Marine Institute Hosts Postgraduate Symposium

5th December 2022

Postgraduate students funded under the Cullen Scholarship Programme and Eoin Sweeney Scholarship Programme presented their marine research projects on a wide range of topics at the Marine Institute

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 the annual placement of the researchers at PLOCAN (Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands) the programme increases collaboration between Ireland and Spain through 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 have 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

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