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Dr Susie Deedigan and Dr Thomas Thompson are two of 21 new members from Ireland and Northern Ireland recently selected after a competitive selection process launched by the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) last year.  

YAI was established to expand engagement and opportunity for early career researchers and innovators, strengthen leadership capacity, advance equality, diversity and inclusion, and build durable professional networks while engaging in initiatives that benefit society.  

Through a focused programme of interdisciplinary collaboration, policy engagement and international partnership, members contribute evidence-informed perspectives on pressing societal challenges. 

Dr Susie Deedigan is a historian from the School of History, Anthropology, Politics and Philosophy at Queen’s University ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ and programme manager for the ARINS Project, University of Notre Dame. Her research examines women’s political activism, imprisonment, and cross?border networks in twentieth?century Ireland.   

Her scholarship includes a monograph in preparation that offers the first dedicated study of Irish female republican imprisonment during the Second World War, and peer?reviewed outputs on female activism in the 1940s, collaborative women’s networks across Ireland and Britain, and women’s political participation in Northern Ireland.  

She has held numerous competitive grants and fellowships, including as a visiting researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. 

Her work with ARINS combines historical scholarship with engagement across policy, public, and academic audiences. She contributes to policy engagement, commissions research, co-produces podcast series, and organises academic and public events related to the project. 

Commenting on this recognition, she said:

“I am thrilled to be selected for Young Academy Ireland. This will be an exciting opportunity to collaborate with fellow early career scholars who share a passion for translating research into meaningful public engagement. I look forward to seeing what the next four years hold.” 

Dr Thomas Thompson is a microbiologist and qualified pharmacist from the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ. His research focuses on antimicrobial resistance, chronic infection and biofilm tolerance, particularly how difficult-to-treat infections respond to treatment in clinically relevant models.  

He was the inaugural recipient of Applied Microbiology International's John Snow Public Health Innovation Prize and has contributed to the field through the Junior Editor programme for Letters in Applied Microbiology. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

Alongside his research, he has contributed to public engagement and research culture through mentoring and peer support for early career researchers, his role as Postdoctoral Representative for the School of Pharmacy, and public engagement on antimicrobial resistance, including a comic collaboration launched at NI Science Festival.  

He has also contributed to wider antimicrobial policy discussions in Northern Ireland as an invited stakeholder for the Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy for NI. 

Commenting on this announcement, he said:

"I'm delighted to join Young Academy Ireland. The biggest challenges in health and science do not sit neatly within one discipline, so I'm really looking forward to learning from colleagues in other fields and contributing to the kind of collaboration and public engagement that can make a real difference." 

Welcoming the new cohort, Lynn Scarff, Executive Director, RIA said: “Welcoming the new cohort of members to YAI marks an important step in strengthening Ireland’s research and innovation ecosystem. These exceptional early career researchers and innovators represent the depth and diversity of talent across the island.  

“Through YAI, we are investing not only in their professional development, but in their capacity to shape policy dialogue, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and contribute meaningfully to the societal challenges facing Ireland and beyond.” 

Media

Media inquiries to Sian Devlin at s.devlin@qub.ac.uk