The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded funding totaling €14.5 million to 25 new research projects including one that will focus on the "susceptibility and resistance of trees to diseases such as ash dieback".

The EPA today (Thursday, February 20) announced details of the research projects which the agency said aim to "address climate and environmental challenges".

EPA is co-funding a number of projects in partnership with Met Éireann and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

The agency awarded €591,061 to the research project: Ecological Forecasting of Tree Resistance to Pathogens: Ash Dieback and Beyond based at Trinity College (TCD).

Among the projects that have secured funding following the latest EPA Research Call included an award of €611,460 to the Advanced Integrated Measurements and Modelling Approaches for Predicting Carbon Emissions and Removals from Irish Peatlands based at Atlantic Technological University (ATU).

Meanwhile a research project on Just Transition for Agriculture in the Circular Bioeconomy based at Munster Technological University (MUT) will also receive €659,061 in funding while a project focusing on Regenerative Value Systems for Irish Grown Wool in Ireland, based at University College Cork (UCC), was awarded €657,403.

Separately a Mobile Air Monitoring in Agricultural Settings research project based at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) will also receive €658,728 in funding.

A research project called JUSTLAND: A Just Transition for Land in Ireland based in Dublin City University (DCU) will receive €303,490 according to the EPA while the Farming Resilience and Management through Natural Capital project based at DCU has secured funding of €328,454.

According to the director general of the EPA, Laura Burke, the agency's latest State of the Environment Report highlighed "the scale of challenges facing Ireland and the need for determined action across climate, sustainable consumption, biodiversity and pollution goals".

She believes the EPA funding announced today "will help to build the vital research talent and knowledge needed in Ireland to respond to these challenges and achieve a healthier environment".

"It will support almost 200 research staff across 10 organisations, including funding for approximately 50 PhD and postgraduate students.

"Crucially, the EPA will provide hands-on support and training to the researchers to facilitate the uptake of the research outputs by policy makers and other users. TCD received the highest number of successful research awards in 2024," Burke added.