Ten DCU Researchers receive Research Ireland New Foundations funding
The New Foundations Scheme supports eligible researchers who intend to pursue research, networking and/or dissemination activities within and across the diversity of disciplines.
The call includes a number of strands ranging from €10,000 to €20,000 in funding. Projects can be undertaken with a partner organisation. Many projects are also co-funded by specific government departments.
The successful applicants from DCU are:
Dr Agnes Maillot: Cultivating empathy through information, knowledge and solidarity
Empathy is key to furthering our understanding of the experiences of those who are forced to leave their homes for political, cultural, economic or climatic reasons. This project aims to create a repository of resources and testimonies of both migrants and local volunteers, to further empathy and shared objectives between newly arrived persons and host communities. Places of Sanctuary Ireland is a partner on this project.
Dr Anne Marie Kavanagh: Le chéile atáimid: Building ETB teachers’ capacity to teach for climate justice and sustainability *
This collaborative project between DCU and Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) focuses on Climate Justice Education (CJE), an approach central to action- and equality-driven Climate Change Education (CCE). This project is co-funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Dr Ciara White: Caring In Relation to Career, Life, and Employment
The CIRCLE project explores how Ireland can better support family carers balancing employment with unpaid caregiving. Despite the availability of state supports like Carer’s Leave & Carer’s Benefit, uptake remains low. The goal is meaningful change that recognises the dual role of work & care. Family Carers Ireland is a partner on this project.
Dr Francis Ward: ARISE: Arts-based Reflection and Identity Storytelling with/in Education – Creative Explorations of Identity and Belonging with LGBTQIA+ Youth
This project seeks to collaborate with partner organisation Youth Work Ireland to run creative workshops using visual art, music, images, objects, and dramatic role-play with 10–20 LGBTQIA+ young people in Dublin. These workshops will support participants to explore identity, belonging, and personal experience through the arts. Findings will be shared through training and publications to help teachers and youth workers foster more inclusive, supportive, and creative spaces.
Dr Hannah Goss: Resources for Empowering Activity through Co-design and Health Literacy (REACH): Movement for People Living with Chronic Pain
Chronic pain affects one in three people in Ireland, reducing quality of life and limiting physical activity, a risk factor for non-communicable diseases. Despite its benefits, physical activity is often avoided due to fear, lack of support, and limited access to trained professionals. This project will co-design an accessible digital educational resource with key stakeholders. Chronic Pain Ireland are a partner on this project.
Dr Jivanta Schottli: Negotiating Identity and Belonging: The Integration Experiences of Second-Generation Indian Immigrant Females in Dublin/Ireland
This project explores how young Irish female adults of Indian origin are actively shaping and creating identity and belonging in Ireland’s evolving multicultural society. The project’s central premise is that gender is a key lens through which to understand how young adults navigate social, cultural and institutional constraints and opportunities. The National Library of Ireland is a partner on this project.
Dr Nicholas O'Neill: Digital Monsters? The Political Economy of Data Centres in Ireland
This project investigates the environmental implications and political influence of Ireland’s data centre industry. Using policy analysis, stakeholder interviews, and lobbying data, the project will generate actionable insights to inform public debate, strengthen civic engagement, and support ecologically sustainable approaches to digital infrastructure governance. Friend of the Earth of Ireland are partnering on this project.
Dr Sarahjane Belton: From Shock to Shift: Transformative Approaches to addressing Long Covid
Responding to the societal shock of long COVID (LC), this project brings together experts across disciplines to lay the groundwork for a novel community-based education and support programme for individuals living with the illness. Through collaborative co-design with people with lived experience and interdisciplinary partners, the project will develop a draft programme framework and inform future grant proposals. Dr Belton's Co-PI is based at the Royal College of Surgeons.
Dr Shivaun O'Brien: Raising Involvement in School Engagement (RISE) – Exploring Student Involvement in Governance and Decision-Making in Educate Together Schools and Across the Educate Together Network
Educate Together, an equality-based school network, promotes democratic school communities where students help shape their learning environments. However, there is limited research on how this is realised in practice. This study will use a survey to explore current practices of student participation in democratic structures across the network. Educate Together are a partner on this project.
Dr Sinead McCauley Lambe: Developing the practice, knowledge and understanding of early childhood educators and caregivers in relation to young children’s motor development
There has been a widely documented decline in young children’s motor development in recent years in Ireland with only 11% of early adolescents achieving mastery in nine fundamental movement skills including hopping, kicking and throwing. This mixed-methods project will employ a nationwide survey examining current practice, knowledge and understanding of the issue and will develop a motor development training course and resources. Dyspraxia/DCD Ireland are a partner.