Trinity Monday 2025
Announcement of Elections to Fellows and Scholarships
Trinity College Dublin was founded as a corporation consisting of the Provost, the Fellows and the Scholars. Scholars are elected annually in various subjects on the result of an examination held in Trinity term. Scholarship or research achievement of a high order is the primary qualification for Fellowship, coupled with evidence of the candidate's contribution to the academic life of the College and an effective record in teaching.
Traditionally, the election of new Fellows and Scholars is announced by the Provost on Trinity Monday (28 April 2025) at 10.00 a.m. from the steps of the Public Theatre. Two Honorary Fellows, Eight Professorial Fellows, Thirty-Eight New Fellows and Seventy-Two New Scholars were elected this morning.
Photo credit: Paul Sharp, Sharppix
Honorary Fellowship
In accordance with the Chapter on the Fellows of the 2010 Consolidated Statutes, Section 11, Subsection 1, the following have been elected to Honorary Fellowship:
Ed Hawkins (Professor)
As a world-leading climate scientist, his innovative contributions have had a profound impact on both academia and the public understanding of climate change. Professor Ed Hawkins is the Deputy Director and GB Lead of the Climate + Co-Centre, a pioneering international research initiative led by Trinity College Dublin and Queen's University Belfast. His involvement in this €41.3 million research hub underscores his commitment to addressing the interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and water degradation.
As a leading researcher and public communicator, Professor Hawkins has significantly raised awareness about climate change through his innovative visualizations and public engagement efforts. His contributions to the IPCC Fifth and Sixth Assessment Reports further highlight his expertise and dedication to advancing climate science.
By electing Professor Hawkins as an Honorary Fellow, Trinity College Dublin will not only honour his exceptional achievements but also benefit from his continued involvement in cutting-edge climate research and education, enriching the intellectual and academic life of the college through collaboration with Trinity academics, post-docs and PhD students.
Kerry Houston (Dr)
Dr Kerry Houston is one of Ireland’s foremost musicologists and scholars of sacred music. Dr Houston has been Head of Academic Studies at the TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Drama (formerly the DIT Conservatoire) since 2005. He also holds a Master’s degree in Theology from the Pontifical University at Maynooth, and Diplomas in Organ Performance and Teaching from the Royal Schools of Music and the London College of Music. From 2003-2005, he lectured in Music at Maynooth University. At TU Dublin, he has been responsible for the design and introduction of several undergraduate and postgraduate modules in music theory and musicology, in addition to the supervision of MA and PhD dissertations in church music, Irish musical history and analysis. Dr Houston wrote his doctoral dissertation on ‘The Eighteenth-Century Music Manuscripts of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin'.
Dr Houston took undergraduate (BA Mod) and graduate degrees (PhD) in music at Trinity College Dublin. He was organ scholar, 1984-7, and subsequently and perhaps more importantly, Director of Chapel Music, a post he has held continuously since 1987. In order to understand the significance of this role, it is necessary to be aware of the two separate contexts in which the college organs and sacred music play a part in the life of Trinity through the year. In the first place, the Chapel Choir sings at services every Thursday evening and Sunday morning throughout the academic year (as well as on other, special occasions, such as Good Friday services or the service of commemoration on Trinity Monday). Secondly, organ playing is a hugely important part of college life in two contexts. First, there is the playing of the Chapel organ at chapel services. Secondly, the organ in the Public Theatre is played before and after every commencement ceremony. Kerry Houston himself plays at innumerable such events, but he also has worked, since 1987 with generations of student organ scholars, to enable them to do so as well. 38 years of such scholars owe him an extraordinary debt – as important as that owed to any of their lecturers, or their pastoral tutor. The debt owed to Dr Houston is not merely, however, from choristers, organ scholars and chapel attendees, it is from the University as a whole. Music is critical to the cultural and spiritual life of the community, and he is central to this.
Remarkably, after 37 years his commitment to his role as Director of Chapel Music remains undimmed; he still puts in countless hours in the name of the role and still approaches it with fresh enthusiasm each year.
Professorial Fellowship
In accordance with the Chapter on the Fellows in the 2010 Consolidated Statutes, Section 7, Subsection 4b, the following have been elected to Professorial Fellowship:
- Susanna Maria Benseler (Professor)
- Holger Claussen (Professor)
- Blánaid Daly (Professor)
- Padhraig Fleming (Professor)
- Gerard Hanna (Professor)
- John Kelleher (Professor)
- Karen Helen Wiltshire (Professor)
- Taha Yasseri (Professor)
Susanna Maria Benseler (Professor)
Professor Benseler is Professor of Paediatrics (2021) at Trinity College Dublin. She is the Chief Clinical Academic Officer, Children's Hospital Ireland and Head of Paediatric Health Affairs Children's Health Ireland (CHI).
Professor Benseler is a Paediatrician, Paediatric Rheumatologist and Paediatric Emergency Medicine Physician. She joins Children’s Health Ireland from the University of Calgary, Canada, where she cared for children with rare and chronic inflammatory diseases including childhood arthritis, vasculitis, lupus, and brain inflammation resulting in strokes and seizures. She was Professor of Paediatrics in the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Professor Benseler is a translational researcher trained in clinical research methods (Clinical Epidemiology) and bench work (Immunology). She is originally from Germany, where she completed Medical School (Freiburg, Berlin) and training in Pediatrics (Freiburg, Bonn).
She serves as the Director of the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute ACHRI, led the Canada-first University of Calgary transdisciplinary Child Health and Wellness Strategy and the largest National Canadian Child Health Research Initiative “One Child Every Child”- a partnership of health care, universities and communities aiming to transform outcomes for children and families through research and partnership.
Holger Claussen (Professor)
Professor Holger Claussen is Head of the Wireless Communications Laboratory at Tyndall National Institute, and Professor of Wireless Communications at University College Cork and Trinity College Dublin. At Tyndall, he is building up research teams in RF, Access, Protocols, AI, and Quantum Systems to invent the future of Wireless Communication Networks. Previously, he led the Wireless Communications Research Department of Nokia Bell Labs in Ireland and the US until 2020.
He received the 2014 World Technology Award in Communications Technologies for innovative work of “the greatest likely long-term significance” for his contribution to Small Cells. Professor Holger received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Edinburgh, UK in 2004. He is author of the book "Small Cell Networks", more than 140 journal and conference publications, 87 granted patent families, and 39 filed patent applications pending.
He is Fellow of the IEEE, Fellow of the World Technology Network, and member of the IET.
Blánaid Daly (Professor)
Blánaid Daly is Professor of Special Care Dentistry at the School of Dental Science, Trinity College Dublin (TCD) within the Dublin Dental University Hospital (DDUH). After qualifying as a dentist from TCD, and prior to working at the Dublin Dental University Hospital, Blánaid worked in the public/community dental services. Blánaid joined the Dental School at King's College London (KCL) and studied for a PhD in Dental Public Health (DPH).
For the last thirty years, Blánaid combined her academic interest in DPH with the clinical dental specialty of Special Care Dentistry, when returning to Trinity in 2016 as Professor of Special Care Dentistry. In 2020 Blánaid was appointed to the Lancet Commission on Global Oral Health Inequalities and was joint winner of the Aubrey Sheiham award for distinguished research in dental public health, from the International Association of Dental Research (IADR).
Professor Blánaid Daly was appointed Dean of Dental Affairs and Head of School at the School of Dental Science January 2022. Blánaid’s overarching theme of research interest is in the reduction of oral health inequalities for people living with disabilities and vulnerable groups.
Padhraig Fleming (Professor)
Padhraig is Chair/Professor of Orthodontics and was formerly Professor, Consultant and Postgraduate Training Lead in Orthodontics at the Institute of Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London. He was elected a Foundation Scholar in 1999 and graduated from TCD in 2002 with a Gold Medal. He was awarded MSc. with Distinction in 2007, the British Orthodontic Society Medal for clinical excellence in 2008 and a PhD in 2013.
Padhraig has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and received numerous research awards including the Helen E. Dewel Award from the American Academy of Orthodontists (AAO) on three occasions. Padhraig has co-authored four successful orthodontic textbooks: ‘Clinical Cases in Orthodontics’, ‘Functional Appliances: Theory and Practice’, ‘Fixed Orthodontic Appliances: A practical guide’ and in 2023 ‘Graber’s ‘Orthodontics: Current Principles and Techniques.
He is Associate Editor of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Progress in Orthodontics and the British Dental Journal.
Gerard Hanna (Professor)
Professor Gerry Hanna is the Marie Curie Chair of Clinical Oncology at Trinity College Dublin and a Consultant in Radiation Oncology at the St Lukes Radiation Oncology Network within the Trinity St James Cancer Institute. Gerry also holds honorary appointments at the University of Melbourne, and Queen’s University Belfast.
His Research interests include the use of PET/CT in radiotherapy planning for lung cancer, mechanisms of radiotherapy resistance, stereotactic ablative radiotherapy and systemic therapy and immunotherapy combinations with radiotherapy.
Professor Hanna is the Vice-Clinical Lead of Cancer Trials Ireland, Chief Investigator of the Peter Mac ACRF Radiation Immuno-oncology Program and the International Atomic Energy Agency’s “PERTAIN” study. He is the former chief investigator and current TMG member of the CRUK funded CONCORDE study. Gerry is also a TMG member for the UK’s HALT, SARON, CONFIRM and ISOTOXIC IMRT studies and continues to provide research support to Belfast Trust.
John Kelleher (Professor)
John Kelleher is a Professor of Computer Science in the School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College Dublin and the Director of the ADAPT Centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology. He has previously held academic positions at Maynooth University, Technological University Dublin, and Dublin City University. He holds a PhD in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) and a BSc in Computer Applications, both from Dublin City University.
Professor Kelleher's research focuses on Artificial Intelligence, with an emphasis on machine learning and deep learning methods. In the area of natural language processing, his group works on machine translation, low-resource languages, improving the efficiency of large language models, and analysing the information encoded in neural language representations. In the field of precision medicine, his research centres on clinical decision support systems for stroke care, spanning prevention, acute treatment, rehabilitation, and reintegration.
Karen Helen Wiltshire (Professor)
Professor Karen Wiltshire is Professor of Climate Sciences at Trinity College Dublin and is developing “The Climate Gateway” a new framework of forward-thinking and excellence in climate research, education, and innovation. She is a renowned expert in climate and coastal sciences, with a focus on marine socio-ecosystems.
Her career has spanned leadership roles in major international scientific institutions (Max Planck Institute and University of St Andrews) and collaborations. Until recently, she was Vice Director of the German Institute for Polar and Marine Science (Alfred Wegener Institute) and Director of its coastal research. In these roles, she led the institute to achieve its outstanding research reputation in coastal climate research. She has shaped national and international science policy, contributing to UNEP, SCOR-UNESCO, IPCC, IIASA, and as Chair of POGO.
She is a tireless advocate for international capacity building, marine sustainability, and climate resilience. She and her colleagues inspire collaborative, science-based solutions to the pressing climate-related challenges of our time.
Taha Yasseri (Professor)
Taha Yasseri is the Workday Professor and Chair of Technology and Society at Trinity College Dublin and Technological University Dublin, where he directs the TCD–TU Dublin Joint Centre for the Sociology of Humans and Machines (SOHAM). He is also an adjunct Full Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at University College Dublin. Previously, he was Professor and Deputy Head at the School of Sociology at UCD and a Geary Fellow at the Geary Institute for Public Policy.
He has held positions as Senior Research Fellow in Computational Social Science at the University of Oxford, Turing Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute, and Research Fellow in Humanities and Social Sciences at Wolfson College. He holds a PhD in Complex Systems Physics from the University of Göttingen.
His research interests lie in computational social science, large-scale data analysis, behavioural experiments, online political behaviour, human-machine interaction, collective intelligence, hate speech, content moderation, and online dating dynamics.
Fellowship
In accordance with the Chapter on the Fellows of the 2010 Consolidated Statutes, Section 7, Subsection 4a, the following have been elected to Fellowship:
- Alessio Benavoli (Professor)
- Goetz Botterweck (Professor)
- Nollaig Bourke (Professor)
- Mélanie Bouroche (Professor)
- Aibhín Bray (Professor)
- John Bosco Conama (Professor)
- Gavin Davey (Professor)
- Elaine Uí Dhonnchadha (Professor)
- John Dinsmore (Professor)
- Gemma Donnelly-Cox (Professor)
- Jude Lal Fernando (Professor)
- Breiffni Fitzgerald (Professor)
- Geraldine Foley (Professor)
- Nathan Hill (Professor)
- Patrick J. Houlihan (Professor)
- Mary Hughes (Professor)
- Ashish Kumar Jha (Professor)
- Eva Jimenez-Mateos (Professor)
- David Lewis (Professor)
- Andrew Loxley (Professor)
- Ronan Lyons (Professor)
- Daniel Malan (Professor)
- Catherine McCabe (Professor)
- Simone McCaughren (Professor)
- Andrea Mulligan (Professor)
- Gavin Murphy (Professor)
- Susan Patricia Murphy (Professor)
- John Damian Murray (Professor)
- Erika Piazzoli (Professor)
- Ioannis Polyzois (Professor)
- Julie Regan (Professor)
- Evangelia Rigaki (Professor)
- Wladislaw Rivkin (Professor)
- Davide Romelli (Professor)
- Cristin Ryan (Professor)
- Michael Stock (Professor)
- Frédérique Vallières (Professor)
- Tom Walker (Professor)
Alessio Benavoli (Professor)
Alessio Benavoli is Associate Professor of Statistics in the School of Computer Science and Statistics. He completed his Ph.D. in Computer and Control Engineering from the University of Firenze in 2008. Before joining Trinity, he worked as a system analyst at SELEX-Sistemi Integrati (Italy) from 2007 to 2008, then spent over a decade at the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA, Switzerland), where he became full professor in 2018. From 2019 to 2021, he was a Senior Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the University of Limerick.
Alessio is an internationally recognised expert in Machine Learning and Statistics, having published 130+ papers in leading peer-reviewed journals and conferences. His research has been funded by the European Commission, the Swiss National Science Foundation, Innosuisse, Enterprise Ireland, and Science Foundation Ireland, and he has led several national and international research projects focusing on smart manufacturing, sustainability, and green energy.
Goetz Botterweck (Professor)
Dr. Goetz Botterweck is an Associate Professor in Computer Science at Trinity College.
His research focuses on AI Engineering, i.e., approaches to design AI-enabled software systems and optimisation of such systems, e.g., for safety, energy efficiency, and robustness.
He has served as PC Co-chair for SPLC and ICSR, and in organisation committees of top software engineering conferences, including ICSE 2027 (#1 conference in Software Engineering, Chair of Journal First Track) and CAIN 2025.
His research has attracted more than €3.5M in funding and he is a Principal Investigator in Lero – The Research Ireland Centre for Software. As Director of UG Teaching and Learning in the School of Computer Science and Statistics, he addresses AI's impact on education.
Previously, he was a Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow at UL. His credentials include a PhD and Diplom-Informatiker from the University of Koblenz, Germany, and an M.A. in Education from UL.
Nollaig Bourke (Professor)
Associate Professor Nollaig Bourke (School of Medicine) completed a PhD in Trinity (2012) and a postdoc in a leading biomedical Institute in Melbourne. She established the Inflammageing Research Group, a novel research focus at Trinity, when she joined the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI) in 2017 and has developed collaborations with clinicians and scientists to build an interdisciplinary research programme in ageing and immunology. Internationally, this expertise is recognised through securing prestigious funding (>€3.2m PI; >€17m co-app), leadership roles in global consortia, international grant review panels (e.g. Wellcome Trust), invitations to join international collaborations, Science Advisory Boards, and high-impact publications (e.g. Nature).
Dr Bourke contributes to Trinity academic life through teaching innovation (e.g. first elective module in Ageing), nurturing talent (e.g. 5 PhDs complete, 4 ongoing), and flagship Trinity studies (e.g. TILDA), as well as being a Tutor, Associate Director of Research in the SoM and representing Discipline, School, Institute and Faculty on numerous College committees.
Mélanie Bouroche (Professor)
Mélanie Bouroche is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science and Statistics. Her research focuses on programming abstractions for large-scale, reliable applications, with a special emphasis on smart vehicle coordination and smart cities. She is passionate about exploring how cooperation can enhance system efficiency and is dedicated to bridging the gap between theoretical models and real-world applications.
With over 80 publications, Mélanie has secured funding from both the European Union and Irish agencies. In recognition of her work, she received the Intel Early Career Faculty Honor Program award in 2012. She has also collaborated with a diverse range of partners, including Intel Labs, Bell Labs, and Dublin City Council.
Aibhín Bray (Professor)
Dr Aibhín Bray is an Assistant Professor of Education and leader of the mathematics strands in the School of Education in Trinity College Dublin. Her research focuses on the development of teaching and learning practices that positively influence student engagement with mathematics, and with education in general. Aibhín has worked in Widening Participation for a number of years and continues to be very actively involved in Trinity’s Widening Participation programme: Trinity Access.
She holds a B.A. (Int) in Mathematics and Italian and an M.Sc. in Computer Science from University College Dublin, and a H.Dip. in Education and a Ph.D. in Technology and Mathematics Education from Trinity College Dublin. She is a former teacher of Mathematics and has worked with teachers at national and international levels through a variety of National and European projects.
John Bosco Conama (Professor)
John Bosco Conama is a prominent scholar and advocate for Deaf rights, particularly in Ireland. With a strong academic background, he has significantly contributed to research on sign language policy, accessibility, and the sociolinguistic status of Irish Sign Language (ISL). His efforts have been instrumental in shaping legal and policy frameworks that promote linguistic and cultural recognition for Deaf individuals. He currently serves as Director of the Centre for Deaf Studies.
Professor Conama has published extensively in leading academic journals and has delivered keynote speeches at numerous international conferences. His research focuses on language rights, Deaf education, and language policy. He has also held advisory roles, collaborating with governmental and non-governmental organisations to advocate for inclusive policies.
As a respected thought leader, he remains committed to advancing language accessibility and Deaf rights. Notably, he played a central role in securing the legal recognition of ISL in 2017.
Gavin Davey (Professor)
Gavin leads the Neurodegeneration and Systems Biology Group in the School of Biochemistry & Immunology. He is a biochemist and neuroscientist, and his research focuses on enzymology, metabolism, glycobiology, computational and systems biology. His work aims to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration, especially the role of energy metabolism and bioenergetics in neuronal function and dysfunction.
A significant aspect of his research investigates how abnormal mitochondrial dynamics contribute to cell loss in Parkinson's disease and other prevalent brain disorders. Additionally, his group is involved in drug development and the application of new technologies to create next-generation biotherapeutics, including bio- and glyco-engineering of recombinant proteins, therapeutic antibodies, and nanoparticle synthesis for delivering therapeutics into the brain.
He has led large industry-academia research projects funded by the EU and Science Foundation Ireland and spun-in a new start-up biotechnology company, BioCyto, to college.
Gavin has been teaching neuroscience to science and medicine students for 25 years, embracing computational and AI technologies and applying them to his teaching and research activities.
Elaine Uí Dhonnchadha (Professor)
Elaine Uí Dhonnchadha is an Associate Professor in Computational Linguistics in the School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences. She specialises in language technology for the Irish language. She has developed language processing tools and datasets for Irish which enable morphological processing, part-of-speech tagging, chunking, dependency parsing, semantic tagging and text complexity analysis; all of which are important elements in keeping the language up to date with digital technology.
Her current research focus is on Intelligent Computer Aided Language Learning (ICALL), particularly Game-Based Language Learning (DGBLL) applications which are designed to make language learning more fun for both children and adult learners of Irish. She is also involved in rule-based Natural Language Generation for Irish and in generating listening resource recommendations for English. These systems use a pragmatic mix of rule-based and deep learning tools, which include AI text-to-image, AI text-to-speech and 3D virtual reality.
Elaine worked in the IT sector as a Systems Analyst and Programmer in a number of software development companies before graduating with an M.Sc. and PhD. in Computational Linguistics from Dublin City University. She worked for a number of years as a researcher in Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann (The Linguistics Institute of Ireland) and as a lecturer in Dublin City University before joining the staff of Trinity College Dublin in 2005
John Dinsmore (Professor)
John Dinsmore is Associate Professor of Digital Health and Integrated Care at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin. His primary research focuses on the development and evaluation of digital health technologies to support self-management and care for older adults living with multimorbidity. As Principal Investigator (PI), he has secured €13 million in research funding, including serving as Coordinator/Lead PI on two Horizon 2020 projects—ProACT (2016–2019) and SEURO (2021–2025).
He is widely published, has received multiple awards and distinctions for research and innovation excellence, and has contributed to national and international expert groups and policy development in digital health and assistive technology.
Dr. Dinsmore has held several leadership roles at Trinity, including serving on the Board of Directors for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Health UK/Ireland, as Course Director for postgraduate mental health programmes, and as a member of numerous committees at both School and College levels.
Gemma Donnelly-Cox (Professor)
Gemma Donnelly-Cox is an Organization Theorist and is Associate Professor of Business in Trinity Business School. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and History (Waterloo), and an M.Phil. and D.Phil. in Management (Oxford). Her research is underpinned by a focus on understanding organisational responses to altered conditions of support and has spanned Nonprofit Management and Governance, Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Philanthropy. Most recently, her research has addressed organizing for nature-based solutions. She co-founded Trinity’s transdisciplinary Centre for Social Innovation and as Director she oversees the Centre’s Working with Nature (WWN) research programme which has collaborated in eight EU-funded nature-related research projects.
In research-led teaching, she has introduced nonprofit management, social innovation, social entrepreneurship, and philanthropic studies to the Business School, a cross-university Trinity Elective in social innovation and nature-based solutions, and two European doctoral training programmes in nonprofit organization and management.
Jude Lal Fernando (Professor)
Jude Lal Fernando is an Associate Professor in Contextual Theologies, Interfaith Relations, and Peace Studies at the School of Religion, Theology, and Peace Studies who has authored many publications on liberationist and interfaith perspectives on the interplay of religion, conflict and peace and edited Resistance to Empire and Militarization: Reclaiming the Sacred (Sheffield: Equinox, 2020) and Faith in the Face of Militarization: Indigenous, Feminist and Interreligious Voices (Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2021).
He is the director of the Irish School of Ecumenics and the chief editor of International Journal of Asian Christianity. He has served as the visiting professor in Sophia and Ritsumeikan universities in Japan, Uppsala University in Sweden, Tampere University in Finland, Chang Jung Christian University in Taiwan, Salzburg University in Austria and Global Theological Institute, Yonsei University, Korea. He is the coordinator of the Peoples’ Tribunal on Sri Lanka (Dublin-2010, Bremen-2013 and Berlin-2022).
Breiffni Fitzgerald (Professor)
Dr Breiffni Fitzgerald is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering. His research is at the forefront of structural dynamics and control, with a primary focus on wind energy systems. He applies methodologies that span from classical dynamic modelling to cutting-edge machine learning, advancing the performance, reliability, and climate resilience of wind energy systems. Dr Fitzgerald has published widely in top-tier journals and serves as an editor of Wind Energy, the leading international journal in the field.
As Director of Postgraduate Teaching and Learning, he leads doctoral education strategy, postgraduate policy development, and student experience initiatives across the School. He was awarded a TCD Teaching Excellence Award in 2023 in recognition of his contributions to research-led teaching and supervision.
A Chartered Engineer with Engineers Ireland and the American Society of Civil Engineers, he has been recognised with several industry awards, including a 2017 nomination for Chartered Engineer of the Year.
Geraldine Foley (Professor)
Geraldine Foley is an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine. Geraldine obtained her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy, Master of Science, and PhD from Trinity College Dublin. She was a HRB Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin (2011-2014) before her first academic position at Trinity College Dublin (2014). She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2024. Geraldine has also worked extensively in the public healthcare system as a clinical specialist occupational therapist (2006-2011) and senior occupational therapist (2001-2005) in neurology.
A key component of her research is focused on relational decision-making between patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals in palliative care. She has secured just over 1 million euros funding for her research as lead primary investigator or co-investigator from multiple research funders including HRB, Irish Research Council, Trinity St. James's Cancer Institute, and Trinity College Dublin.
Nathan Hill (Professor)
Nathan W. Hill is Sam Lam Professor of Chinese Studies in the School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences, and Director of the Trinity Centre for Asian Studies. Hailing from Portland (Oregon, USA), he earned his PhD at Harvard University in 2009 and taught Tibetan at SOAS University of London from then until joining Trinity in 2021.
His research focuses on Old Tibetan descriptive grammar, Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics, and Old Chinese reconstruction. His books include A lexicon of Tibetan verb stems as reported by the grammatical tradition (2010) and The Historical Phonology of Tibetan, Burmese, and Chinese (2019).
Patrick J. Houlihan (Professor)
Patrick J. Houlihan is an Associate Professor of History at Trinity College Dublin, where he specializes in modern European and International History. He received his PhD in History from the University of Chicago. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Oxford, for which he serves as an Alumni Ambassador in Ireland for Pembroke College. He is also a consulting professor for the research group, "The Global Pontificate of Pius XII: Catholicism in a Divided World, 1945-1958," which is exploring the newly opened Vatican archives of Pope Pius XII.
Patrick’s first book, Catholicism and the Great War: Religion and Everyday Life in Germany and Austria-Hungary, 1914-1922 (Cambridge University Press, 2015), was awarded the Fraenkel Prize of the Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide. His most recent book is Religious Humanitarianism during the World Wars, 1914-1945: Between Atheism and Messianism (Cambridge University Press, 2024).
Mary Hughes (Professor)
Mary Hughes is Professor in Children’s Nursing in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. She has dedicated her career to advancing healthcare through her research, teaching, and clinical practice. She is an influential contributor to the national discourse on developments in Nursing and Midwifery, the new National Children’s Hospital, and policy for digital transformation of the public health service.
Professor Hughes is consistently funded researcher with a special research interest in Health and Wellbeing in chronic illness, Advanced Practice, and Digital Health innovation. She has published widely and has presented her research at conferences nationally and internationally.
Professor Hughes was Director of Teaching and Learning Postgraduate (DTLPG) from 2021-2023. She leads Work Package 6 in the Post Graduate Renewal Project. Her excellence in teaching and learning has been recognised and acknowledged, and in September 2024 she received the Excellence in Doctoral Supervision Award in the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Ashish Kumar Jha (Professor)
Ashish Kumar Jha is a Professor in Business Analytics in Trinity Business School. He is the area coordinator for "Operations and Analytics Area" and the founding director for M.Sc. in Business Analytics. Ashish is a funded investigator with ADAPT. Ashish is the director of Trinity Centre for Digital Business and Analytics. He is currently working with Dublin City Council for their GenAI lab project as well as with Microsoft and other organisations on the state of AI adoption.
His work is often quoted in leading newspapers, radio and TV outlets like Irish Independent, RTE, Newstalk etc. Ashish has published over 30 journal papers and over 45 conference papers in top journals and conference of the field. He has published papers in exclusive journals of the field like Journal of MIS and Journal of AIS. He serves on the editorial board of top journals of the field like 'European Journal of Information Systems' and 'Information & Management'.
Ashish holds 3 patents in area of Robotic process automation. Ashish is a distinguished member of Association of Information Systems and President of Irish Chapter of Association of Information Systems. He is a principal investigator for Enterprise Ireland funded commercialization grant.
Eva Jimenez-Mateos (Professor)
Eva started at Trinity College Dublin in 2018 and currently holds a position as an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Physiology (School of Medicine.) She received a doctorate degree in Neurobiology in 2005 from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain, having previously graduated with a B.Sc. in Biochemistry. Eva’s academic career includes a period as a postdoctoral researcher at Hospital Ramón y Cajal, and postdoctoral, research fellow, and honorary lecturer positions at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). During the postdoctoral period, Eva secured her own funding, including the prestigious IRC fellowship.
In 2014, she started the transition to independence under the prestigious SFI-Starting Investigator Research Grant to analyze the mechanism underlying hypoxia and seizures during birth. Eva is also the winner of several awards such the FENS Kavli Award (FENS Federation, 2018), Young Investigator Award (Neuroscience Ireland, 2014), and FENS-IBRO Award (FENS Federation, 2012).
David Lewis (Professor)
Dave Lewis is a Professor in Computer Science at Trinity College Dublin where he has served as head of its Artificial Intelligence Discipline and as Director of the ADAPT SFI Research Centre for Digital Content Technology.
His research focuses on the use of open semantic models for Trustworthy AI and Data Governance, including open models for Data Protection and AI Ethics. He led teams contributing to the development of international standards in AI-based linguistic processing of digital content at the W3C and OASIS and to international standardisation of Trustworthy AI at ISO/IEC JTC1/SC42 and CEN/CENELEC JTC21.
Andrew Loxley (Professor)
Andrew Loxley is a Professor in Education in the School of Education. He has been in TCD since 2002 and prior to that worked as a lecturer at the University of Leeds, a Research Fellow with the Open University and a researcher at Oxford Brookes University. He graduated from the University of Bath in 1999 with a PhD in the Sociology of Education. Andrew also worked as a teacher in special education and further education in the UK.
In 2005, Andrew pioneered a significant milestone in Irish higher education by introducing the first professional doctorate in education (DEd) in an Irish university. He continues to coordinate this programme and has supervised over 30 doctoral students PhD and DEd to successful completion.
As a founding member of the TCD Cultures and Values in Education (CAVE) research centre, Andrew’s scholarly work primarily concentrates on higher education policy and practice with an emphasis on doctoral education, access and participation. His extensive research has been supported by multiple funded projects and has resulted in over 70 publications.
Ronan Lyons (Professor)
Ronan Lyons is a Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin, where he is also Director of Trinity Research in Social Sciences and Associate Director of the Centre for Economics, Policy & History. His research focuses on housing, including the evolution of housing markets over the last 150 years, and economic history, including the development of the Irish economy over the last five centuries. His work has been published in journals, such as the Journal of Housing Economics, the Journal of Urban Economics and Real Estate Economics.
He enjoys teaching at undergraduate, postgraduate and executive levels and developed two online modules for the public, on property markets and Ireland’s long-run economic development. He contributes actively to housing policy issues, having served on the Ireland’s Housing Commission (2021-2024) and as a consultant to the IMF, and to national and international media on Irish housing and the broader economy.
Daniel Malan (Professor)
Daniel Malan is an Assistant Professor in Business Ethics and Director of the Corporate Governance Lab at Trinity Business School. He is an Associate Professor Extraordinaire at Stellenbosch Business School in South Africa, and a former visiting scholar at the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and the Mendoza College of Business (University of Notre Dame).
He was the co-chair of the Business 20 (B20) Task Force on Integrity and Compliance (2022 and 2020), is a former member of the Global Future Council on Transparency and Anti-Corruption of the World Economic Forum (2019 – 2022) and is the regional partner for Africa and Ireland at the International Board Foundation in St Gallen, Switzerland.
He holds a Masters Degree in Philosophy, a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a PhD in Management, all from Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Catherine McCabe (Professor)
Dr McCabe is a Registered General Nurse with over 30 years' experience in nursing and healthcare research, practice, and education. Her research interests and expertise are in the areas of: Digital Health; Acute/Critical care; Arts and Health and research methodology (RCT's and systematic review).
Her current research focuses on integrated digital health and technology for clinical practice innovation, staff health and well-being and innovation in health education. Prof McCabe has a well-established international profile including international research collaborations with national and European Union (EU) industry and academic partners in relation to healthcare technology and digital health.
She has served on numerous Boards, Committees and Working Groups in representing her discipline of General Nursing, Health Care Policy and Guidelines, School and College and is currently a Board member of the European Academy of nursing Science.
Simone McCaughren (Professor)
Dr Simone McCaughren, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin, is a distinguished interdisciplinary scholar who has excelled in leading ground-breaking research in complex areas of human interest. Having a lengthy record of scholarship which originated in UCC, the predominant focus of her scholarship is one that carries a strong human rights ethos and has made a significant and impactful contribution in areas such as adoption practice, policy and law, contact with children post-adoption, foster care to adoption and parental contact with children post-separation.
In 2022, Simone led a ground-breaking research and ambitious interdisciplinary research study which engaged with various dimensions of the family law system, and established guidelines for contact with children aged 0-6 years in custody and access cases. Simone continues to engage with complex areas of family law and is currently involved in two cutting-edge research projects commissioned by the Department of Justice and the Adoption Authority of Ireland.
Andrea Mulligan (Professor)
Andrea Mulligan’s research centres around legal aspects of human reproduction, spanning the areas of pregnancy, abortion, and assisted reproduction including surrogacy and donor assisted conception. Her work is about the operation of law in the most intimate spheres of human experience.
Situated in the field of Medical Law and Ethics, Andrea’s research is inherently interdisciplinary, engaging especially with philosophy and health sciences. Andrea has published in leading international journals in both law and bioethics, and she is co-author of Medical Law in Ireland, a field-defining text or “legal treatise”. Andrea has secured two IRC COALESCE grants as PI, leading teams of interdisciplinary researchers. The CORALE Study (2021-2024) investigates conscientious objection in termination of pregnancy. The CONTENT Study (2025-2026) examines consent in birth interventions.
Andrea was appointed by Government as a Commissioner at the Law Reform Commission in 2020. She held a Visiting Fellowship at Wadham College Oxford in 2022.
Gavin Murphy (Professor)
Dr Gavin Murphy is an Associate Professor at the School of Education, Trinity College Dublin, where he currently serves as Professional Master of Education (PME) Registrar and leads the Leadership and Policy pathway of the Master in Education (M.Ed.).
Gavin's research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of educational policy, leadership, and professional education and development. His research examines educational reforms, educational quality and equity, research engagement in professional practice, and educational leadership in applied settings.
Gavin teaches across doctoral, M.Ed., M.Oid. san Oideachas Lán-Ghaeilge agus Gaeltachta, and PME programmes and launched the In Conversation With webinar series in 2020. He was a Chen Yidan Visiting Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2023 and returned there a Fulbright Irish Scholar in 2024. In 2024, he was the founding convenor of the Teacher Education and Development Research Group.
Susan Patricia Murphy (Professor)
Susan Murphy is an Associate Professor in Development Practice at the School of Natural Sciences (Discipline of Geography), Chair of the School Research Ethics Committee, Disability Liaison Office, and the Principal Investigator of GEOFORMATIONS (https://geoformations.eu), a European Research Council (ERC) funded project examining the geographies of dynamic governance assemblages in development cooperation civil society spaces (2023-2028).
Susan's teaching and research interests are in international development governance, ethics, policy, and practice. Susan directs the Climate Justice in Development research group, an interdisciplinary research network exploring the implications of climate change, climate actions, and development interventions on governance practices, sociospatial relations and power dynamics.
As a high-impact social researcher, Susan serves as a member of the Department of Foreign Affairs Audit Committee (2021-2927) and Chair the Development Studies Association of Ireland (DSAI). Previously, she served as Chair of Oxfam International’s Governance Reform working group (2019-2022), Chair of Oxfam Ireland (2015-2023).
John Damian Murray (Professor)
Since joining the Department of Russian in 1992, John’s academic and professional career has followed separate but complementary strands.
The first strand comprises academic publications relating to Russian language, literature, politics and history; the second, following John’s completion mid-career of a degree in visual arts, consists of a series of solo and group exhibitions addressing these same themes from the perspective of a painter.
Much of John’s work in both academia and the world of visual arts treats of the Brezhnev era, when John studied in Moscow as a TCD undergraduate; the tumultuous Gorbachev years of the late 80s, when John studied as a post-graduate at Moscow State University; and the early 90s, when he worked as foreign correspondent for The Sunday Tribune.
John’s current work inter alia continues to address the Soviet experience and the fall-out from the country’s dissolution in 1991, the consequences of which are still with us today.
Erika Piazzoli (Professor)
Erika Piazzoli is an Associate Professor in Arts Education and convenes the Arts in Education Research Group (AERG), School of Education. She has practiced actor voice training, drama, dance (Butoh) and music (cello) for 15 years. She was awarded a PhD in Language/Drama Education from Griffith University, Brisbane, where she lectured from 2008 to 2014.
Since joining TCD in 2015, she has taught language, arts and drama education modules. She served as Master in Education (MEd) Drama Strand Leader (2015-2017), MEd Dissertation Coordinator (2017-2019), Global Engagement Director (2019-2022) and MEd Coordinator (2023-current). She is PI of Sorgente: Performative Language Practice with Refugees, a project showcased on ChangeMakers, RTÉ1.
Since 2020, she has served on the editorial board of Scenario: Journal of Performative Teaching and Research and hosted the 2024 International Scenario Conference. She has authored four books and 40+ articles, and was the recipient of the Trinity Research Excellence Award.
Ioannis Polyzois (Professor)
Ioannis Polyzois is a Professor/Consultant in Periodontology at the School of Dental Science in TCD. He began his academic career in TCD as a Lecturer in Periodontology, overseeing research and postgraduate didactic and clinical teaching.
He completed his PhD in 2010 and, two years later he became the Director of the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP)-accredited Postgraduate Program in Periodontology.
In 2019, he took on the role of Director of Teaching and Learning (Postgraduate), a position he held for five years. He currently serves as the Director of Global Engagement and Chair of the Irish Committee for Specialist Training in Dentistry (ICSTD)
Ioannis is actively involved in several national and international organizations, with his research primarily focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of peri-implant diseases and optimizing conditions for dental implant integration. He has published over 60 international peer-reviewed scientific articles and has been an examiner at home and abroad for numerous research projects.
Julie Regan (Professor)
Julie Regan is Associate Professor in Speech and Language Pathology and Head of Discipline in the Department of Clinical Speech and Language Studies. She holds a BSc., MSc. and a PhD from Trinity College Dublin. She was awarded a Healthcare Professional Grant from the Health Research Board to complete her PhD in the School of Medicine.
Her research interests include instrumental evaluation of swallowing and evidence-based dysphagia rehabilitation in cancer and neurological populations. She has over one hundred peer-reviewed publications, including five book chapters. She is a board member and Vice-President of the European Society of Swallowing Disorders (ESSD) and she is a member of the Dysphagia Research Society (DRS) International Interprofessional committee. She is Co-Editor in Chief of the IASLT-affiliated academic journal, Advances in Communication and Swallowing.
Her teaching is in the areas of acquired dysarthria, adult neurology and dysphagia across the lifespan. She received a Trinity Teaching Excellence Award in 2020. She was recently appointed a visiting Professor in the Faculty of Medicine in KU Leuven University where she lectures on the MSc in Deglutology.
Evangelia Rigaki (Professor)
Dr. Evangelia Rigaki is an Associate Professor in the Music Department in the School of Creative Arts. Her research and practice as a professional Composer are at the forefront of cutting-edge composition with a particular focus on opera, experimental music theatre and opera-installation.
Since joining Trinity in 2010, she has taught both undergraduate and postgraduate courses and was the founding Director of the MPhil in Composition (2012-2020). She has supervised nine PhD projects to completion and continues to mentor emerging composers. Evangelia has served as Head of the Music Department (2020-2023) and is currently Director of Teaching and Learning (Postgraduate) for the School of Creative Arts. She has curated over 120 public events for Trinity College Dublin through Trinity’s Music Composition Centre.
Selected operas Evangelia has composed include: Old Ghosts (2023), The Gift (2020), This Hostel Life (2019), The Pregnant Box (2014), AntiMidas, or Bankers in Hades (2013), Lullabaloo (2010), Gesprekken Van De Ziel (2009).
Wladislaw Rivkin (Professor)
Wlad(islaw) has completed his Ph.D. at the Technical University of Dortmund. Before joining Trinity College Dublin Wlad was a researcher at the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors in Germany, and at Aston University in the UK. Wlad"s research focuses on how to maintain and improve employees" health, well-being, and effectiveness from stressors, which require employees" self-regulation.
He has published in top journals in the field of Organizational Behavior including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Relations, and the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. Wlad has taught students at undergraduate-, postgraduate-, MBA- and executive levels in different countries including Germany, the UK, Ukraine, and Colombia.
His teaching draws not only from his vast theoretical knowledge but also from his experience as a business trainer, and coach. Wlad has a track record as a PI of several research projects funded by national governments, Industry, and the European Union.
Davide Romelli (Professor)
Davide Romelli is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Trinity College Dublin. He is a Research Affiliate at International Macro-TCD (IM-TCD) and SUERF – The European Money and Finance Forum, a Research Fellow at the BAFFI-CAREFIN Centre at Bocconi University, a Research Associate at the Centre for Economics, Policy and History, and a Chercheur affilié at OFCE–Sciences Po. He also serves as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Finance & Economics and International Economics and Economic Policy.
His research focuses on international finance, macroeconomics, central banking, and financial supervision. Currently, Davide is a member of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Academic Advisory Group, jointly run by HM Treasury and the Bank of England, and of the Monetary Policy Expert Panel of the ECON Committee of the European Parliament.
He holds a PhD in Economics from ESSEC Business School and THEMA, University of Cergy-Pontoise.
Cristin Ryan (Professor)
Professor Cristin Ryan is Professor in Practice of Pharmacy in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, and Director of the MPharm programme. She previously served as the Director of Teaching and Learning (Post-graduate). She is Chairperson of the HeartBeat Trust.
Cristin trained as a pharmacist in the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, completed her PhD in University College Cork, and post-doctoral research training in the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Cristin worked as a lecturer in Queen’s University Belfast and as a senior Lecturer in the Royal College of Surgeons, before joining Trinity College Dublin in 2017.
Cristin’s research is funded by the Health Research Board, the Irish Research Council, the Health Services Executive, Interreg Europe. Her research interests are in developing and translating interventions to improve the delivery of care, with a particular emphasis on interventions aimed at improving medication usage and safety.
Michael Stock (Professor)
Mike Stock is an Assistant Professor in Geochemistry in the School of Natural Sciences. He graduated from the University of Southampton with an MSci in Geology (2011) and the University of Oxford with a D.Phil in Earth Sciences (2017). Prior to his appointment in Trinity, Mike held the Charles Darwin and Galapagos Islands Junior Research Fellowship at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge, and spent time as a Parliamentary Academic Fellow in the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.
His research uses novel geochemical and petrological techniques to understand the architecture and dynamics of crustal magma systems, either to investigate controls on the timing/style of eruptions at active volcanoes or the processes which form critical metal deposits in ancient magma chambers.
He is Director of the Earth Surface Research Laboratory (a national geochemical facility), PI on the Critical-Ireland project (Research Ireland, GSI) and founded the inter-institutional Dublin Magmatism Group.
Frédérique Vallières (Professor)
Frédérique Vallières is a Professor in Global Health and Director of the Trinity Centre for Global Health at Trinity College Dublin. Her research sits at the intersection of psychology and global health, using participatory approaches to better understand how individuals, communities, and systems respond to adversity and crisis. Collaborating with civil society organizations, international NGOs, and UN partners across Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, she works to strengthen mental health services and systems, ensuring they are more responsive and resilient in the face of unexpected events.
Dr. Vallières holds a BSc from McGill University (2006) and an MSc in Global Health (2010) and PhD (2014) from Trinity College Dublin.
Tom Walker (Professor)
Tom Walker studied at the University of Oxford (BA and DPhil) and Trinity College Dublin (MPhil). Since 2011, he has been teaching in the School of English, where he is Associate Professor in Irish Writing and currently serves as Head of Discipline.
His research focuses on the study of modern Irish literature and culture, especially of poetry in English, from the late nineteenth century through to the present. Areas explored include: the transnational nature of cultural production in Ireland; literature’s relationship to the other arts; questions of poetical influence, allusion, and collaboration; literary responses to terror; poetry’s place on the radio and in periodicals; and the cultural history of philosophical idealism.
His publications include the monograph Louis MacNeice and the Irish Poetry of his Time (2015) and the two co-edited volumes The Edinburgh Companion to W. B. Yeats and the Arts (2024) and Derek Mahon: A Retrospective (2024).
Scholarship
THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN ELECTED TO SCHOLARSHIP 2025:
|
Course Name |
Name |
|
Biological and Biomedical Sciences |
LYNNE SHERLOCK |
|
Chemical Sciences |
FINTAN BYRNE |
|
Children's and General Nursing |
SOPHIE BAKER |
|
Clinical Speech and Language Studies |
REBECCA KEHOE FITZPATRICK |
|
Computer Science |
COLIN SIMON-FELLOWES |
|
Dental Science |
MARWAN ELMAHGOUB |
|
Economic and Social Studies |
MALACHY MCKENNA |
|
Engineering |
PAULA BRÜDRICH |
|
English Studies |
ANNA DOMOWNIK |
|
European Studies |
ORLA PEPPARD |
|
Geography and Geoscience |
AVA HAGAN |
|
Global Business |
SEAN TREACY |
|
Human Nutrition and Dietetics (Joint Degree) |
AMY SHIEL |
|
Law |
TARA KILGALLEN |
|
Law and German |
MEADHBH NOLAN |
|
Medicine |
DANIEL CUNNINGHAM |
|
Midwifery |
ESTELLA MARLOWE |
|
Music Education |
SCARLETT WILMOT |
|
Nursing |
LYNNE DUNNE |
|
Pharmacy |
ANNA MORRIS |
|
Philosophy |
ANAND SHUKLA-PAREKH |
|
Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology |
AARON CLARKE TIGHE |
|
Physical Sciences |
ISOBEL MCSWEENEY |
|
Psychology |
COLIN HARPER |
|
Theoretical Physics |
ARTEM TARASENKO |
|
Trinity Joint Honours (Middle Eastern, Jewish Islamic Civilisations and History) |
MYKYTA ARTEMENKO |
|
Trinity Joint Honours (Political Science and Social Policy) |
ABHAINN OBAOILL-COYLE |
|
Trinity Joint Honours (Law and Political Science) |
BEN KIERAN-GLENNON |
|
Trinity Joint Honours (Law and History) |
NÓRA COLLINS |
|
Trinity Joint Honours (Law and Business) |
BHADRA PANICKER |
|
Trinity Joint Honours (Film Studies and Music) |
TIRZAH HUTCHINSON-EDGAR |
|
Trinity Joint Honours (English Literature and History of Art and Architecture) |
TOMASZ BALCERKIEWICZ |
|
Trinity Joint Honours (English Literature and History) |
EMILY O SULLIVAN |
|
Trinity Joint Honours (Classical Languages and Middle Eastern, Jewish and Islamic Studies) |
JACK MULVIHILL |