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Project title: Safe Zones in International Law

Mentor: Dr Bríd Ní Ghrainne

Bio: I am a third-year LLB student who will be researching safe zones in international law as part of this SPUR project.

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Project Title: History - Irish History Online.

Mentor: Prof Marian Lyons and Prof Jacqueline Hill.

Bio: I am a second year English and History Student. For my SPUR project I will be researching and inputting publications relating to Irish History into online bibliographies. I am most excited about getting a glimpse into the professional world of historical research.

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Project Title: Ni Hao, guys! Building an AI grader for Chinese language Vlogs.

Mentors: Dr Natalie Culligan, Dr Qǐ Zhāng, Dr Caitriona Osbourne.

Bio: I am a second-year computer science student. As part of this SPUR project, I will be researching similar studies and writing code for the automatic grading system, which uses AI-generated transcriptions. I am excited to explore the intersection of computer science and linguistics, specifically in the context of Chinese. I hope my contribution will help create an effective tool that improves the efficiency of language learning.

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Project Title: Development of a comprehensive bank of MCQs for introductory programming assessment in Computer Science

Mentors: Dr Peter Mooney, Mr Mark Noone

Bio: I am a second year Computer Science & Software Engineering student. As a SPUR student, I will be conducting a literature review on the use of MCQs in programming courses and developing a comprehensive bank of MCQs for introductory programming courses. I am most excited to work collaboratively with student peers and teaching staff, and to enhance my skills in computing and software testing. I hope my contribution will help to develop evaluation tools that will help future programming students and to acquire experience and skills that will support both my academic and career development.

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Project: Researching the Creation of a Memory Wall of Adult Education in Ireland: past, present & future.

Mentors: Bernie Grummell and Mary Ryan.

Bio: I am a second year student studying a Bachelors of Arts degree in Anthropology and Media Studies. As part of my SPUR project I will be helping with planning and conducting initial research to map the

story of adult education in Maynooth. I will help to create a multimedia history resource for adult education in Ireland which ultimately can be publicly available, and capture the stories and lived experiences of adult and community education in Ireland. I am hoping to get an idea of what social research is like, to help me decide if its something I would like to pursue as a career.

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Project title: Understanding Law & Criminology scholars' policy impact.

Mentor: Dr. Olga Ryazanova

Bio: I am a third year LLB student, and for this SPUR project I will be researching how legal scholars shape public policy and judicial decisions through engagement with government institutions and published work that informs public policy.

Despite their impact, this effort often remains unrecognised .

I am excited to be part of this project and work alongside a great team, have the opportunity to learn about this issue more deeply and highlight the value that legal scholars provide in society.

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Project Title: Where Art Meets Reality – Health Organisation on the Television

Mentor: Dr Nicola Mountford

Bio: I’m a second-year Quantitative Finance student. For my SPUR project, I’ll be analysing scenes from medical TV shows to explore how they reflect real issues in healthcare like patient voice and resource limits. I’m most excited to look at how fiction can reveal deeper truths about how organisations work, especially under pressure.

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Project Title: The State of Financial Innovation in Climate Finance: Mapping the Catastrophe Bond Universe.

Mentors: Dr Emmanuel Kypraios and Dr Shivam Agarwal.

Hey guys! I'm Ayesha and I'm a 2nd year studying data science here. I've really been enjoying the statistical side of data science so far and I'm excited to apply those skills to a project that brings together climate and finance, two areas I'm also really interested in. This feels like a great opportunity to learn, grow and contribute to something meaningful. Looking forward to meeting everyone and being part of the SPUR programme!

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Project title: Learning in Groups: Best Practice for Team-Based Student Projects

Mentor: Dr. John Cullen

My name is Claudia Cojoc, and I’m a second-year student studying Entrepreneurship. For my SPUR project, I’ll be exploring best practices for team-based student projects, a topic I’m really passionate about, especially as collaboration is such a key part of both academic and professional life. I’m looking forward to learning more about effective teamwork strategies and contributing to ideas that can help students work better together. Excited to be part of this experience! 😊

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Project title: Recovering historical observations from newspapers to analyse past extreme weather events in Ireland.

Mentor: Dr. Carla Mateus

Bio: I am a 3rd year studying a Bachelor of Science in Biological and Geographical sciences! Throughout this SPUR project, I will be working alongside Dr Carla Mateus, using old historical records of weather events, in Ireland, to understand and analyse decades of climate observations. I am looking forward to being part of such an interesting research project, and working alongside the experts!

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I am a second-year student of History and Medieval Celtic Studies and will join the Irish Historic Towns Atlas for a placement in 2025. I am interested in settlement and the development of the built environment in Ireland since the medieval period and hope that my placement will provide insight on how research in this area is carried out and presented.

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Title of Project: Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education- BioCultúr Comic

Name: Koren Dunne

Programme of Study: Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education- Primary Education (Bachelor's Degree) (Third Year)

Mentors: Laoise Ni Chleirigh, Jamie Murray & Maire Nic an Bhaird.

Bio: I am a third-year student in the primary school Bachelor of Education Degree. As a SPUR student I will be creating a BioCultúr comic with others and exploring the possibilities of how to tell stories about Ireland’s natural landscape & the biodiversity within Ireland.  I am most excited to create a comic book exploring nature and biodiversity and exploring the professional sides that come with creating and illustrating a comic book that will eventually be available to the public.

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Project title: DNA computing and DNA robotics

Programme of Study: Theoretical Physics and Mathematics

Year: 2nd Year

I look forward to gaining insight into research and learning about complex topics in computational physics.

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Project title:

Electronic Engineering - Design and 3d printing of a gripper and cutter for cauliflower harvesting

Mentor:

Dr Majid Sorouri

Bio:

Hi I'm Rareș, a first year student studying Robotics and Intelligent Devices .

As part of the SPUR project I will design and 3d print a gripper and cutter for cauliflower harvesting.

I hope to learn more about the design of robot parts and improve my existing skills in this space.

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Mentor(s): Prof Sean Doyle

Bio: My name is Kealan Hunter I'm a third year studying biomedical science. I am taking part in the biology project "Overcoming antimicrobial resistance through molecular analyses". In this project I will be working on examining the antimicrobial effects of a plant-based compound celastrol, and if this can be used to overcome the upcoming and overwhelming problem of antimicrobial resistant. I am most excited about getting first hand experience in a lab setting and being able to collaborate with different people on this project.

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Project: History - PARISH (Preserving and Recording Irelands sacred heritage).

Mentor: Dr. Joseph Curran.

Bio: I am a second year, history and philosophy student and my research project entails photographing, preserving and recording Irelands sacred heritage in my local area. I'm looking forward to getting hands on experience in historical research.

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Project title: Exploring language learning experiences during study abroad

Mentor(s): Dr Janire Zalbidea Botran

Bio: I am a first year student currently studying spanish and geography. I will be exploring the language learning experiences of erasmus students during their study abroad, as part of my SPUR project opportunity. I am extremely excited for this, as it is an area of research that I am very curious to learn more about, and hope it helps future erasmus students!

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Tionscadal: Nua-Ghaeilge-Digitiú Irisleabhar Mhá Nuad 3

Meantóir: Dr. Tracey Ní Mhaonaigh

Beathaisnéis: Is mise Sophie. Táim sa dara bliain agus ag déanamh staidéir ar Dhlí agus Nua-Ghaeilge! Tá suim agam i Litríocht na Gaeilge, go háirithe filíocht. Is í sin an fáth go bhfuil suim agam sa tionscadal ar Irisleabhar Mhá Nuad. Táim ag tnúth le níos mó a fhoghlaim faoi stair agus tábhacht na litríochta agus na Gaeilge.

(Béarla:

Project: Nua-Ghaeilge-Digitisation of the Irish Language Journals

Mentor: Dr. Tracey Ní Mhaonaigh

Bio: I'm Sophie. I'm in second year and studying law and Irish. I am interested in Irish literature, especially poetry. That is the reason why I am doing the Irisleabhar Mhá Nuad project. I am looking forward to learning more about the history and importance of literature and Irish)

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Mark Beagan

Project Title: Physics-Encoding Replica Density Matrices in Matrix Product States

Mentor: Dr Graham Kells

Bio: I am a third year student studying Physics with Astrophysics. In this SPUR project I will be developing and using computational tools to study quantum systems under continuous measurement. I am most excited to gain experience in this field of research working alongside my professor. The idea of continuous measurement in Quantum mechanics is a topic that interests me and I look forward to working on this concept.

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Project Title: Hamilton Institute - DNA computing and DNA robotics

Mentor: Professor Damien Woods

Bio: I am a third year Biology and Maths student. I'm interested in all forms of biology research and this SPUR project will allow me to investigate the field of DNA computing and DNA robotics. I'm excited to learn about this fascinating area of science that borders on many disciplines, and to contribute to the design and production of DNA nanostructures for computing and robotics.

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Project Title:  Assessing the interaction between sleep (duration and quality) and spatial navigation

Mentor: Professor Sean Commins

Bio: I'm a second year psychology student with a particular interest in neurodivergence and memory. As part of my SPUR project I will be recruiting participants for a study assessing the impacts of the quality of sleep and the duration of said sleep on spatial navigation, as part of a broader ongoing study on these topics. I'm excited to get practical experience in participant recruitment and data gathering and analysis!

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Project title: Supramolecular Chemical Approaches to Antimicrobial Resistance

Mentor: Dr. Robert Elmes

Bio: I am a third year general science student, currently studying both Biology and Chemistry. The goal of this SPUR project is to synthesise new compounds that are able to interfere with the internal functions of bacteria. This will be used to overcome the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance.

I am looking forward to applying the knowledge I have gained over the last three years in a lab setting and making new compounds for real life applications.

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Project Title:

Powering the Future: Smart Microgrid Innovation for Sustainable Campus Energy Management

Mentor(s):

Dr. Muhammad Waseem,

Prof. Fabiano Pallonetto,

Dr. Amy Fahy.

Bio:

I am in my third year of the Data Science BSC here in Maynooth. I'm going to be researching and developing systems for microgrids. I am excited to learn more about the research process and renewable energy.

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Project title:

Chemistry-Sugar, spice and all things nice: synthesis and evaluation of carbohydrate-natural products conjugates as inhibitors of plant pathogenic fungi.

Mentor:

Dr. Trinidad Velasco-Torrijos.

Bio:

My name is Ferdia Coleman and I am in my second year of the pharmaceutical and biomedical chemistry degree. I love chemistry and the vast applications it has in the world. I am excited to get my first real experience in chemistry research and hope that i can make a meaningful contribution to this project!

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Project Title: Characterising Quasicrystals with Neighbor Counting Statistics

Mentor: Dr Joost Slingerland

Bio: I am a second year Theoretical Physics and Mathematics student. In this SPUR project I will create a molecular model that simulates a quasicrystal and its thermodynamic properties. I will then use neighbor counting statistics to characterise the phases and phase transitions of the model, and the effects of physical processes on it. I am most exited about getting to experience the world of theoretical physics research and gain an insight on whether or not I'd like to pursue it as a career.

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Project Title: Electrodeposition of redox-active boronic acid species as chemoreceptors for sialic acid (BASA)

Mentors: Dr. Eithne Dempsey and Dr. Roisin O'Flaherty

Bio: My name is Kira Demeniuk. I am a second-year pharmaceutical chemistry student. I am very interested in electrochemistry and human health. Understanding and diagnosing a wide range of illnesses, from infections and cancer to autoimmune diseases, depends heavily on the detection of sialic acids and their patterns. So the creation of specific detectors for those acids is very essential and might help a lot of people, and that is why I am interested in becoming a part of this invention. I will perform electrochemical and surface characterisation of redox active boronic acids together with binding studies, establish optimal sensing conditions and parameters for electrodeposition/assembly of the optimal nanostructured materials on suitable transducers realising deposition insights into film behaviour and Neu5Ac interaction and validate the efficiency of Neu5Ac electrochemical sensing by monitoring enzymatically released Neu5Ac from IgG. And I hope to make some important contributions to this research.

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Project: Innovation Value Institute (IVI)-GoGreen Next: Future Proofing Urban Health

Hi my name is Amelia. I’m studying geography through the Bachelor of Arts program. I’m in my second year. I can’t wait to work on the spur programme and hopefully expand my research knowledge.

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Project Title: Energy-efficient lightweight cryptography based on chaotic systems

Mentor: Dr Erivelton Nepomuceno

Bio: I am a third-year general science student studying applied mathematics and mathematical physics.

I will be studying chaos theory and how this can be used to create more energy-efficient cryptography systems for this SPUR project.

I am excited to better develop my research skills and to learn more about chaos theory

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Project Title:

Analysis of the state-of-the-art within demonstrating in Computer Science

Mentors:

Dr. Aidan Mooney,

Ms. Hope Boyle,

Dr. Natalie Culligan,

Mr. Mark Noone

Bio:

I am a third year student studying Computer Science and Data Science at Maynooth. I'm going to be working on a research project focused on improving how lab demonstrators are trained in computer science. I’m excited to explore educational research, and build my skills in literature review and data analysis.

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Project Title: Expression profiling of glycosyltransferases in expanded human anti-cancer natural killer (NK) cells

Mentor: Dr. Mark Robinson

Bio: I am a third year biomedical science student and I am interested in human diseases and how we can better understand the immunology and processes behind them. This is why I am looking forward to this project, to understand the scientific processes behind designing and carrying out experiments and gain experience in this area of research.

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Project title: Electronic Engineering AI-Based Ground Robot for Monitoring & Disease Detection in Brassica Plants

Project mentors: Adil Farooq and Dr ZainAnwar Ali

About me: I'm a 2nd year in Robotics & Intelligent Devices. My interests are in machine learning and building versatile robots. I especially like to create things that have the potential to help others. I chose this SPUR project, because it aligned with my degree, and my interests. I'm excited to see where this project takes me!

Aims for this project: My aims are to create an AI model with a high accuracy of image detection, and to be able to merge that with a robot which will ideally be able to perform the action of detecting and reacting accurately based on what the AI will be detecting.

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Project Title: The Acquisition of Spanish as a Third Language in Ireland.

Mentor: Ana de Prada Pérez

Bio: I am a second-year Accounting and Spanish student, and I will be researching how Spanish is acquired by bilingual English-Irish speakers. I'm looking forward to finding patterns and similarities between the languages, and learning a bit more about linguistics, Irish and Spanish!

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Project title: Monitoring the influence of water stress on plant-soil interactions

Mentor: Dr Conor Meade.

Bio: i am a third year biological and geographical science student. during this spur project i will examine the influence of drought and water stress on plant soil intercation. the thing i am most exicted for during my spur project is getting lab experience in my field.

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Project Title: Non-linear correlations, k-designs and replica master equations

Mentor: Dr. Graham Kells

Bio: I am a 2nd-year undergrad studying Theoretical Physics and Maths. For my SPUR project, I will be helping develop algorithms to study measurement-induced dynamics in quantum systems with Lindblad evolution. I'm looking forward to learning more about density matrices and the statistics behind them, as well as gaining invaluable experience in the field of quantum computing.

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Project Title: Disorder, Diffusion and Conductance in Finite Systems

Mentor: Dr. Joost Slingerland

Bio: I am a first year TP&M student, and I will be investigating the effect of disorder in current-carrying systems. I am very excited to be part of a research team, and to gain more insight into the processes of scientific research. I also hope to expand my knowledge of quantum physics, and to become more skilled in computer programming.

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Project Title: Moynagh Lough Excavation Project

Mentor: Dr Michael Potterton

Bio: I am a second-year student studying History and will join the Moynagh Lough Excavation Archive Project. This research project entails archiving and documenting material found at the Moynagh Lough site – over 6,000 years’ worth of material! I am looking forward to getting hands-on experience in historical research and archiving.

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Project title: Chemistry-Human Health Institute-Responsive Molecular Platforms (RMPs) for targeting drugs to specific brain regions to relieve chronic pain without

adverse effects.

Project mentor: Dr. Robert Elmes

I am a third year student doing Chemistry and Biology under General Science. The aim of this project is to research ways of reducing negative side effects of modern pain killers drugs. I am most excited to research and learn about drug targets within the brain

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Project Title: 'The Acquisition of Spanish as a Third Language in Ireland'

Mentor: Dr Ana de Prada Perez

Bio: I am a second year student studying a Bachelor of Arts in Nua-Ghaeilge and Spanish. My research project aims to examine the influence that Irish as a second language has on the acquisition of Spanish as a third language in Ireland. I hope to investigate whether having prior knowledge of Irish is an advantage when learning a new language, particularly Spanish. I find it very exciting to have the opportunity to combine both my areas of study into one project!

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Project Title: Engaging inclusively and equitably with diverse knowledge systems and academic cultures in EMI (English-medium instruction) environments

Mentors: Dr Clive Earls, Dr Yulia Kharchenko

Bio: I am a First year student studying Psychology through science. As a SPUR student I will be exploring and looking into the experiences of international students and teachers who have to learn and/or teach in their non-native language, English. And how to help those who are teachers become better. I am excited about the whole experience because not only does it allow me to gain some essential skills it also allows me to explore another area of study that is not mainly related to my course.

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Project title: A study of consumer-led online communities for loyalty schemes.

Mentor: Dr. Nada Elnahla and Prof. Elaine Wallace.

Bio: Hi, my name is Emmanuella. I’m currently studying Computer Science at Maynooth University, with a strong interest in user experience, digital behaviour, and how technology influences everyday decision-making. I’m excited to be part of the SPUR programme this summer, working on a project that explores consumer-led online communities and loyalty schemes. This research aligns with my curiosity about how people interact in digital spaces, particularly in informal, user-driven environments.

I’m looking forward to gaining experience in qualitative research and exploring how insights from consumer behaviour can inform the design of more inclusive, user-focused digital solutions. I’m also interested in how everyday digital behaviours and interactions within online communities can help businesses better understand their customers, improve engagement strategies, and build more effective, human-centred experiences.

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Project title: Educators as Literature Advocates / Oidí ina dToscairí Litríochta

Mentor: Dr. Liam Mac Amhlaigh & Dr. Patricia Kennon

Bio: My name is Emily and I am a 3rd Year Primary Teaching student here at Maynooth University. I chose to get involved in this SPUR project because I’m passionate about reading for pleasure and wanted to explore how teachers can act as advocates for literature within schools. I am looking forward to be ing part of such an interesting research project and understand how educators can help to create positive reading cultures in their classrooms.

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Project title: Soil Biodiversity in urban environments: MU campus survey

Mentor: Dr. Tara Dirilgen

Bio: My name is Alex Benndorf. I’m a third-year Biomedical Science student from Kildare with a big passion for biology. Many of my hobbies, beekeeping, keeping tropical fish, and birdwatching — immerse me in nature, so I naturally gravitate toward the ecology side of biology.

For my SPUR project, supervised by

Dr. Dirilgen, I’m exploring the relationships between soil diversity, plant diversity, and local pollinator populations. These connections shape our environment, and understanding them is essential for protecting and preserving biodiversity.

I’m really excited to get hands-on with sample collection and analysis, and to delve into the unique relationships that link soil, plants, and pollinators.