AMBER Researcher part of team who receive prize funding under the National Challenge Fund

5 December 2025

AMBER Researcher Professor Maurice Collins is part of team who have received prize funding under the National Challenge Fund.

Traceless, led by Dr Yuanyuan Chen, Technological University of the Shannon and Professor Maurice Collins, University of Limerick, with Societal Impact Champion, Maurice Ryan of Green Belt Ltd, has won the Healthy Environment for All Challenge.

Traceless is developing fully biodegradable, durable, tree-supporting products with controlled-release fertilizers. The proposed solution can position Ireland as an innovation leader in green forestry practices that can be adopted globally, while enabling compliance with EU regulations on plastic reduction and improving soil health.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD has announced €8 million in prize phase funding for six research teams across four challenge programmes under the National Challenge Fund, including Traceless.

Funded by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Fund calls on researchers to identify problems related to Ireland’s Green Transition and Digital Transformation, and work directly with those most affected to solve them.

Dr Yuanyuan Chen, Traceless Team Lead, Technological University of the Shannon, said: 
“We are delighted to have entered the prize phase of the National Challenge Fund to pioneer the development of fully biodegradable tree-supporting products. Collaboration is at the heart of what we do at TUS, as well as developing solutions that impact real world problems. I would like to thank our project partners UL and Greenbelt for their vast knowledge and expertise. We are proud that Traceless is the result of such a partnership and focus. The NCF has majorly supported us in the creation of our products that ensure sustainable growth while helping to preserve the environment and eliminate microplastic and chemical pollution.” 

A Healthy Environment for All Challenge

The Healthy Environment for All Challenge gives academic research teams a unique opportunity to contribute to Ireland’s transition to an environmentally sustainable and climate-neutral economy.

The National Challenge Fund is a €65M research fund established under the Government of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), developed by the Government so that Ireland can access funding under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. Ireland is expected to receive €988 million in grants under the Facility.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility is the largest component of NextGenerationEU, the European Union’s response to the global pandemic. The aim is to help repair the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the pandemic and to prepare for a post-Covid Europe that is greener, more digital, more resilient, and fit to face the future.

The National Challenge Fund supports academic researchers to work with government, enterprise, public sector organisations and societal stakeholders to address national priorities for Ireland. This fund is coordinated and administered by Research Ireland. The initiative addresses key national challenges in the areas of Green Transition and Digital Transformation and consists of eight challenges (five Green and three Digital).