Three researchers in Ireland have been awarded the prestigious Royal Society–Research Ireland University Research Fellowships (URFs).
The funding, totalling €5.25 million, will enable early-career researchers to establish independent research programmes at their respective institutions. Among the recipients is Dr Boris Galkin, a Senior Researcher at Tyndall’s Wireless Communications Lab, who will lead a project titled: ‘SONGBIRD: Sensing Operations in Networks of Ground-and-Air Devices’. He is one of three Ireland-based awardees, alongside Dr Laura Hayes from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and Dr Anthony Redmond from University College Dublin.
Dr Galkin’s project will harness radio signal reflections to develop AI-powered mapping technology for drones. This approach has the potential to revolutionise emergency response, air traffic control, and urban planning by enabling drones to create highly detailed environmental maps without the need for expensive cameras or sensors.
The URF funding will allow Dr Galkin to build and lead a research team, including PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, to drive the project forward. This initiative will contribute to Tyndall’s growing leadership in wireless communication research. The award provides Dr Galkin with the opportunity to form and lead his own team over an eight-year period, fostering long-term progress and innovation in the field.
Prof Holger Claussen, Head of Tyndall’s Wireless Communications Laboratory, commented:
Sensing is increasingly becoming an important capability for future wireless networks. In combination with drones, this enables many new applications, such as predicting 3D wireless coverage, environmental mapping and monitoring, or helping to find persons in a search and rescue situation. This prestigious research award will enable Dr Boris Galkin to create fundamental advances in this emerging field, building on the team’s recent drone projects, MISTRAL and GUARD.
This award highlights Tyndall’s growing expertise in next-generation wireless and sensing technologies.
