Centre Governance

Our governance structure and associated committees support and advise our leadership team ensuring optimal performance and oversight of activities and development.

Governance Committee

Role

To provide oversight of BiOrbic’s strategic vision and measure performance against this vision.

Committee Members

Michael Scannell (Chair)
Retired, European Commission

Prof Kevin O’ Connor
Director
BiOrbic, Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre

Kate Robson Brown
Vice President for Research, Innovation and Impact, University College Dublin

Sinead Ryan
Dean of Research, Trinity College Dublin

Prof Pat Dillon
Director of Research
Teagasc

Darragh Cogley
EU Bioeconomy Youth Ambassador, European Union

John Cryan
Vice President for Research and Innovation, University College Cork

Fiona Grant
Head of International Programmes, Marine Institute

Rory Caren
Director Business Development, Meicnic Teoranta

Scientific Advisory Committee

Role

Provide the Centre with independent and impartial advice on recent scientific trends and developments worldwide, to ensure that the Centre is at the forefront of international state-of-the-art.

Committee Members

Prof Luuk Van Der Wielen (Chair)
Technische Universiteit Delft
Netherlands

Prof Sarah McLaren
University of New Zealand
New Zealand

Prof Diana Sousa
Wageningen University and Research
Netherlands

Prof. Michael Lee
Harper Adams University
United Kingdom

Prof Frank Convery
EnvEcon
Ireland

Industry Advisory Committee

Role

The role of the IAC is to:

  • Advise the Centre Director, Industry Spokes Committee, and Centre Governance Committee of BiOrbic as to prevailing industry trends and needs
  • Advise the Centre Director, Scientific Advisory Committee, and Centre Governance Committee as to the needs of the industry partners and influence the research agenda of the Centre as appropriate
  • Conduct industry ‘think in’ sessions to discuss global megatrends and to highlight gaps in BiObic’s research agenda as appropriate

Committee Members

Dirk Carrez
Executive Director, Bio-based Industries Consortium (Europe)

Alex Ward
Director of Public and Institutional Partnerships, Origin Materials (Ontario, Canada)

Colette Shirley
Director of Sustainability for its Corporate & Markets Division, Bank of Ireland

Karen Boyd
Director of Product Sustainability, World Energy (Colorado, USA)

Sean Boyle
CEO and Co-founder, UnitMode (Ireland)

Executive Committee

Role

Develop and maintain a long-term strategic plan for the Centre and ensure on-going, smooth operations of the Centre through the effective implementation that its long-term strategic plan.

Committee Members

Kevin O’Connor
Director

Derek O’Brien
Executive Director

Jane Stout
Co-Principal Investigator

Tommy Boland
Co-Principal Investigator

James Lyng
Co-Principal Investigator

Brijesh Tiwari
Co-Principal Investigator

Ramesh Babu
Co-Principal Investigator

Maeve Henchion
Co-Principal Investigator

Nick Holden
Co-Principal Investigator

Fiona Doohan
Co-Principal Investigator

Eoin Casey
Co-Principal Investigator

Fionnuala Murphy
Co-Principal Investigator

Pat Guiry
Co-Principal Investigator

Yurii Gun’ko
Co-Principal Investigator

Research Programme Committee

Role

To monitor research progress across all Centre-funded projects. Meetings occur every 6 months to review progress reports from anyone funded through BiOrbic.

Committee Members

Chair: Kevin O’Connor
University College Dublin

Co-chair: Rosanna Kleemann
University College Dublin

Pillar 1: Matthew Saunders
Trinity College Dublin

Pillar 2: Maurice Collins
University of Limerick

Pillar 3: Ajay Menon
University College Dublin

Pillar 4: Eoin Syron
University College Dublin

CDT: Pat Guiry
University College Dublin

Postgraduate and Postdoctoral Researcher Committee

Role

The BiOrbic Postgraduate and Postdoctoral (PG/PD) Researcher Committee plays an important role in the BiOrbic Centre. The Committee influences the Centre’s development by representing and advocating on behalf of BiOrbic’s PG and PD researchers.

The Committee supports the development of a thriving BiOrbic Community through organising networking, professional and social events.

Committee Members

Kieran Harrahill
Chairperson
University College Dublin

Burcu Akkoyunlu
Welfare and Inclusion Officer
University College Dublin

Manuel Bruch
International Officer
University College Dublin

Ajay Menon
Education and Engagement Officer
University College Dublin

Lea Braud
Social Officer
University College Dublin

Nishtha Talwar
Postgraduate Officer 
University College Dublin

Sorcha Daly
Postdoctoral Officer
University College Dublin



Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Role

To progress the EDI principles of the Centre and provide a support for Centre members to contact regarding EDI.

Committee Members

Gerard Cagney
Associate Professor
Chairperson

Ajay Menon
Lecturer/Assistant Professor
Co-chairperson

Praveen Kumar
PhD student
Committee member

Unza Jamil
PhD student
Committee member

Shauna Lawless
Operations team
Committee member