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MARINE INSTITUTE HOSTS POSTGRADUATE SYMPOSIUM
Marine Institute hosts Postgraduate Symposium. The Marine Institute hosted a Postgraduate Scholarship Symposium on Wednesday 30th November 2022 where the postgraduate students funded under the Cullen Scholarship Programme and Eoin Sweeney Scholarship Programme presented the progress and current findings of their marine research projects on a wide range of topics.
The Cullen Scholarship Programme is not only a valuable training and capacity building measure, but research carried out by Cullen scholars adds value to the Marine Institute’s role in providing scientific and technical advice and services to support sustainable management of Ireland’s marine resources and a sustainable ocean economy. This combination of capacity build and knowledge generation will be especially important to support recovery in maritime sectors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Eoin Sweeney Scholarship Programme aims to provide research training opportunities for scientists in oceanography, marine engineering and related marine science disciplines leading to the acquisition of a higher degree. Through annual placement of the researchers at PLOCAN (Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands) the programme increases collaboration between Ireland and Spain though research undertaken using the test-bed and demonstration facilities in both countries.
A total of 41 scholarships with total grant-aid of €3.9 million has been awarded for research under the Cullen Scholarship Programme from 2014 to 2021, with a further six Scholarships currently under contract negotiation following the 2022 funding call. Two scholarships were awarded under the Eoin Sweeney Scholarship Programme call in 2020. A list of students who presented at the Symposium is included below:
| Presenter | Higher Education Institute | Project Title |
| Catherine Jordan | University of Galway | Space based observations of marine phytoplankton |
| Aileen Kennedy | University of Galway | Fisheries Data Integration and Analytics |
| Amy Fitzpatrick | Munster Technological University, Cork | Next generation sequencing for Norovirus Genotypes |
| Elliot Murphy | University of Galway | Culture optimisation, and bioactivity of selected toxic Irish microalgae |
| Signe Martin | Atlantic Technological University, Galway | Evaluate the disease status of velvet crab, brown crab, lobster & shrimp |
| Colin Guilfoyle | Atlantic Technological University, Galway | Biodiversity conservation and restoration in the Wild Nephin Ballycroy National Park |
| Callum Sturrock | Atlantic Technological University, Galway | Biological changes in key commercially exploited fish in the light of Climate & Ocean Change |
| Grace McNicholas | Trinity College Dublin | Ecology of Irish tunas |
| Aideen Kearney | University of Galway | Enhancing farmed Atlantic salmon quality through new production technologies |
| Madhuri Angel Baxla | Atlantic Technological University, Galway | Machine learning assisted detection & prediction of climate change related anomalous events in complex marine systems |
| Ashly Kalayil Uthaman | Maynooth University | Seasonal to decadal sea level and ocean waves predictions through numerical modelling and statistical analysis |
| Anna Stroh | Atlantic Technological University, Galway | Improving fishing survey indices though the use of spatio-temporal models |
| Virginia Morejon | University College Dublin | Development of a Cumulative Effects Assessment Framework for Ireland’s Marine Planning Process |
| Bela Klimesova | Atlantic Technological University, Galway | Epidemiological investigations of the salmon louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis on Irish Atlantic salmon farms |
| Iain McLeod | Maynooth University | Wave-powered data buoy |
| Bríd O’Connor | University College Cork | The status of sensitive fish species within Irish waters and their vulnerability in relation to fishing and discarding practices |
| Patrick McLoughlin | Maynooth University | Recovering legacy tidal records to elucidate trends in sea level rise in Ireland |
| Nicolé Caputo | Atlantic Technological University, Galway | Development and Implementation of molecular assays for the routine detection of toxigenic and harmful phytoplankton species in Irish coastal waters and sediments |
| Felix Butschek | University College Cork | Celtic Sea acoustic data analytics for improved habitat mapping and ecosystem assessment |
These projects are supported by the Marine Institute and funded under the Marine Research Programme by the Government of Ireland.
