Science - News & Events | Trinity College Dublin

Trinity's Prof. Aoife McLysaght is appointed Government Science Advisor

The Government Science Advisor will chair the new National Science Advice Forum, comprising up to twelve experts drawn from those with internationally recognised scientific expertise in a range of key disciplines.

8 Oct 2024

Innovation|Science

Ice cream-inspired physics – Trinity team uncovers a quantum Mpemba effect, with a host of “cool” implications

Initially investigating out of pure curiosity, the discovery has bridged the gap between Aristotle's observations two millennia ago and modern-day understanding, and opened the door to a whole host of “cool” – and “cooling” – implications.

8 Oct 2024

Research|Science

Lower attention ability in adolescence predicts substance use in later life

Lower attention ability in adolescence can predict cigarette and cannabis use in young adulthood, according to new research from the School of Psychology and School of Medicine.

30 Sep 2024

Research|Science|Society

Scientists enlist “Witness Trees” to track climate change and pinpoint which species can best clean our air

The scientists, from the School of Natural Sciences in Trinity, will collect data over the next 30 years to assess how the climate is changing and outline which species are best at filtering out dangerous “smog” from the atmosphere.

23 Sep 2024

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Key stakeholders work to restore pollinator habitats across agricultural landscapes

Researchers in the People and Nature group (from Trinity’s Department of Botany) recently delivered the first Irish RestPoll stakeholder workshop, with the goal of restoring pollinator habitats across agricultural landscapes by working in tandem with farmers, land managers and other groups to deliver win-win solutions.

17 Sep 2024

Environment|Research|Science|Sustainability

Secure tenancies drive the desirability of Cost Rental homes – new report

The first major piece of research into cost rental housing in Ireland, led by researchers from the School of Natural Sciences and colleagues, has found that that the long-term stability of Cost Rental housing is a key factor for nearly two thirds of respondents.

12 Sep 2024

Research|Science|Society

TILDA joins Global WHO Network for Ageing and Life Course Research

This prestigious designation recognises the ongoing collaborative efforts between TILDA and WHO in supporting research and initiatives to promote healthy ageing across the life course.

9 Sep 2024

Health|Research|Science|Society

Weather in deep space and brain repair – Trinity duo win ERC Starting Grants

Dr Johanna Vos and Dr Michael-John Dolan will respectively pursue research aimed at better understanding weather patterns in extrasolar worlds deep in the galaxy, and at uncovering the secrets of brain disorders and repair.

5 Sep 2024

Awards and Funding|Health|Research|Science

Trinity bioengineer secures Wellcome funding to develop new tissue engineering approach

Dr Josephine Wu, from Trinity’s School of Engineering and the Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering, has secured a Wellcome Early Career Award to pursue a tissue engineering project that could provide an exciting new approach to regenerative medicine.

30 Aug 2024

Awards and Funding|Health|Research|Science

TILDA study reveals crucial insights on loneliness and death ideation among older adults

The research shows that loneliness in later life is associated with an increased risk of individuals wishing for their own death, but protective effects may include attending religious services and secular social activities.

28 Aug 2024

Health|Research|Science

AI-powered, big data research revolutionises understanding of autoimmune disease

New research, which uses semantic web and big data approaches thanks to a connection of patient registries across Europe, and which has just been published in The Lancet Rheumatology, provides evidence for improved diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases.

27 Aug 2024

Health|Research|Science

Research reveals environmental and disease factors can speed up the brain’s biological age

By integrating advanced brain clocks and deep learning models, researchers at Trinity have uncovered how environmental, socioeconomic, and health conditions can either accelerate or protect against brain aging, offering new directions for personalised health interventions.

26 Aug 2024

Health|Research|Science|Society

School of Medicine podcast cuts through the noise on health science

The Off-Script’ podcast is an intersection of medicine, science and society and explores deep questions about the health and well-being of Ireland and the world through conversations with a host of Trinity College experts.

22 Aug 2024

Health|Research|Science|Society

Bioengineers develop hybrid grafts to combat cardiovascular disease

Researchers from AMBER and Trinity, led by Dr David Hoey, have successfully replicated the behaviour of a blood vessel and its guiding structure to regenerate damaged tissue.

20 Aug 2024

Health|Innovation|Research|Science

Trinity welcomes Professor Karen Wiltshire as first CRH Chair of Climate Science

An expert in coastal research and a Trinity alumna, Professor Wiltshire returns to the university from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, where she served as Vice-Director in combination with a professorship in Shelf Sea Ecology at the University of Kiel.

19 Aug 2024

Environment|Innovation|Research|Science|Sustainability

Scientists revolutionise microscopy by reimagining the logic of imaging

Their new method significantly reduces the time and damaging radiation used to image fragile specimens.

2 Aug 2024

Innovation|Research|Science

Trinity researchers to receive Grow Phase funding under the National Challenge Fund

Patrick O’Donovan, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, announced the first nine teams to receive Grow Phase funding under the €65 million fund to work on solutions to major environmental and societal issues.

31 Jul 2024

Awards and Funding|Innovation|Research|Science|Sustainability

Ancient DNA analyses imply brucellosis evolved with development of farming

Scientists analysed ancient DNA extracted from an 8,000-year-old sheep bone and detected the Brucella melitensis pathogen. Brucellosis affects millions of people every year and causes significant harm to the welfare of livestock.

26 Jul 2024

Research|Science

Electrical currents may make body’s cancer-killing cells even better killers

The scientists behind the discovery hope their promising findings may open the door to new combined therapies for people living with certain brain tumours, such as glioblastoma.

25 Jul 2024

Health|Research|Science

International experts shed new light on old conundrum of quantum measurement

Almost 100 leading experts from around the globe came to Trinity last week to discuss recent cutting-edge theoretical advances in hitherto unconnected fields – particularly from quantum foundations and quantum thermodynamics.

25 Jul 2024

Research|Science

Léiríonn "Shark fitbit" sonraí den chéad uair riamh maidir le freagairt liamháin ghréine tar éis buille ó bhád

Taifeadadh na chéad sonraí cinnte riamh i dtaighde nua de fhreagairt liamhán gréine atá i mbaol tar éis do bhád ceann a bhualadh.

24 Jul 2024

Environment|Research|Science

“Shark fitbit” provides first-ever data detailing basking shark response to boat strike

Data showing the immediate response of marine megafauna (e.g. whales, and large sharks) to boat strikes, which pose an increasing threat world-wide, had never been recorded before.

24 Jul 2024

Environment|Research|Science

Irish scientists pinpoint new drug target for RSV

The scientists have discovered how the dangerous Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) defuses our immune response and, in doing so, have pinpointed an exciting new target for drug developers.

18 Jul 2024

Health|Research|Science

Physicists develop new theory describing the energy landscape formed when quantum particles gather together

Understanding the exact shape of energy landscapes of quantum particles can potentially make computer simulations of materials far more accurate. Such simulations are helping to design next-gen materials for use in physics, chemistry, and green technologies.

17 Jul 2024

Research|Science

Irish peat soils – vital for the environment – are far more vast than we realised

Irish researchers have unveiled a new Irish Peat Soils Map (IPSM), which estimates that peat soils cover an area of 1.66 million hectares, which equates to over 23% of the country.

15 Jul 2024

Environment|Research|Science

Scientists create computer program that “paints” the structure of molecules in the style of Piet Mondrian

Scientists from Trinity have created a computer program that “paints” the structure of molecules in the style of famous Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian, whose beautiful artworks will be instantly recognisable to many.

15 Jul 2024

Arts|Science

Taha Yasseri named inaugural Workday Professor for Technology and Society at Trinity and TU Dublin

Professor Yasseri, who takes up his role on August 1 2024, will also be Director of a new TCD-TU Dublin joint centre for Sociology of Humans and Machines.

15 Jul 2024

Innovation|Research|Science

Trinity researchers secure SFI-IRC Pathway awards

Dr Conor Finlay, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute, and Dr Colm Delaney, Chemistry, have been awarded funding under the Pathway programme announced by Minister Patrick O’Donovan.

11 Jul 2024

Research|Science

Great white sharks in Ireland? International team plots September search

A group of Irish shark scientists will this September host OCEARCH, a US-based great white shark research non-profit, with the goal of documenting the first records of the famous species in Irish waters.

10 Jul 2024

Environment|Research|Science

New study advances understanding of brain responses to emotionally-charged scenes

A new study published by Prof Sonia Bishop in Nature Communications advances our understanding of how the brain responds to emotionally charged objects and scenes.

9 Jul 2024

Research|Science