Two Irish-based scientists claim major research awards

Two Irish-based scientists have won big research awards from the European Research Council.

Worth €2.5 million each, the awards are among the highest granted by the council to senior researchers.

Prof Peter Humphries, who does eye research at Trinity College Dublin, and Prof Robert Kitchin, who conducts spatial analysis research at NUI Maynooth, are the recipients, announced yesterday by the European Commission Office in Dublin.

Prof Humphries heads the Ocular Genetics Unit in Trinity’s Smurfit Institute of Genetics. He is studying ways to treat glaucoma, pressure in the eye that can cause blindness.

Prof Kitchin is director of the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis based at Maynooth.

He studies how to create “smart cities” and how to better use space to improve quality of life using computer modelling and analysis.