Tags:
Walton Institute is proud to announce the appointment of Dr Deirdre Kilbane to the position of Director of Research.
As Director of Research, Dr Kilbane will provide leadership and vision in shaping Walton’s strategic multidisciplinary research direction and agenda. Dr Kilbane will build on the success of the Walton Institute as a world class research centre and continue to promote, strengthen, and enhance a diverse multidisciplinary research culture, expanding its research activities through fostering enthusiasm, excitement, and motivation for research.
Congratulating Dr Kilbane on her new role, Executive Director of the Walton Institute, Kevin Doolin said, “It is fantastic to see a scientist of Dr Kilbane’s caliber taking the reins for research in the Walton Institute, and I very much look forward to working with her into the future.”
Dr Kilbane joined the Walton Institute in 2018 and became Head of the Emerging Networks Laboratory Division, which focuses its research efforts on communication networks: how they are designed, configured, and used. Dr Kilbane is coordinator and principal investigator of the EU Horizon 2020 Future and Emerging Technologies Open project PRIME. The aim of this project is to develop a living brain implant that can sense and suppress epilepsy seizures before they happen. She is also a member of multiple Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres that align with the research interests of Walton and Waterford Institute of Technology.
Speaking of her vision for the future of Walton, Dr Kilbane said, “I wish to extend our research excellence through multidisciplinary collaboration and by developing researchers at all stages to reach their full potential.”
Walton Institute undertakes cutting edge research, blending fundamental science with real world commercial applications. To date WIT has competitively secured over €17.93 million during the course of the H2020 funding programme, with €15.9 million of this competitively won by Walton Institute. Since the beginning of the H2020 programme in 2014, WIT has secured funding for 33 projects in the areas of biotechnology, smart agriculture, social sciences and ICT, of these 28 projects were secured by Walton, having a total project value of €188m and 11 of these were coordinated by Walton. Walton Institute also secured €513k via Open Calls.