Architectural and craft history expert Professor Christine Casey named Researcher of the Year as part of the Irish Research Council legacy awards. Dr Aaron Lim named Early Career Researcher of the Year, with Dr Jakub Gajewski announced as Impact Award winner. Top-ranked researchers in 2024 Government of Ireland scheme also recognised.
The Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) Awards were announced at an event on Wednesday, January 15th 2025.
The awards celebrated the very best of IRC-funded researchers deemed to have made highly significant and valuable contributions to knowledge, society, culture and innovation.
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 has been made as Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) Awards.
Selected by an independent expert panel chaired by Professor Emeritus Áine Hyland, the winners are as follows:
Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) Award recipient is Christine Casey, Professor of Architectural History at Trinity College Dublin.
Professor Casey is an international authority on the City of Dublin and on the early modern interior in Europe, Britain and Ireland. She has published widely on Irish architecture including two volumes in the Yale University Press Buildings of Ireland series and has published a wide-ranging study of architecture and decoration in early modern Europe, Britain and Ireland (Making Magnificence, Yale 2017) for which she received the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain in 2018.
Professor Casey was the recipient of a €1million IRC Advanced Laureate funding award in 2019 CRAFT-VALUE. This project aimed to unearth and valorise craft practice in eighteenth-century architecture, which she credits with having enabled her to go on to lead in the development of a €2.5 million European Research Council project titled STONE-WORK. This project will reassess the history of architecture in Britain and Ireland through the medium of stone and began in 2023. Professor Casey’s interdisciplinary nature of the research combining architectural and craft history with socio-economic history and geology, has the potential to create a new benchmark for future historical research.
Professor Casey is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and an honorary member of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, she has served as a trustee, board and committee member on national organisations for architectural heritage including the Alfred Beit Trust, the Castletown Foundation, the Heritage Council, the Irish Architectural Archive and the Irish Georgian Society.
Receiving her award Professor Casey said, “It is a great honour to receive this award. By encouraging collaboration between the Humanities and STEM disciplines in the New Horizons programme, IRC funding opened the way to a dynamic new perspective on the production of architecture in Ireland, predicated on materials and making rather than traditional emphasis on design, style and patronage”.
Highly Commended in the Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) Award category are Alistair Nichol Professor of Critical Care Medicine at University College Dublin (UCD), alongside Seamus Martin, who is the Smurfit Professor of Molecular Genetics in TCD.
Early Career Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) Award recipient is Dr Aaron Lim, Lecturer in Marine Geosciences from University College Cork.
Dr Lim’s current research focuses on seabed habitat mapping, development of novel seabed mapping and monitoring methods and contemporary seabed processes. Dr Lim is Director of MSc Applied Coastal and Marine Management and Head of the Earth and Ocean Lab at University College Cork. Dr Lim has won €4M in research grants (SFI, Marine Institute, H2020, PIP, EI, GSI, EPA and IRC) and published 30 peer-reviewed research articles with a H-index of 15. He has won UCC Early-stage Research of the Year, the President’s Award for Research into Innovative form of Teaching, the Gold Medal Delap prize with two articles selected as Editor’s choice Nature Science Reports (‘Top 100 in Earth Science’ and ‘Editor’s Choice for Coral Reefs’). He has 2 years of senior scientific management experience in the offshore survey/renewable industry and was previously a member of the EuroFleets+ Scientific Advisory Committee. He 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 was awarded an IRC Government of Ireland Postgraduate scholarship in 2015 investigating Spatio-temporal patterns and controls on cold-water coral reef development: the Moira Mounds, Porcupine Seabight, offshore Ireland.
Speaking about the impact of his research Dr Lim said, “Receiving this award underscores the importance and impact of our research to understand our marine environments, from coastlines to the deep ocean floor. My research group at UCC and I are pioneering new ways to map and monitor these diverse marine landscapes, using cutting-edge technology to understand changes in both coastal and deep-sea environments. This recognition will help us push the boundaries of seafloor mapping technology even further, ultimately helping us make more informed decisions about protecting our oceans. It’s particularly meaningful as it reflects Ireland’s growing leadership in marine research and innovation.”
Highly Commended in the Early Career Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) Award category are Dr Stefan Müller, who is Associate Professor in Political Science in UCD alongside Dr Mary Canavan, who is Assistant Professor in Immunology in TCD.
The Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) Impact Award recipient is Dr Jakub Gajewski, Research Programme Director, Institute of Global Surgery in RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Dr Gajewski was presented with the Impact Award this year for his leadership in advancing sustainable healthcare for underserved populations, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
He is a leading figure in advancing sustainable healthcare for underserved populations, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. His leadership in two European Commission-funded projects, COST and SURG-Africa (2011-2021), implemented in Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania, has been instrumental in addressing the global shortage of safe surgery. Key innovations include: 1) The world’s first Bachelor of Science training in general surgery for non-doctors in Malawi and Zambia; 2) A supervision and surgical training system for rural hospitals in Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania; 3) The first Managed Clinical Network in sub-Saharan Africa to streamline surgical referrals in Malawi. These initiatives are now integrated into national healthcare systems and serve as models for other countries.
Dr Gajewski’s work in breast cancer care, has also brought transformative change in Malawi, where nine out of ten women with breast cancer die within 18 months of diagnosis. Through the Akazi Project, he has promoted early detection, raised awareness, and improved access to screening in underserved communities. His work not only saves lives but also demonstrates how research can drive systemic healthcare improvements through innovation, collaboration, and policy change. He actively engages with governments, training bodies, and stakeholders to ensure that his research team’s findings translate into actionable change. Dr Gajewski’s approach is rooted in breaking down the socio-economic, geographical, and systemic barriers that impede equitable access to healthcare. Akazi not only strengthened the local health system but also provided a scalable model for other countries facing similar healthcare challenges.
Commenting on the award Dr Gajewski said, “Receiving the Impact Award is both an honour and a source of renewed energy. It is a powerful reminder that research is not solely about publishing papers but about driving meaningful, lasting change. I am deeply grateful to my incredible team and collaborators who have made this work possible. This recognition motivates us to continue pushing boundaries—because in global health, every step forward has the potential to transform lives, and that is the most rewarding achievement of all”.
Highly Commended in the Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) Impact Award category are Anne MacFarlane Professor of Primary Healthcare Research in UL, Esther Murphy, Research Fellow and DigiAcademy Founder in TCD, along with William Gallagher, Professor of Cancer Biology in UCD.
Peter Brown, Director, Researcher Development in Research Ireland, congratulated the Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) awardees, adding,
“The researchers being honoured today have demonstrated excellence in their many achievements within and beyond their disciplines. 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.”
