Award-winning Prof Michael Coey becomes first Irish member of European Academy of Science

19 Jun 2013

Prof Michael Coey (centre) when he won the SFI Reseacher of the Year award last year with Prof Mark Ferguson, director-general, Science Foundation Ireland (left), and Ireland's Minister for Research and Innovation Sean Sherlock, TD

Prof Michael Coey, a principal investigator at CRANN in Dublin, has joined the ranks of Nobel Prize and Fields medal winners by having been elected to the European Academy of Science (EURASC). He has also won a Humboldt Research Award.

Coey is the first Irish researcher to be elected as a member of EURASC and he has also been awarded a 2013 Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

The foundation grants awards to internationally renowned senior academics in any field in recognition of their entire research career. 

In recognition of Coey’s contributions to magnetism and magnetic materials, he has been granted €60,000 to pursue research on rare-earth free permanent magnets with Prof Claudia Felser of the Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Physics in Dresden, Germany.

Coey said the EU continues to champion scientific research with Horizon 2020, and projects such as the EU Graphene Flagship and the ERC awards programme.

“I look forward working with other European researchers, both in the academy and in Germany, to promote nanoscience research at academic and industry levels, and advance the economic and social impact of nanoscience and science generally,” Coey said.

Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, executive director of CRANN (Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices), said Coey has long had a vision for science both in Europe and Ireland.

“His proposal to develop the Science Gallery (in Dublin) in particular has paid dividends in terms of helping the public to engage with nanoscience and scientific research generally,” O’Brien said.

“In terms of commercial impact, his work on spin electronics and magnetics is helping CRANN’s industry partners to continually improve their manufacturing processes.”

EURASC is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that aims to promote excellence in science technology. Based in Belgium, its members include winners of Nobel Prizes and Fields medals, and European scientists with a vision for the scientific, economic and social future of Europe.

Tina Costanza was a journalist and sub-editor at Silicon Republic

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