin, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Interdisciplinary Research Award
Recognition of exceptional collaborative research across disciplines, institutions, or sectors that delivers high-quality, impactful outcomes.
Category nominees:
Dr Adriana Cunha Neves, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Thomas Egan, Faculty of Business
Dr Owen Naughton, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment.
Rising Star Award (Up to 5 years post-PhD, excluding eligible career breaks)
Recognition of early-career researchers showing exceptional promise, creativity, and emerging impact in their field.
Category nominees:
Dr Thomas Curran, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr James Garland, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Dr Manasa Hegde, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Dr Máire McCafferty, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Dr Aisling McGrath, Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr Chris McNulty, Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr Arun Sankar Muttathu Sivasankara Pillai, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Knowledge Exchange & Industry Partnership Award
Recognition of research that successfully translates into practice through collaboration with industry, enterprise, or public bodies.
Category nominees:
Dr Dean Callaghan, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Dr Paula Carroll, Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr Ashish Vashishtha, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Dr Claire Keary, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Ultan McCarthy, Faculty of Science and Computing
Engaged Research and Impact (individual) Award
Recognition of research that meaningfully involves communities, citizens, or stakeholders to create shared value and tangible societal benefit.
Category nominees:
Mr John Balfe, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Ms Susan Barnes, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Dr Amanda Barry, Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr Adriana Cunha Neves, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Christa de Brun, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Dr Sheila Long, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Ms Joy Rooney, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Dr Ashish Vashishtha, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Engaged Research and Impact (group) Award
Recognition of group research that meaningfully involves communities, citizens, or stakeholders to create shared value and tangible societal benefit.
Category nominees:
Eco - Innovation Research Centre
Molecular Ecology Research Group
Ocular Therapeutics Research Group
Postgraduate Supervisor Award
Recognition of excellence in postgraduate supervision, mentorship, and researcher development.
Category nominees:
Dr Damien Brady, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Paul Byrne, Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr Adriana Cunha Neves, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Zeta Dooly, Faculty of Education and Lifelong Learning
Dr James Garland, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Dr Rejwanul Haque, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Barry Lambe, Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr Bernadette Flanagan, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Dr Laurence Fitzhenry, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Ciara O’Hagan, Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr David O’Neill, Faculty of Science and Computing
Dr Aisling Tuite, Faculty of Business
Dr Sinéad Uí Mhurchadha, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Nomination Process
- Nominations must be submitted via this form.
- Please review the Nomination Guidance Document before submitting.
- Each nomination must include sufficient detail to address the award criteria.
- Where applicable, nominees may be asked to provide a short CV or supervisor profile.
- Nominations that do not meet the submission requirements will not be eligible.
Evaluation Process
All nominations will be reviewed by internal evaluation panels with external input.
- Reviewers will assess nominations according to defined criteria for each category.
All reviewers will sign a Conflict-of-Interest declaration prior to evaluation.
Awards Schedule
| Launch | 24 October 2025 |
|---|---|
| Deadline for nominations | 14 November 2025 |
| Evaluation Period | November - December 2025 |
| Internal Review Meeting | January 2026 |
| Awards Ceremony | 16 February 2026 (Cork Road campus, Waterford) |
Previous Awardees
Engaged Research Impact Policy and Practice - Dr Sharon Kinsella
Dr Sharon Kinsella, Head of Department of Health and Sports Science at SETU, has received the Engaged Research Impact Policy and Practice award for her novel research on autism. Her work focuses on the development of interventions to enhance the well-being of autistic individuals, particularly through physical activity.
Research Impact Industry and Commercialisation - Dr David Culliton
Dr David Culliton, a lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering and the Director of engCORE, based at SETU Carlow, was recently awarded with the Research Impact Award for Industry and Commercialisation. His work spans smart and advanced materials, advanced manufacturing, electrochemistry, and surface engineering/degradation phenomena.
Early Career Researcher - Dr James Cullen
Dr James Cullen, TU RISE Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Science, has received the Early Career Researcher Award for his significant contributions to agricultural science and the feed industry.
Research Supervisor - Dr Susan Flynn
Dr Susan Flynn, Head of the Department of Arts and Senior Lecturer at SETU, has been recognised with the prestigious Research Supervisor Award. Dr Flynn’s research in the arts and humanities, explores how inequality is created and sustained by institutions, technologies, environments, and practices.
Established Researcher - Professor Gillian Gardiner
Professor Gillian Gardiner, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at SETU, has been awarded the Established Researcher Award for her outstanding contributions to agri-food science. As the leader of a multi-disciplinary research group within the Eco-Innovation Research Centre at SETU, she has advanced research on animal feed and gut microbiome, antibiotic alternatives, and sustainable farming practices.
Early Career Researcher - Dr Zeta Dooly
Dr Zeta Dooly, Lecturer in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, leading the PG Cert in Technology Enhanced Learning and Researcher at SETU, was presented with the Early Career Researcher award.
Established Researcher - Dr Laurence Fitzhenry
The Established Researcher award was presented to Dr Laurence Fitzhenry. Dr Fitzhenry is a Lecturer and Researcher in Pharmaceutical Science at the Department of Science, and Principal Investigator of the Ocular Therapeutics Research Group (OTRG) at the PMBRC.
Research Impact award for Industry and Commercialisation - Dr Niall O’ Reilly
The winner of the Research Impact award for Industry and Commercialisation was Dr Niall O’ Reilly, Centre Manager of PMBRC. Dr O’Reilly has overseen the development of the centre since 2009, including the coordination of projects with over 100 industry partners totalling over €4m.
Research Impact Policy and Practice - Dr Imelda Casey
Dr Imelda Casey, a Lecturer with the Department of Land Sciences, was presented with the Research Impact Policy and Practice award.
Research Supervisor - Dr Larry Stapleton
Dr Larry Stapleton was honoured to be presented with the SETU Research Supervisor award. Dr Larry Stapleton is senior academic and international consultant in advanced digital systems, organisational transformation, and leadership working with private and public sector organisations, governments, and international agencies across the world.
President's Award for the Advancement of Research and Supervision - Dr Thomae Kakouli-Duarte
Separate to the Excellence awards, the President's Award for the Advancement of Research and Supervision at SETU was awarded to Dr Thomae Kakouli-Duarte. This award recognises excellence in contribution to the development of research and supervision at the University.
Early Career Researcher - Dr Rebecca Power
Dr Rebecca Power, Marie Sklodowska Curie Action Research Fellow, and Postdoctoral Researcher at SETU Waterford, was presented with the Early Career Researcher award. Dr Power is primarily interested in the role of dietary patterns and specific nutrients in maintaining brain health, improving cognitive performance, and reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Established Researcher - Dr Lee Coffey
The Established Researcher award was presented to Dr Lee Coffey. Dr Coffey is a Lecturer and Researcher in Molecular Biology with Biopharmaceutical Science at the Department of Science, SETU Waterford and is a Principal Investigator at the PMBRC where he is leading the Molecular Biotechnology and Biopharmaceutical Research Group.
Due to the variety of nominations received for the Research Impact Award, the decision was made to split it into two categories 1) Industry and Commercialisation and 2) Policy and Practice.
Research Impact award for Industry and Commercialisation - Dr Patrick Lynch
The winner of the Research Impact award for Industry and Commercialisation was Dr Pat Lynch, Director of RIKON, a business innovation research centre in SETU Waterford. Patrick manages a team of researchers who are recognised for making real transformational change in business and re-imaging how companies can identify tactical market opportunities to grow business volume and develop breakthrough strategies and innovative business models to transform their organisation.
Research Impact Policy and Practice - Dr Noel Richardson
Dr Noel Richardson was presented with the Research Impact Policy and Practice award. Dr Richardson is Lecturer and Director of healthCORE at SETU Carlow. He has extensive experience in the area of men’s health at a research and policy level. His current research interests include men, masculinities, and mental health; and health promotion interventions targeted at ‘hard to reach’ groups of men in community and workplace settings. He is also a passionate advocate for men's health.
Research Supervisor - Professor Gillian Gardiner
Finally, Prof Gillian Gardiner was honoured to be presented with the Research Supervisor award. Prof Gardiner leads a successful multi-disciplinary agri-food research group within the Eco-Innovation Research Centre at SETU Waterford. She has supervised 13 PhD students to completion and is currently supervising four and one Masters student. Prof Gardiner has obtained >€7.2 million in research funding since joining SETU and is Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator on a number of projects, many with industrial partners
Early Career Researcher - Dr Kate McCarthy
Dr Kate McCarthy, Department of Arts, School of Humanities, won the Early Career Researcher award category. Kate’s teaching, research, and practice explores and challenges exclusionary and gendered narratives. Her research outputs take many forms including theatre practice, workshops, community engagement projects, public talks, podcasts, as well as publications. As a practitioner, Kate has facilitated and devised numerous contemporary performance projects in Ireland and in the UK, ranging from youth theatre to site-responsive and street theatre to drama and theatre education projects.
Established Researcher - Dr Patrick Lynch
The Established Researcher award was presented to Dr Patrick Lynch, Department of Management and Organisation, and Co-founder and Director of RIKON. Patrick has been researching and teaching innovation management and market analysis for over 15 years in WIT. As Director of RIKON, Patrick has amassed considerable industry, consultancy and applied innovation research experience in both management and delivery capacities spanning innovation processes and framework development, market and business research and analysis, new product and service development and business modelling and development and market development.
Research Impact - Dr Ramesh Raghavendra
The winner of the Research Impact award is Dr Ramesh Raghavendra of WIT’s School of Engineering, SEAM Centre Director & Founder of 3DWIT. Dr Raghavendra has been a Principal Investigator on numerous Advanced Manufacturing related industrial projects including two large Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership projects to the value of €1.1m and €400,000 with MNC, SME and LEO companies based in Ireland. In his present role as SEAM Director, Ramesh is responsible for overall operational aspects and was instrumental in relaunching the centre in 2009. Within ten years of launching of SEAM, Ramesh has established collaborations with over 235 Irish based industries and successfully managed to deliver over 3000 directly funded Industrial projects.
Research Supervisor - Dr Brendan Jennings
The award for Research Supervisor went to Dr Brendan Jennings, Department of Computing and Mathematics. In his 15+ years in Waterford, Dr Jennings was instrumental in delivering a vibrant, well-regarded research programme on communications network management. He has been Principal Investigator on research grants totaling €9m+. From 2014 to 2019 he was WIT’s first Head of Graduate Studies, leading the introduction of Structured PhD programmes and research student structures and supports across WIT. During 2020 Brendan was the Interim Director of CONNECT, the SFI Research Centre for Future Networks and Communications. Brendan has recently joined Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), as the university’s first Vice President for Research and Innovation.