CONNECT Awards Over €510,000 in Funding to Women-Led STEAM Research Projects

The CONNECT Centre is delighted to announce the awardees of its latest Platform funding, allocating over €510,000 to support innovative, women-led research projects in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM). This special funding initiative is designed to foster greater diversity in research leadership while driving advancements in future network technologies and STEAM innovation.

The platform funding call invited proposals from women researchers who are not currently CONNECT Principal Investigators (PIs) or Funded Investigators (FIs). Each project selected represents cutting-edge ideas that align with CONNECT’s strategic research themes, addressing critical challenges in areas such as communication systems, sustainable technologies, accessibility, and autonomous vehicles.

The Awardees and Their Projects

1. Sobia Jangsher (DCU)
   Project Title: NOMA-enabled radio over fibre fronthaul for cell-free massive MIMO
   This project explores innovative radio over fibre solutions using Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) to enhance wireless communication systems. The research focuses on addressing the challenges of massive MIMO networks, a cornerstone of next-generation communication technologies.
2. Alessandra Imbrogno (TNI/UCC)
   Project Title: Green TriboElectric Nanogenerators for Self-powered Wearable Applications
   Focused on sustainability, this project develops green triboelectric nanogenerators to power wearable technologies. The goal is to create eco-friendly, energy-efficient solutions for self-sustaining devices.
3. Eleanor Bantry-White (UCC)
   Project Title: RED Framework – Co-creating Rights Enabled by Design [RED] for IoT in Intellectual Disability
   This project designs a rights-based framework for creating IoT technologies tailored to the needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity in technology design.
4. Parvaneh Mokarian Tabari (TCD)
   Project Title: Enhancing Infrared Communication in Autonomous Vehicles Using Sub-Wavelength Structures
   This project enhances the reliability and performance of infrared communication systems for autonomous vehicles by leveraging advanced sub-wavelength optical structures, paving the way for more efficient vehicle communication.

Advancing Diversity and Innovation

This platform funding round underscores CONNECT’s commitment to empowering underrepresented groups in research leadership and advancing meaningful innovations. By supporting women researchers in STEAM disciplines, CONNECT aims to drive progress in critical areas that will shape the future of communication and network technologies.

Professor Dan Kilper, Director of CONNECT, commented:
“We are incredibly proud to support these talented researchers. Their projects not only align with CONNECT’s mission but also represent the importance and value of diverse leadership in science and technology.”

The awarded projects will run through December 2026, with CONNECT providing ongoing support to help the investigators achieve their research goals.

CONNECT is the world leading Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Future Networks and Communications. CONNECT is funded under the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres Programme and is co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund. We engage with over 35 companies including large multinationals, SMEs and start-ups. CONNECT brings together world-class expertise from ten Irish academic institutes to create a one-stop-shop for telecommunications research, development and innovation.