AMBER Researcher awarded funding for low-power electronic via Frontiers for the Future

14 May 2026

AMBER Researcher Farzan Gity of Tyndall National Institute has been awarded funding for project CALIBRATE-TMD via the Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future Programme. Awarded €1,314,275 with Co-PI Lida Ansari and collaborating with companies Intel and Synopsys, the project helmed by Farzan Gity will explore Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) which show promise for low-power electronics. The semiconductor industry needs accurate and fast modelling tools for TMDs, CALIBRATE-TMD aims to create – for the first time – an advanced industry-ready science-enabled simulation tool using realistic TMD parameters from experimental data to design TMD-based devices.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, has announced funding of €20 million for 22 high-risk, high-reward research projects through the Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future Programme.

Minister Lawless said:

The 22 projects announced today under Research Ireland’s Frontiers for the Future Programme are ambitious in both scope and scale, spanning areas from pioneering cancer therapies to advancing a more sustainable and circular economy, and much more besides. The breadth of research being funded reflects the exceptional depth and diversity of talent across our research and innovation ecosystem. I congratulate all the awardees and wish them every success as they push the boundaries of knowledge and deliver meaningful innovation.

Welcoming the announcement, Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, CEO of Research Ireland, commented:

Curiosity-driven research funding is an essential part of a healthy, purposeful and forward-looking research ecosystem. Through the Frontiers for the Future Programme, Research Ireland supports researchers to take intellectual risks, and to pursue ideas that might not yet have a clear pathway, but could fundamentally reshape our understanding of the world around us. Supports like these are central to sustaining a vibrant and internationally competitive research environment, which is a core element of our recently launched strategy, ‘Curiosity. Capability. Competitiveness – Charting Ireland’s Research and Innovation Future.

Frontiers for the Future is a legacy programme inherited from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), and has played an important role in supporting ambitious, curiosity-driven scientific research with the potential to deliver transformative societal and economic impact. As a new agency, Research Ireland is reimagining and redeveloping the legacy programmes inherited from both SFI and the Irish Research Council (IRC) to reflect its broadened remit and the full diversity of disciplines now supported, as set out in our recently published Programme Plan.

Research initiatives funded under the Frontiers for the Future programme enable independent investigators to pursue bold ideas and innovative research over a four- to five-year period. Research areas funded today range from advanced materials and road safety to antimicrobial resistance and cancer treatment, with this funding round supporting 16 medium-scale ‘projects’ and six larger scale ‘awards’.

Full project description: Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) show promise for low-power electronics. However, the semiconductor industry needs accurate and fast modelling tools for TMDs. CALIBRATE-TMD aims to create – for the first time – an advanced industry-ready science-enabled simulation tool using realistic TMD parameters from experimental data to design TMD-based devices. Intel will provide large-area TMD films, plus device fabrication and integration guidance. Synopsys will support integrating the developed calibrated parameters into the multi-scale design tool. This tool, validated with experimental data, leverages advanced machine-learning algorithms. Collaborations with Intel and Synopsys will advance the 2D materials field and accelerate energy-efficient electronics development and market readiness.

Full details on all projects and awards funded in Frontiers for the Future 2026: https://www.researchireland.ie/news/frontiers-2026-awards-and-final-projects/