Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ADMIRE (Advanced Materials Research Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme)
Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2025-09-30
Advanced materials science is one of the key enabling technologies identified by the European Commission as boosting European competitiveness, creating jobs, and supporting growth, as exemplified by the forthcoming EU Advanced Materials Act.
The Advanced Materials Research (ADMIRE) Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme is an innovative Fellowship programme, providing interdisciplinary and intersectoral training in strategic priority areas of advanced materials research, aligned with the strengths of AMBER, the Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland Centre in Advance Materials and Bioengineering Research. The principal areas of research include materials for health, materials for energy, materials for information and communication technologies and engineered functional materials, including sustainable materials and technologies.
The overall objective of ADMIRE was to train the next generation of research leaders in Europe in advanced materials science. The training programme equiped the Fellows with the skills and flexibility to develop independent careers in their field of research in academia or industry. The ADMIRE programme provided funding for 13 Fellowships in Ireland, with Fellows being recruited through two calls for proposals. ADMIRE Fellows were ultimately based in three of the nine academic partners of AMBER, and had access to the full range of state-of-the-art facilities and expertise across the full network of research Performing Organisations. Principal investigators across AMBER’s academic partners acted as supervisors and mentors for the Fellows. Where appropriate, AMBER’s industry partners hosted fellows during secondment periods and will contribute to industry relevant training in the ADMIRE programme. Fellows had complete freedom of choice in their supervisor, host institution and research topic, provided it aligned with the existing research priorities within AMBER, and the supervisor is an AMBER principal or funded investigator under the Research Ireland definitions.
ADMIRE will impact Europe - and the world - through the development of a cohort of junior research leaders who will have a unique grasp of both their own research domain and the wider implications for their research for society. These cross-disciplinary Fellows will have the skills and capacity to manage multidisciplinary, academic and industrial research problems. Through the extensive research and training opportunities, the ADMIRE Programme will foster the Fellows' transition to independent research careers. This will guarantee that novel, cross-cutting materials research will be developed - both within and beyond the ADMIRE Programme - to address the big issues and grand challenges for society in areas such as healthcare, regenerative medicine, energy generation and consumption, communications and information technology, all underpinned by a deep understanding of the need for sustainability.
The Advanced Materials Research (ADMIRE) Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme is an innovative Fellowship programme, providing interdisciplinary and intersectoral training in strategic priority areas of advanced materials research, aligned with the strengths of AMBER, the Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland Centre in Advance Materials and Bioengineering Research. The principal areas of research include materials for health, materials for energy, materials for information and communication technologies and engineered functional materials, including sustainable materials and technologies.
The overall objective of ADMIRE was to train the next generation of research leaders in Europe in advanced materials science. The training programme equiped the Fellows with the skills and flexibility to develop independent careers in their field of research in academia or industry. The ADMIRE programme provided funding for 13 Fellowships in Ireland, with Fellows being recruited through two calls for proposals. ADMIRE Fellows were ultimately based in three of the nine academic partners of AMBER, and had access to the full range of state-of-the-art facilities and expertise across the full network of research Performing Organisations. Principal investigators across AMBER’s academic partners acted as supervisors and mentors for the Fellows. Where appropriate, AMBER’s industry partners hosted fellows during secondment periods and will contribute to industry relevant training in the ADMIRE programme. Fellows had complete freedom of choice in their supervisor, host institution and research topic, provided it aligned with the existing research priorities within AMBER, and the supervisor is an AMBER principal or funded investigator under the Research Ireland definitions.
ADMIRE will impact Europe - and the world - through the development of a cohort of junior research leaders who will have a unique grasp of both their own research domain and the wider implications for their research for society. These cross-disciplinary Fellows will have the skills and capacity to manage multidisciplinary, academic and industrial research problems. Through the extensive research and training opportunities, the ADMIRE Programme will foster the Fellows' transition to independent research careers. This will guarantee that novel, cross-cutting materials research will be developed - both within and beyond the ADMIRE Programme - to address the big issues and grand challenges for society in areas such as healthcare, regenerative medicine, energy generation and consumption, communications and information technology, all underpinned by a deep understanding of the need for sustainability.
The ADMIRE Fellowship Programme officially ended in September 2025, with the full cohort of Fellows having completed their Fellowships. All of the Fellows have moved on to new roles, including as tenure-track academics, independent researchers in research performing organisations, research scientists in industy and providing expertise and consultancy services.
In the early stage of the Programme, the focus was, largely, on the administrative elements of the Programme. The ADMIRE Programme is fully committed to open, transparent and merit-based recruitment (OTM-R) across its two, internationally advertised open calls for applications. The recruitment process followed four steps: advertising of the Calls, the submission of an application, a detailed international review and, where relevant, an interview of shortlisted candidates. Full guidance on the programme was prepared for both Calls, including guidance for applicants, their supervisors and reviewers and online briefing sessions for potential applicants. In paralleled to this, an international recruitment drive of Expert Remote Reviewers was also undertaken. All applications were evaluated on the basis of their scientific excellence, their proposed impact on the research and training development of the candidate and the impact on research and society more widely and on the quality of the proposed implementation of the individual research projects, to ensure the most ambitious - but realistic - research programmes.
During this final period, the focus was on ensuring that the services and supports were in place to allow the Fellows to excel in their Fellowships and bolster their career prospects. This included ensuring that suitable core and complementary training (locally and at the Programme level) was available and that funding and administrative stuctures were in place to ensure that research visits and secondments were fully supported. Communication and dissemination activities were also supported - as of now, a total of 8 peer-reviewed publications are available through open access journals; Fellows presented their work at more than 70 meetings and conferences, reaching an estimated audience of more than 80,000. These activities helped to build the Fellows' soft skills, while simultaneously helping to promote the excellence of their sciencitifc and research work.
In the early stage of the Programme, the focus was, largely, on the administrative elements of the Programme. The ADMIRE Programme is fully committed to open, transparent and merit-based recruitment (OTM-R) across its two, internationally advertised open calls for applications. The recruitment process followed four steps: advertising of the Calls, the submission of an application, a detailed international review and, where relevant, an interview of shortlisted candidates. Full guidance on the programme was prepared for both Calls, including guidance for applicants, their supervisors and reviewers and online briefing sessions for potential applicants. In paralleled to this, an international recruitment drive of Expert Remote Reviewers was also undertaken. All applications were evaluated on the basis of their scientific excellence, their proposed impact on the research and training development of the candidate and the impact on research and society more widely and on the quality of the proposed implementation of the individual research projects, to ensure the most ambitious - but realistic - research programmes.
During this final period, the focus was on ensuring that the services and supports were in place to allow the Fellows to excel in their Fellowships and bolster their career prospects. This included ensuring that suitable core and complementary training (locally and at the Programme level) was available and that funding and administrative stuctures were in place to ensure that research visits and secondments were fully supported. Communication and dissemination activities were also supported - as of now, a total of 8 peer-reviewed publications are available through open access journals; Fellows presented their work at more than 70 meetings and conferences, reaching an estimated audience of more than 80,000. These activities helped to build the Fellows' soft skills, while simultaneously helping to promote the excellence of their sciencitifc and research work.
At its core, ADMIRE is a research and training programme, whereby 13 highly qualified Postdoctoral Fellows carried out cutting-edge, interdisciplinary work in advanced materials research. Consequently, it is easy to match the outcomes of the projects against significant impacts for the researchers themselves, for Europe and for society more widely:
The ADMIRE programme continues to enhance expertise in advanced materials research at regional, national and international levels.
At regional and national level, ADMIRE saw 13 Fellows of the highest quality join AMBER. Through their projects, they enhanced the research in AMBER and increased the attractiveness and international visibility of the Centre to other researchers, through their extnesive activities in communicaiton, disseminaiton and transfer of knowledge. Materials research has been identified by the Irish Govenment Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Euopean Union as an area of strategic research priority. Advanced Materials is also one of the Key Enabling Technologies identified by the European Commission as underpinning competitiveness, job creation, and supporting growth in Europe. Advanced materials can contribute to economic growth in Ireland and Europe through the development of new technologies and an upskilled workforce, while simultaneously contributing to solving many of the grand challenges faced by society in areas such as health, climate change, food security, sustainability, transport and energy. These are all areas in which AMBER researchers currently strive to make an impact and it is expected that the Fellows will contribute significantly to these efforts.
At the level of individual Fellows, the research environment and dedicated training programme guarantees discipline specific training, cutting edge research programmes with state-of-the-art equipment access and training in their chosen field, as well as exposure to interdisciplinary research through the broad range of research interests of the Centre. These supports have set the Fellows up for independent research careers, with all 13 now in employments across academia and industry.
The ADMIRE programme continues to enhance expertise in advanced materials research at regional, national and international levels.
At regional and national level, ADMIRE saw 13 Fellows of the highest quality join AMBER. Through their projects, they enhanced the research in AMBER and increased the attractiveness and international visibility of the Centre to other researchers, through their extnesive activities in communicaiton, disseminaiton and transfer of knowledge. Materials research has been identified by the Irish Govenment Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Euopean Union as an area of strategic research priority. Advanced Materials is also one of the Key Enabling Technologies identified by the European Commission as underpinning competitiveness, job creation, and supporting growth in Europe. Advanced materials can contribute to economic growth in Ireland and Europe through the development of new technologies and an upskilled workforce, while simultaneously contributing to solving many of the grand challenges faced by society in areas such as health, climate change, food security, sustainability, transport and energy. These are all areas in which AMBER researchers currently strive to make an impact and it is expected that the Fellows will contribute significantly to these efforts.
At the level of individual Fellows, the research environment and dedicated training programme guarantees discipline specific training, cutting edge research programmes with state-of-the-art equipment access and training in their chosen field, as well as exposure to interdisciplinary research through the broad range of research interests of the Centre. These supports have set the Fellows up for independent research careers, with all 13 now in employments across academia and industry.