About the Awards

The annual Research Excellence Awards recognise the outstanding contribution of Ulster University staff members and teams in the areas of research, across six categories – Senior Distinguished Research Award, Distinguished Research Award, Future Research Leader Award, Research Recognition Award, Excellence in PhD Research Supervision Award and Research Team Awards.

Congratulations to all the 2024 Champion, Faculty and Team Winners in the Research Excellence Awards.

Champion Winners 2024

Senior Distinguished Research Champion Award

Winner

Professor Paul Moore
Professor of Creative Technologies, School of Communication and Media

Professor Moore is Professor of Creative Technologies, Director of Future Screens NI and Co-Director of the Creative Industries Institute. His research focuses on the creative industries and the ways in which theory and practice can be brought together in training and education. He has published widely, and his sound art has been exhibited across the UK. His personal contribution to the development of research agendas across the arts practice, theory and industry domains has seen him engage with diverse research output types and beneficial collaborations, as well as engaging in leadership in project development, including projects of significant scale and reach within the industry and wider community fields such as the £13 million Future Screens NI and DfC Future Screens NI.

Distinguished Research Champion Award

Winner

Dr Ian Cleland
Interim Research Director, School of Computing

Dr Cleland’s research on digital health technologies, powered by pervasive computing and artificial intelligence is making a direct clinical, commercial and societal impact for health providers and SMEs in Northern Ireland and across Europe. Dr Cleland has played an instrumental role in the execution of three multi-million flagship projects - CHIC, ARC and AiCC; he led the establishment of Ulster’s Connected Health Living Lab; as well as a number of significant EU and industrial collaborative research projects. Dr Cleland has published research in 100 peer reviewed journals and conferences with a number of high-profile national and international research collaborators and his work has been cited over 1,000 times.

Future Research Leader Champion Award

Winner

Dr Amir Farokh Payam
Lecturer in Electronics and Software, School of Engineering

Dr Payam has made significant achievements and accomplishments in his research field of MEMS/NEMS, atomic force microscopy (AFM), materials characterisation, nonlinear dynamics and electronics engineering. His pioneering work has introduced new theoretical and experimental methodologies for imaging and materials characterization at the nanoscale, contributing to recent advances in AFM, MEMS/NEMS function and application. He has authored over 50 papers in esteemed peer reviewed journals  as well as delivering conference talks and author/co-author of book chapters. Dr Payam also has an impressive funding record, with funding from DfE, US Ireland Partnership Fund and EPSRC.

Future Research Leader Champion Award

Winner

Dr Eoin McElroy
Lecturer in Psychology, School of Psychology

Dr McElroy’s work focusses on how we think about and measure mental health problems, and how factors such as poverty can impact on the wellbeing of young people. Much of his work has involved the analysis of large datasets, such as longitudinal cohort studies and administrative health records. He has an outstanding publication record and multiple first-author papers that are exceptionally well-cited and have impacted his field. His funding is also impressive with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, Department of Education, and the Wellcome Trust.

Outstanding External Collaborative Research Team Award

Winning Team

Professor Helene Mc Nulty, Professor Kristina Pentieva, Professor Mary Ward, Dr Rachelle Irwin, Dr Aoife Caffrey and Dr Diane Lees-Murdock – from the Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE) and the Genomic Medicine Group, School of Biomedical Sciences, Coleraine Campus.

The winning team’s research project, ‘EpiBrain’, explores the epigenetic effects of folate and related B-vitamins on the brain throughout life and aims to provide scientific substantiation and translation of evidence for health-improvement strategies.  In collaboration with their transnational partners from Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain), University of British Columbia (Canada) and University of Calgary (Canada), this cutting-edge research incorporating expertise from the disciplines of nutrition and genetics stands at the forefront of delivering transnational research excellence and translating the findings into nutritional strategies to enhance brain health across lifespan.

Outstanding Interdisciplinary Research Team Award

Winning Team

Professor Maurice Mulvenna; Professor Siobhan O'Neill; Professor Raymond Bond; Dr Edel Ennis; Dr Colin Gorman; Courtney Potts; Dr Patrick McAllister; Dr Karen Kirby; Dr Kyle Boyd; Dr Orla McDevitt-Petrovic; Professor Michael McTear; and Dr Susan Lagdon.

This winning interdisciplinary team took a psychology-informed approach to digital mental health research, bringing together expertise from the School of Psychology, the School of Computing and the Belfast School of Art to research, query and demonstrate the value of digital technology to support mental health and wellbeing.

Faculty Winners 2024

Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

  • Professor Paul Moore - Senior Distinguished Research Faculty Award
  • Dr Christina Sevdali - Distinguished Research Faculty Award

Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment

  • Professor Alistair McIlhagger - Senior Distinguished Research Faculty Award
  • Dr Ian Cleland - Distinguished Research Faculty Award
  • Dr Amir Farokh Payam - Future Research Leader Faculty Award
  • Dr Gourav Bhattacharya, - Research Recognition Faculty Award
  • Dr Edward Archer - Excellence in PhD Research Supervision Faculty Award
  • Professor Chris Nugent - Excellence in PhD Research Supervision Faculty Award

Life and Health Sciences

  • Professor Ibrahim Banat - Senior Distinguished Research Faculty Award
  • Dr Catherine Hughes - Distinguished Research Faculty Award
  • Dr Eoin McElroy - Future Research Leader Faculty Award
  • Professor Emeir McSorley - Excellence in PhD Research Supervision Faculty Award

Ulster University Business School

  • Dr Lynsey Hollywood - Senior Distinguished Research Faculty Award
  • Dr Susann Power - Distinguished Research Faculty Award
  • Dr Christopher McLaughlin - Future Research Leader Faculty Award
  • Professor Elaine Ramsey - Excellence in PhD Research Supervision Faculty Award
  • Dr Alison Hampton - Excellence in PhD Research Supervision Faculty Award

Team Award Winners 2024

Outstanding External Collaborative Research Team Award

  • Professor Helene Mc Nulty, Professor of Nutritional Science
  • Professor Kristina Pentieva, Professor of Human Nutrition
  • Professor Mary Ward, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Dr Rachelle Irwin, Lecturer in Genomic Medicine
  • Dr Aoife Caffrey, Research Associate in Nutrition and Ageing Brain
  • Dr Diane Lees-Murdock, Senior Lecturer

Outstanding Interdisciplinary Research Team Award

  • Professor Maurice Mulvenna, Professor of Computer Science
  • Professor Siobhan O'Neill, Professor of Mental Health Sciences
  • Professor Raymond Bond, Professor of Human Computer Systems
  • Dr Edel Ennis, Lecturer in Psychology
  • Dr Colin Gorman, Lecturer in Clinical Psychology
  • Courtney Potts, Research Associate
  • Dr Patrick McAllister, Lecturer in Computer Science
  • Dr Karen Kirby, Senior Lecturer
  • Dr Kyle Boyd, Lecturer in Interaction Design
  • Dr Orla McDevitt-Petrovic, Lecturer in Psychology
  • Professor Michael McTear, Emeritus Professor of Knowledge Engineering
  • Dr Susan Lagdon, Lecturer in Psychology (Mental Health)

Further Information

To find out more about the Research Excellence Awards and how to apply visit the Research Excellence Awards website.