Date released: February 19, 2026
19 February 2026: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced new funding for environmental and climate research in Ireland, with funding of €6.5 million awarded for 24 new research projects. As well as addressing key knowledge gaps, these innovative projects will support the development of vital research capacity and expertise in strategically important areas.
Research plays a critical role in informing robust policy and decision-making as set out in Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy, Impact 2030. The EPA Research Programme has an established focus on policy-relevant research addressing identified knowledge gaps relevant to environmental and climate policy. The outcomes of the EPA Research Call 2025 will contribute to the evidence base for environmental policy in Ireland, strengthen connections between the research and policy communities and deliver positive environmental outcomes.
Projects that will receive EPA funding this year include topics such as:
Announcing the funding awards, Dr Eimear Cotter, EPA Deputy Director General said:
“We face complex challenges in becoming a resilient, competitive and sustainable society. Research, such as that funded through the EPA Research Call, will play a vital role in supporting robust policy- and decision-making while ensuring the protection of our environment and climate. The projects announced today will support targeted, policy relevant research and build connections with policy-makers and practitioners, and ultimately support more effective action. I congratulate the successful teams and look forward to seeing the positive impacts of their work.”
The latest EPA funding is significant in terms of further building environmental research capacity in Ireland. It will support 148 research staff across 10 Higher Education Institutions and will have a wider reach through 34 collaborating organisations across the public and private sectors in three different countries. University of Galway received the highest number of successful research awards in 2025.
Commenting on the announcement, Aengus Parsons, Vice-President for Research and Innovation (Acting) at University of Galway, said:
“Our researchers are to be commended for their vision and dedication to addressing the urgent environmental challenges of our times. We thank the Environmental Protection Agency for this support, which strengthens our commitment to research and innovation around sustainable and resilient environments. I look forward to seeing these projects progress to impacts across climate policy, coastal risk, air quality, emissions reduction, peatland resilience, the bioeconomy, and water quality.”
Reflecting the importance of collaboration in addressing climate and environmental challenges, the EPA is working in partnership with Met Éireann and the Office of Public Works to co-fund a number of projects in areas including flood probability, flow statistics for our rivers and climate modelling.
The list of funded projects made under the EPA Research Call 2025 is available on the EPA website. The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. Details of the EPA Research Call 2026 will be made available on the EPA website.
Contact: Emily Williamson, EPA Media Relations Office, 053-9170770 (24 hours) or media@epa.ie.
Notes to Editor
As part of its wide range of functions, the EPA manages a research programme that delivers essential scientific support for environmental policy development, implementation and broader decision making. The EPA has been funding research in Ireland since 1994 and is currently funding more than 200 on-going research projects.
Supporting environmental policies:
The annual EPA Research Call is a key element of the EPA 2030 Research Strategy which provides scientific support for environmental policy development, implementation and broader decision making across four thematic areas:
The EPA Research Programme is designed to support the implementation of environmental policies in Ireland, across a range of key policy areas including water, air, radon, and other areas of interest for the EPA.
EPA Research provides support to all types of organisations within Ireland through a variety of funding mechanisms and partnerships. Further details about the EPA Research Programme are on the EPA website.
EPA Research Call 2025 – further information
The EPA Research Call 2025 invited submissions under 29 research topics contributing to the development and implementation of environmental policies in Ireland. The research topics were identified through consultation with relevant stakeholders and are aligned to the EPA Thematic Research Priorities 2024-2026.
A total of 110 eligible applications were received to the EPA Research Call 2025 with 24 being funded in 2025. It will support 148 research staff across 10 Higher Education Institutions and will have a wider reach through 34 collaborating organisations across the public and private sectors in three different countries.
A full list of the funded projects is provided below. For full details on the awards granted through the EPA Research Call 2025 and other research funded by the EPA in 2025, please refer to the EPA website.
Funding opportunities 2026: The EPA Research Call 2026 is expected to launch later in 2026. Other EPA funding opportunities this year include EPA Fast-track to Policy Funding; Fulbright-EPA Scholarships and Fellowships; as well as opportunities supported through EPA’s participation in National and European Partnerships. Up to date information is available on our Research Funding webpage.
List of Awards made under the EPA Research Call 2025
* Co-funding provided by Met Éireann and the Office of Public Works
**Co-funding provided by Met Éireann
| Lead Applicant | Lead Organisation | Project Title | Grant Aid Committed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addressing Climate Change Evidence Needs | |||
| Salem Gharbia | Atlantic Technological University (ATU) | RE-CAP: Reviewing, Experimenting and Co-Designing Pathways for Ireland's Climate Action Plans | €159,303.08 |
| Arash Beiranvand | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | INTEgrated GRID Resilience for Infrastructure Sustainability and Emergencies | €272,427.00 |
| Roisin Moriarty | University College Cork (UCC) | Exploratory analysis of the effect of climate change on forest carbon carbon stores in Ireland | €440,572.24 |
| Tomas Mac Uidhir | University College Cork (UCC) | Indicators for Measuring Policy Actions and Climate Trends | €164,572.94 |
| Liz Coleman | University of Galway | Investigating National Policy Impacts on Atmospheric Climate Targets | €330,221.75 |
| *Agnieszka Indiana Olbert | University of Galway | Joint probability of multi-driver floods along Ireland's coastline | €164,910.94 |
| **Vaios Moschos | University of Galway | Air pollutant Evolution and Regulatory Outcomes through TRend EvaluatioN and Diagnostics | €329,990.33 |
| Feidhlim McGowan | University of Galway | Local Examples of Cooperation and Harnessing Experimental Insights to Lower Emissions | €163,663.52 |
| Jurgita Ovadnevaite | University of Galway | SourcEs And Sinks of methaNe | €470,108.25 |
| Saeed Alsamhi | University of Galway | Dataspace for Empowered Monitoring of Peatland Stability and Climate Resilience in Ireland | €494,999.02 |
| Delivering a Healthy Environment | |||
| Jenny Lawler | Dublin City University (DCU) | Integrated Spatial and Temporal POPs Evaluation with Cutting-Edge Strategies for Environmental Monitoring | €328,054.89 |
| Jenny Lawler | Dublin City University (DCU) | Ethanol Emissions and Fungal Growth from Irish Whiskey Maturation: Implications for Environmental Monitoring and Regulatory Compliance | €159,624.34 |
| James McGrath | Maynooth University (MU) | PRevnation through Integrated Outcomes: Reducing radon ImpacTs on Irish Society and Economy | €318,996.60 |
| Patrick Quille | Munster Technological University (MTU) | GreenCOD Investigating green methodologies for the routine measurement of Chemical Oxygen Demand | €133,000.00 |
| Vibhutesh Kumar Singh | South East Technological University (SETU) | F-gases and Chemicals Human-in-the-loop Artificial Intelligence Surveillance System Design | €161,493.51 |
| Patrice Behan | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | Greening of Regulated Analytical Chemistry Methods using the existing regulated State Laboratory | €328,783.36 |
| Facilitating a Green and Circular Economy | |||
| Swarna Jaiswal | Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) | System Design and Policy Roadmap for B2B and Trade Packaging in Ireland | €164,852.13 |
| David Styles | University of Galway | BIOeconomy INdicators for foreSIGHT | €329,420.84 |
| Protecting and Restoring our Natural Environment | |||
| Heather Lally | Atlantic Technological University (ATU) | Assessing Landscape Fragmentation Impact on Ecosystems | €163,789.29 |
| Timothy Sullivan | University College Cork (UCC) | Pasture irrigation with treated wastewater: challenges, risks and opportunities | €329,181.61 |
| Karen Ray | University College Cork (UCC) | Determining environmental impacts on landscape- understanding landscape sensitivity in assessment of strategic plans and programmes | €139,409.10 |
| Ainhoa Gonzalez | University College Dublin (UCD) | Artificial Intelligence Supported Expert- Prioritisation of Significant Effects: Streamlining Strategic Environmental Assessment Scoping and Improving Effectiveness | €160,336.89 |
| Patrick Morrissey | University of Dublin, Trinity College (TCD) | Assessing the thermal effects of dams and barriers on river and lake habitats |
€634,445.00 |
| **Edelle Doherty | University of Galway | Low-Flow statistics for Assimilative Capacity Assessments | €158,470.88 |