Researcher of the Year Awards

Our call for nominations for the 2020 Researcher of the Year awards is now open. Now in their fourth year, these awards will commend the very best of our current awardees or alumni working in academia, industry, civic society or the public sector.

Nominations are invited under three categories, with guidance on submitting an application available on the top right hand side of this page.

Category one — Researcher of the Year (2019 winner – Professor Laoise McNamara, NUI Galway)

One award will be made to a person currently working in research in an academic institution who is, or has previously been, a named awardee of the Council,* and who has made an exceptional contribution to research in their field.

*This includes the Council’s predecessors, namely the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) and the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET).*

Nomination Form for Category 1

Category two — Early-Career Researcher of the Year (2019 winner Dr Jeremy J. Piggott, TCD)

One award will be made to an early-career researcher currently working in research in an academic institution who is, or previously has been, a named awardee of the Council, and who has demonstrated an exceptional level of achievement in their field at this stage in their career.

Nomination Form for Category 2

Category three — Impact Award (2019 winner Professor David Farrell, UCD)

One award will be made to an awardee of the Council who is making a highly significant impact outside of academia.

Nomination Form for Category 3

Ceremony

The awardees will be presented with a commemorative plaque at a ceremony in late 2020. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and physical distancing, the awards ceremony may be held remotely (to be confirmed). The winners will also be profiled through an extensive media and online communications campaign.

Nomination forms and Guidance with further information about the nomination process are available for download from this page.

Please also consult the Frequently Asked Questions document which will be updated regularly while the call is live.

If you do not find the answer to your query in the call documentation, you should contact the research office in your host institution, which will provide information and clarification on the call. Research offices can send any queries they are unable to clarify to rotya@research.ie.

Key Dates