Research - News & Events | Trinity College Dublin

A magical day for PhD graduate and Harry Potter researcher Mary Pyle

Mary Pyle, at the record age of 84, graduated with a PhD for her thesis focused on JK Rowling’s famous Harry Potter book series.

4 Nov 2022

Arts|Research

Trinity team unearths potential secret to viral resistance

Researchers worked with women infected by hepatitis C following exposure to contaminated anti-D medication in the 1970s. Some of these women exposed to the virus never showed symptoms and now – over 40 years on – the researchers believe they know why.

4 Nov 2022

Health|Research|Science

Rishi Sunak and Star Wars: what the UK prime minister can learn about governing from his favourite films

David Kenny, Associate Professor of Law at Trinity, with a piece about the new British PM first published by The Conversation.

4 Nov 2022

Business|Culture|Research|Society

Promising results from psilocybin therapy trial for treatment-resistant depression

Trinity researchers have participated in the largest and most rigorous clinical trial to date of psilocybin. Their findings are published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

3 Nov 2022

Health|Research|Science

Ten-year dataset yields vital clues for supporting Ireland’s precious pollinators

Ecologists from Trinity College Dublin have unearthed vital clues for how we can best support Ireland’s precious pollinators after interrogating a ten-year dataset containing information from 119 sites across the country.

2 Nov 2022

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Marine biologists team up with tiger sharks to help discover the world’s largest seagrass ecosystem

Today one of the biggest marine discoveries of the last decade is being announced: the largest seagrass ecosystem in the world, an area in The Bahamas estimated to be up to 92,000 km2. Published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, the study details a unique partnership with tiger sharks that played a key role in mapping and ultimately validating the main findings.

1 Nov 2022

Environment|Research|Science

Trinity physicist to lead €2.9 million Quantum Technologies Flagship project

Professor Mark Mitchison has won an EU Quantum Technologies Flagship research grant worth €2.9 million. He will lead a team of researchers seeking to understand nature’s timekeeping limitations and querying whether precision measurements can be more energy efficient.

1 Nov 2022

Awards and Funding|Research|Science

Support & Befriending service reduces health decline in older people

New research funded by the Health Research Board and ALONE, and hosted by the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN), shows that support and befriending services for older people can reduce health decline.

28 Oct 2022

Health|Research

Concerning 20-year knowledge gap on young adult brain health

Researchers at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) at Trinity College have highlighted a stark knowledge gap on brain health spanning 20 years in young adults, in an editorial recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

27 Oct 2022

Health|Research

Social prescribing needs more evidence to support its benefits before widespread rollout

Around one in five GP visits are for non-medical problems, such as loneliness or financial difficulty. However, these non-medical problems are known to have a big impact on patients’ health and wellbeing. GPs are aware of this and want to take a more holistic approach to care, but often are not sure how to do it. This has led to the development of “social prescribing”, where GPs “prescribe” social activities or support for people with the help of a link worker.

26 Oct 2022

Health|Research

Four of Shakespeare’s plays and how they speak to the current political situation in Britain

Orlaith Darling, Early Career Researcher in Contemporary English Literature and Critical Theory at Trinity, with a timely piece first published by The Conversation.

26 Oct 2022

Culture|Research|Society

Confronting our demons: understanding Halloween and the vital connections between darkness and light

Halloween celebrates the vital connections between the light and dark interfaces of existence explains Dr Cathriona Russell, School of Religion, Theology and Peace Studies, in this piece originally published in The Irish Independent.

26 Oct 2022

Culture|Research|Society

Speicis nua aimsithe: Éin áille a mhaireann ar oileáin san Indinéis

Tá zó-eolaithe ó Choláiste na Tríonóide, i gcomhar le taighdeoirí Indinéiseacha, tar éis teacht ar scata speiceas nua sa chlann Nectariniidae - éin trópaiceacha ildaite ar a dtugtar “éin gréine”. D’fhionn na zó-eolaithe go bhfuil speiceas nach raibh aithne air roimhe seo, “Éin Gréine na Wakatobi” (Cinnyris infrenatus), ag maireachtáil ar oileáin beaga bídeacha i lár na hIndinéise darbh ainm Oileáin Wakatobi.

25 Oct 2022

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Several beautiful new bird species found on remote Indonesian islands

Zoologists from Trinity, working with a research team in Indonesia, have found several new species of colourful, tropical sunbirds. The zoologists have identified a new species, the “Wakatobi Sunbird” (Cinnyris infrenatus), which lives on the tiny Wakatobi Islands in central Indonesia. They also examined the more widespread Olive-backed Sunbirds and Black Sunbirds, and found that individuals named as such actually belonged to multiple unrecognised species.

25 Oct 2022

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Trinity offers a sneak-peak at the sweet spot for innovation at the SUGAR Global Kick Off 2022/23

Innovation thought leaders will unveil the secrets behind innovating so that companies can take their products and services to the next level, and outline how to effectively engage in collaborative innovation at the SUGAR Global Kick Off 2022/23, which is this week hosted by Trinity.

24 Oct 2022

Business|Innovation|Research|Students

Winter eviction ‘ban’ does little more than buy the government time

The problem with the rental market is not over-regulation but bad regulation, poorly enforced, explains Dr Sarah Hamill, School of Law, in this comment piece originally published in The Sunday Business Post.

24 Oct 2022

Research|Society

Medical device regulation challenges put children's surgeries at risk

Research led by Trinity College has found that a regulation which came into effect in May 2021 with the aim of improving the oversight of medical devices in Ireland is leading to unintended consequences which may put some surgeries for children, and the treatment of rare diseases, at risk. The study has been published in the journal Pediatric Cardiology.

20 Oct 2022

Health|Research

Eviction ban is likely to survive court challenge

The Covid-19 moratorium sets a precedent and should guide the implementation of the new ban, writes Rachel Walsh, Associate Professor, School of Law, in a piece originally published in The Irish Times.

20 Oct 2022

Research|Society

Speak of the Devil! The enduring appeal of the demonic in politics and culture

From biblical times to contemporary US Christian nationalist movement and Japanese computer games – international experts will gather in Trinity this week to share their research on the numerous and complex ways in which demons continue to live with and influence us today.

20 Oct 2022

Research

Our brains use quantum computation

Scientists from Trinity believe our brains could use quantum computation after adapting an idea developed to prove the existence of quantum gravity to explore the human brain and its workings. The discovery may shed light on consciousness, the workings of which remain scientifically difficult to understand and explain.

19 Oct 2022

Research|Science

Verbal skills main educational challenge for migrant children

Gaps in verbal skills are the biggest educational challenge being experienced by young children of migrant origin, according to new research conducted by sociologists in Trinity College Dublin.

18 Oct 2022

Research

New machine-learning technique for classifying key immune cells

The technique accurately classifies the state of macrophages, which is important because these cells can modify their behaviour and act as pro- or anti-inflammatory agents in the immune response. As a result, the work has a suite of implications for research and has the potential to one day make major societal impact.

18 Oct 2022

Health|Research|Science

2022 Burkitt Medal awarded to Dr Eileen O’Reilly

Established in 2013, the prestigious Burkitt Medal recognises an individual who demonstrates extraordinary achievement and advancement in the field of cancer internationally.

17 Oct 2022

Awards and Funding|Health|Research

Scientists classify the entire planet’s ecosystems for the first time

A global cross-disciplinary team of scientists led by UNSW Sydney researchers, and including those from Trinity College Dublin, has developed the first comprehensive classification of the world’s ecosystems across land, rivers and wetlands, and seas. The ecosystem typology will enable more coordinated and effective biodiversity conservation, critical for human wellbeing.

12 Oct 2022

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Living your best life after cancer: public symposium at Trinity

An international cancer conference hosted by the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute will look at cancer survivorship as part of the ‘harnessing fundamental, translational and clinical research for the benefit of cancer patients’ conference theme.

12 Oct 2022

Health|Research

Trinity 161st in THE World University Rankings

Trinity has been ranked 161st in the world in the latest THE World University Rankings. Provost Linda Doyle said: “There are several different ranking systems for universities and while we remain at 98th in the QS World University Rankings, we have dropped from 146th to 161st in the 2023 THE World University Rankings."

12 Oct 2022

Research|Students

Pioneering system ensures money doesn't follow water down the drain

National Trust Cymru have been working with researchers from Trinity and Bangor University on a pioneering heat recovery system at Penrhyn Castle. Results show it reduces energy consumption by 230 kWh per month, equivalent to £1,770 per annum in heat savings.

11 Oct 2022

Innovation|Research|Sustainability

Eleven Trinity researchers to receive Irish Research Council Laureate Awards

Eleven researchers from Trinity College Dublin were among the 48 successful applicants of the Irish Research Council (IRC) Starting and Consolidator Laureate Awards announced today. The investment of almost €24 million in ‘curiosity-driven’ frontier research, will fund 48 ground-breaking research projects under the Irish Research Council’s Starting and Consolidator Laureate Awards Programme.

10 Oct 2022

Awards and Funding|Research

Researchers assess benefits of assistance dogs for children with physical disabilities

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin and The Gait Laboratory at the Central Remedial Clinic have teamed up with national charity Dogs for Disabled, based in Cork – and some of their furry friends – to measure the impact of gait training with a dog on walking quality, activity levels and health-related quality of life in ten children with impaired walking ability.

7 Oct 2022

Health|Research

Geneticists discover new wild goat subspecies via ancient DNA

Geneticists from Trinity, together with a team of international collaborators, have discovered a previously unknown lineage of wild goats over ten millennia old. The new goat type, discovered from genetic screening of bone remains and referred to as “the Taurasian tur”, likely survived the Last Glacial Maximum (the ice age), which stranded their ancestors in the high peaks of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey where their remains were found.

6 Oct 2022

Research|Science