GUA News: Acknowledging our Irish Students
Irish students awarded accolades at the RIA
October 10, 2025
by Diane Nolan
Irish students awarded accolades at the Royal Irish Academy
The Global Undergraduate Awards, the world’s leading academic awards programme for undergraduate research, has announced its 2025 award programme winners.
Among this year’s Irish honourees were students from Cork, Galway, Sligo, Mayo, Antrim and beyond. Irish winners were presented with their prestigious awards at the All-Ireland Summit event in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, on October 9th.
There were 11 regional winners, from universities across Ireland, including University College Cork, University of Limerick, University of Galway, Trinity College Dublin, Royal College of Surgeons, Munster Technological University, Queen’s University Belfast, DCU and South East Technological University, who were celebrated at the All-Ireland Summit.
Five Irish students, representing Trinity College Dublin, University of Galway, and University College Cork, were highly commended for their exceptional undergraduate research.
Among this year’s standout Irish participants were two Global Winners from Trinity College Dublin. They will be presented with the prestigious Thomas Clarkson Gold Medal at the Global Undergraduate Awards Summit in Dublin on November 11th.
The region has once again demonstrated the remarkable academic strength of its universities, with outstanding achievements across all awards and categories — including 2 Global Winners, 11 Regional Awards, and 5 papers receiving Highly Commended recognition through the rigorous blind judging process.
We are delighted to celebrate these exceptional students and their achievements. These awards celebrate the very best of undergraduate research from every corner of Ireland. Each winning submission represents not only extraordinary academic achievement, but also the creativity, ambition and intellectual curiosity of this generation of students. We are particularly proud to see Irish students once again recognised on the global stage, reflecting the strength of Ireland’s higher education sector.”
Irish Global Winners:
- Maria Cooper – Earth & Environmental Sciences – Trinity College Dublin
- Rían Coady – Philosophy – Trinity College Dublin
Irish Regional Winners:
- Hannah Meadhbh Fitzgerald – Literature – University College Cork
- Sarah McConnell – Law – Trinity College Dublin
- Alan Culligan – Nursing, Midwifery & Allied Healthcare – University of Limerick
- Aoibhín Ní Gleasáin – History – University of Galway
- Sophie Kamdar – Psychology – Trinity College Dublin
- Roisin Flynn – Life Sciences – Royal College of Surgeons
- Antonia Noemi Gergely – Visual Arts – Munster Technological University
- Hannah Jackson – Architecture & Design – Queen’s University Belfast
- Anna Sofia Scheele – Classical Studies & Archaeology – Trinity College Dublin
- Sarah Rapple – Social Science: Anthropology & Cultural Studies – Dublin City University
- Ben McMahon – Engineering – South East Technological University
Irish Highly Commended:
- Caoilfhinn Plunkett – Earth & Environmental Sciences – Trinity College Dublin
- Hosanna Boulter – History – Trinity College Dublin
- Claudia Spice – History – Trinity College Dublin
- Caden Casey – History – University of Galway
- Morpheas Hadjigeorgiou – Literature – University College Cork
