Prof. Anya Belz is Full Professor of Computer Science at Dublin City University's School of Computing and Science Lead at ADAPT Research Centre. A leading NLP researcher with PhD-level expertise, she specializes in natural language generation, evaluation methodologies, and multimodal systems. Recipient of multiple best paper awards and NAACL Test of Time Award nomination. Research innovations include foundational work on statistical language generation (deployed in weather forecasting systems), comparative evaluation frameworks, vision-language integration, and reproducibility quantification. Current EPSRC-funded ReproHum project coordinates 20 global labs studying evaluation consistency. Achievements : Developed industry-deployed generation systems for accessibility applications Pioneered cross-modal alignment techniques for image description Authored 100+ publications spanning generation, evaluation, and reproducibility
Dr. Andrew Hines is a Researcher at the School of Computer Science, University College Dublin, specializing in machine learning applications for signal processing in speech, audio, and video domains. His work focuses on Quality of Experience (QoE) modeling, speech quality assessment, and immersive media analysis. He has held leadership roles in European COST Actions like Qualinet and CryptoAction, and previously worked in industry as a Director of Engineering. University: University College Dublin Role: Director of Research, Innovation and Impact Key Collaborations: IEEE (Senior Member), Audio Engineering Society (Ireland) Research interests center on machine learning for QoE optimization, audio-visual integration, and healthcare applications like heart sound classification and stroke rehabilitation. His recent publications explore self-supervised learning, neural speech codecs, and contextual factors in speech/audio quality assessment. Scientific contributions include awards like IEEE Senior Membership, and his work spans both academic research and industrial engineering in finance and aviation sectors. He leads the QxLab research team at UCD and develops open-source platforms such as WARP-Q and AQP for quality metrics.
David Lillis is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science at University College Dublin (UCD). His research focuses on Natural Language Processing (NLP), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and their applications in legal and forensic contexts. He leads projects like CeADAR (Ireland’s Applied AI Center) and the Transpire project, collaborating with organizations such as Corlytics and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. He holds adjunct roles as a Guest Professor at Beijing University of Technology’s Data Mining and Security Lab and has been a Fulbright Scholar at the University of New Haven’s Cyber Forensics Research and Education Group. Education: B.A. (Hons) in Law and Accounting, University of Limerick Higher Diploma in Computer Science, UCD M.Sc., Ph.D. in Computer Science, UCD Professional Certificate in University Teaching & Learning, UCD Research Interests: Legal AI, digital forensics, machine learning, multi-agent systems, and information retrieval. Recent work includes NLP for regulatory analysis, crop yield prediction via neural networks, and AR-driven decision support systems. Grants & Projects: Principal Investigator: Transpire (AI Platform for Regulation) SFI Funded Investigator: CONSUS (Crop Optimization) PI: CeADAR Technology Centre Teaching roles include Deputy Programme Director for Software Engineering at Beijing-Dublin International College (BDIC) since 2014. Labs & Groups: UCD Forensics and Security Research Group, ML-Labs (SFI Centre for ML Training), and the Data Mining and Security Lab (BJUT).
Arash Joorabchi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Limerick, Ireland. His research focuses on the intersection of machine learning, educational technology, and digital library systems, with particular emphasis on automated assessment, text mining, and knowledge organization techniques. Research Trends: Analysis of his publications reveals sustained contributions to automated short-answer grading, Arabic text classification, and semantic integration of Wikipedia with academic resources. Key methodologies include sentence transformers, hybrid text representation models, and citation-based indexing techniques. Technical Domains: His work spans natural language processing, educational data mining, metadata management, and semantic web technologies. Specific applications include Q&A platform analysis, library resource discovery, and curriculum development systems.
Dr. Lucy Hederman is an Associate Professor in Computer Science at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), affiliated with the O'Reilly Institute. Her research focuses on leveraging data and documents to support clinical decision-making, particularly in healthcare knowledge work. She has led interdisciplinary projects addressing data integration for rare diseases (e.g., ANCA-vasculitis, MND) and socio-technical challenges in adopting patient-generated health data (PGHD) into clinical practice. Dr. Hederman has secured over €xxxk in research funding and leads the Heterogeneity and Interoperability (H&I) challenge in the SFI-funded ADAPT 2 Centre. Her educational background includes advanced studies in computer science and healthcare informatics, though specific degree details are not explicitly stated in the text. She has supervised 4 PhDs, 2 research MScs, and co-supervised 6 PhDs, while currently mentoring 8 graduate students. Her career includes founding TCD spinouts PBOC and BIOLOGIT, which align with her research in health informatics and technology. Key research interests include: Interdisciplinary collaboration between clinicians, researchers, and technologists Data harmonization for multi-national clinical studies (e.g., FAIRVASC, Precision-ALS) Development of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) Design of mobile health (mHealth) tools for underserved populations Recent work emphasizes FAIR principles for healthcare data and socio-technical factors influencing PGHD adoption. She has contributed to over 70 peer-reviewed publications and actively participates in initiatives like the EU-funded TRANSFORM project and HRB Primary Care Research Centre. Dr. Hederman’s professional memberships include the Irish Computer Society, ACM, and Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland. Her research has impacted healthcare practices in Ireland, with many MSc student projects influencing local health services.
Dr. Sheila Castilho is an Assistant Professor at the School of Applied Language & Intercultural Studies, Dublin City University (DCU). She holds a PhD from DCU (2016) and a Master's from the University of Wolverhampton and University of Algarve. Her expertise lies in machine translation (MT), post-editing, and translation technology evaluation. She co-leads the New Trends in Translation Technology (NeTTT’22) conference and chairs DCU's Master in Translation Studies and Master in Translation Technology programs. Education: Licenciatura em Letras Inglês/Português (UNIOESTE University, Brazil) Master in Natural Language Processing (University of Wolverhampton & University of Algarve) PhD in Translation Technologies (Dublin City University) Research: Focuses on document-level MT evaluation, post-editing strategies, and user-centric MT assessment. Leads the DELA project and contributed to TraMOOC/iADAATPA initiatives. Published over 40 articles and co-edited 'Translation Quality Assessment: From Principles to Practice' (Springer, 2018). Grants & Projects: DCU PI for DELA (Document-level Evaluation) PRINCIPLE project (EU Low-resource MT) ELE (European Language Equality) initiative Labs/Teams: Active in ADAPT Centre (DCU) and collaborates with international NLP/MT communities (ACL, EMNLP, WMT).
Professor Damien Woods is a faculty member at Maynooth University's Faculty of Science & Engineering, specifically affiliated with the Department of Computer Science and the Hamilton Institute. He leads groundbreaking research in DNA computing, molecular programming, and optical computing, focusing on self-assembly, algorithmic design, and computational complexity. ERC Consolidator Grant: 'Computationally Active DNA Nanostructures' SFI ERC Support Award EIC Pathfinder Challenge Grant: 'DISCO - DNA Infrastructure for Storage and Computation' His research projects explore programmable DNA storage, molecular robotics, and robust self-assembly systems. Recent publications span diverse topics like algorithmic DNA tile assembly, thermodynamic stability, and computational universality in nanosystems. Awards include ERC and SFI grants, with a focus on bridging theoretical computer science and experimental molecular biology. Scientific Contributions include: 2022: 'Turning Machines' - Molecular Robotics 2019: 'Diverse Molecular Algorithms' in Nature 2017: 'A Cargo-Sorting DNA Robot' in Science
John Breslin is a Personal Professor in Electronic Engineering at the College of Science and Engineering, University of Galway, serving as Director of the TechInnovate and AgInnovate programmes. Associated with two Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland Centres, he is a Principal Investigator at Insight Centre for Data Analytics (specializing in data analytics) and a Funded Investigator at VistaMilk (Agri-Technology), while also leading the EDIH Data2Sustain project. With an h-index of 50, over 12,000 citations, and 300+ peer-reviewed publications including seminal books on the Social Semantic Web, he ranks among Ireland's most influential researchers in digital technologies. Breslin's research fundamentally bridges Semantic Web technologies, AI-driven data analytics, and practical innovation. His co-creation of the SIOC framework—implemented across 65,000+ websites by entities like Yahoo and Boeing—demonstrates real-world impact in social data interoperability. Current work leverages blockchain and federated learning for sustainable Agri-Technology through VistaMilk, while his TechInnovate programmes translate academic research into commercial ventures across healthcare, smart manufacturing, and energy systems. Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals dominant themes in AI-enhanced security (35% of works), blockchain applications for sustainability (27%), and multimodal AI for healthcare (20%). His team pioneers privacy-preserving techniques for IoT and medical devices, neurosymbolic visual reasoning frameworks, and federated learning architectures addressing data heterogeneity—directly supporting his roles in national research infrastructures like Insight and VistaMilk. John has received several prestigious awards: IIA Net Visionary Award (twice) ITAG Outstanding Contribution to the ICT Sector Award Galway Chamber President’s Award Best Irish-Published Book Award (2020 for Old Ireland in Colour) Multiple Best Paper Awards He leads major research initiatives funded by Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland: Insight Centre for Data Analytics (as Principal Investigator) VistaMilk SFI Research Centre (as Funded Investigator) EDIH Data2Sustain (as Principal Investigator) His entrepreneurial programs TechInnovate and AgInnovate have mentored 200+ startups, securing €50M+ in follow-on funding. Breslin co-founded PorterShed (Galway City Innovation District) and serves on Scale Ireland's Steering Group, creating Ireland's most active regional innovation ecosystem outside Dublin. He maintains active industry partnerships with Vodafone, Boeing, and agricultural cooperatives through VistaMilk's testbed facilities.
Simon Colreavy Donnelly is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Information Systems at the University of Limerick. He is a member of the Interaction Design Centre and focuses on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of artificial intelligence, educational technology, and healthcare informatics. His work spans machine learning applications in medical data analysis, virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR) for inclusive education, and deep learning techniques in chemical analysis and spectroscopy. Research Interests: His primary areas of investigation include generative AI for education equity, semisupervised learning algorithms, virtual learning environments design, and the ethical deployment of immersive technologies in healthcare and palliative care. He also explores NMR spectroscopy analysis using deep learning and develops tools for nutritional content estimation through image processing. Collaborations: His recent collaborations span international teams addressing challenges in toxicity-free online discourse (PAN 2024), semisupervised learning distribution mismatches, and VR applications for post-pandemic blended learning. His work integrates computational methods with real-world applications in education, healthcare, and chemical analysis. Labs/Teams: Active within the Interaction Design Centre at UL, his research group develops practical solutions for accessibility in digital education and healthcare systems, emphasizing user-centered design principles for extended reality applications.
Prof Noel O'Connor is a Full Professor at Dublin City University's School of Electronic Engineering, specializing in cutting-edge research at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), medical imaging, robotics, and smart city technologies. His work spans applications such as cardiac MRI reconstruction, robotic manipulation using reinforcement learning, and the development of the Smart DCU Digital Twin for autism-friendly university environments. Research interests include AI-driven medical diagnostics, multimodal data fusion, and adaptive systems. His contributions to cardiac MRI reconstruction and transformer-based medical imaging analysis reflect a strong focus on healthcare innovation. He also explores ethical AI practices to reduce social bias in foundation models. Recent work emphasizes smart infrastructure projects, such as optimizing parking recommendations for electric vehicles and enhancing accessibility through digital twin frameworks. His research often integrates real-time sensor data and multi-agent systems to address complex urban challenges. No scientific awards are listed. Collaborations include the ASU-DCU International Research Program on Sensors and Machine Learning. Advising details and grant information are not explicitly provided.
Dr. Tim Crowley is an Assistant Professor and Lecturer in the School of Philosophy at University College Dublin (UCD). He holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford, where his thesis on Aristotle's Elements earned the Conington Prize (2010). His research focuses on Ancient Philosophy, particularly Aristotle and the reception of Presocratic ideas. Crowley has been a College Lecturer at UCD since 2008 and has held teaching roles at institutions like Aylesbury High School and Oxford's New College. His academic contributions include influential work on Aristotle's elements theory, metaphysics, and ethics. Notable publications span journals like Phronesis and Classical Quarterly , with recent works exploring ancient Greek ethics and feminist philosophy. Crowley has secured grants, including the Notion of Prohairesis in Aristotle's Philosophy of Action (2015–2018). He has supervised PhD students Giulio Di Basilio and Siobhan Doyle and coordinates modules on Aristotle's Ethics, Plato's Republic, and Ancient Philosophy. Recognized for teaching excellence, he was nominated for UCD Teaching Awards multiple times. Crowley is a member of the Heterodox Academy and actively engages in public philosophy, including an interview on free speech in universities. His professional service includes roles on UCD's Teaching and Learning Committee, Open Day Committee, and School Library Committee. He has also judged the Undergraduate Awards of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Dr Paula McGrath is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor in the School of English, Drama and Film at University College Dublin. She has been a core faculty member since 2013, initially as an Occasional Lecturer and promoted to Assistant Professor/Lecturer in 2021. She currently serves as Acting Head of Creative Writing and coordinates multiple modules including Craft of Creative Writing, Life Writing, and Literary Editorship. Her academic home is UCD, where she earned her MA and MFA, and she completed her PhD at the University of Limerick as a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Fellow. BA (Hons) in Single Honour English Language and Literature – Trinity College Dublin MA in Women’s Studies – University College Dublin MFA in Creative Writing – University College Dublin PhD in Creative Writing – University of Limerick Professional Certificate in University Teaching & Learning – University College Dublin Her research and teaching focus on creative writing, contemporary fiction, environmental writing, and women’s writing. She supervises creative practice and narrative theory, with a particular interest in trauma representation and intergenerational storytelling. Her novels, Generation (2015) and A History of Running Away (2017), have been published internationally and translated into French and German, with critical acclaim from Joseph O’Connor, John Boyne, and others. Her recent publications include journal articles, book reviews, and media commentaries on feminism, literature, and Irish society. The 15 most recent publications reflect a consistent engagement with narrative innovation, feminist themes, and psychological depth across fiction, translation, and criticism. Her work spans creative output and scholarly review, often intersecting personal history with broader cultural questions, particularly around gender, migration, and belonging. She frequently contributes to public discourse through The Irish Times and literary journals. Arts Council literary bursary (2016) Government of Ireland Postgraduate Fellowship Irish Writers Centre/St. Mark’s English Church Writer in Residence in Florence (2016) Dr McGrath has supervised doctoral research under Joseph O’Connor at the University of Limerick and has taught creative writing across levels at UCD. She has not publicly listed her students, but she has coordinated the MFA module Pedagogic Strategies for Creative Writing (2019–2022), indicating a strong mentorship role. She has received research funding from the Arts Council and the British Academy. Her teaching philosophy is student-focused and research-led, emphasizing a supportive, creative environment. She is actively involved in curriculum development and creative writing pedagogy. She is a member of the academic and literary community, with affiliations to the Irish Writers Centre, participation in international literary events, and contributions to public intellectual life through media and translation. Her work bridges creative practice and academic scholarship, positioning her as a leading voice in contemporary Irish literature and creative writing education.
Professor Francesco Pilla is a Full Professor of Smart and Sustainable Cities at University College Dublin's School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, where he also serves as Co-Director of the Spatial Dynamics Lab. Previously, he held positions as MSc Director (2018-2019) and Undergraduate Director for the School of Architecture. With over 15 years of experience in GIS modeling and spatial data analysis, Professor Pilla's work bridges technology, urban planning, and community engagement to create more sustainable cities. Professor Pilla's research focuses on developing geospatial analysis tools and environmental pollution models (air, noise, water) using GIS platforms to facilitate interoperability between research teams and end users. His approach integrates environmental pollution models with pervasive and community sensing applications for calibration and validation. A key innovation in his work is the integration of co-design principles through Living Labs in urban planning and citizen science initiatives to improve city life from an environmental perspective. His recent publications reveal a strong focus on urban sustainability challenges, with significant contributions to air quality monitoring, sustainable transportation, climate adaptation, and citizen science methodologies. His work increasingly incorporates advanced AI techniques, including large language models and machine learning algorithms, to analyze urban systems and develop data-driven solutions for complex environmental problems. The research demonstrates a clear trend toward integrating diverse data sources and developing practical tools for urban governance and planning. Haagen-Smit Prize (2024) - Recognizing outstanding papers published in Atmospheric Environment Best eMobility Project - Electric Vehicle Awards 2024 All Ireland community & council awards - Best Community Transport Initiative 2024 Academic research award: tipping point for action from Financial Times (2023) Professor Pilla leads numerous significant research projects including iSCAPE (H2020-SC5) as Coordinator, OPERANDUM (Principal Investigator for UCD) focusing on flood risk reduction with nature-based solutions, WeCount (Principal Investigator for UCD), and Connecting Nature (Principal Investigator for UCD). He has also secured funding through SFI Investigator grants for 'Scalable, Privacy-Enhanced Analytics for sharing mobility systems' and several Environmental Protection Agency projects. His collaborative work extends to partnerships with MIT through Fulbright/EPA TechImpact awards and IBM through Faculty Awards. At the Spatial Dynamics Lab, Professor Pilla oversees research that combines geospatial analysis, environmental monitoring, and community engagement. His innovative 'Bike Library' initiative, which has expanded to multiple schools in Dublin, exemplifies his commitment to translating research into practical community solutions. The lab's work integrates advanced sensing technologies, GIS platforms, and citizen science to address urban environmental challenges through collaborative approaches.
Dr. Monica Ward is a Teaching Professor at Dublin City University, currently serving as the Dean of Teaching and Learning within the Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs. Her work bridges technology and pedagogy, focusing on innovative educational tools. Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs Glasnevin Campus, Room D114 Monica's research interests revolve around Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) , educational technology , and game-based learning . She has contributed significantly to inclusive education, language revitalization (e.g., Irish and Nawat), and formative assessment in both language learning and introductory programming. Her projects often leverage Artificial Intelligence , Virtual Reality , and gamification to create engaging, accessible learning environments. Her recent publications highlight trends in adaptive learning technologies , socio-cultural immersion , and student-centered CALL design . Notable works include studies on educational robotics for dyslexic learners, AI-driven text analysis in game-based language learning, and the impact of interactive oral assessments. Monica has developed educational games like Cipher: Faoi Gheasa and Cipher VR , which integrate mythology and technology to enhance language reconnection. She also explores peer observation, collaborative modules, and green approaches in educational app development, reflecting her commitment to sustainable and culturally relevant teaching strategies.
John Sheppard is a Lecturer in the Department of Computing and Mathematics at South East Technological University. His research focuses on digital forensics , AI applications in cybersecurity , and network intrusion detection . His expertise spans forensic methodologies and the ethical implications of generative AI in investigations. Research interests include: AI-driven forensic analysis techniques Resource-constrained security systems Multimedia evidence processing Recent publications (2023-2024) demonstrate a strong emphasis on AI-enhanced cybersecurity solutions and innovative forensic geolocation methods . Work explores limitations and opportunities in applying large language models to digital investigations.
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