The Royal Irish Academy/Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann champions research. We identify and recognise Ireland’s world class researchers. We support scholarship and promote awareness of how science and the humanities enrich our lives and benefit society. We believe that good research needs to be promoted, sustained and communicated. The Academy is run by a Council of its members. Membership is by election and considered the highest academic honour in Ireland.
Read more about the RIAThe Royal Irish Academy recognises excellence and inspires future generations of thought-leaders by awarding prizes and medals.
Our Medals identify and celebrate the achievements and international impact of Ireland’s world class researchers along with individual contributions to the advancement of the Academy itself. While the medal is presented to individual researchers, it is broadly accepted as a recognition of the extraordinary work of institutes, research teams and individual dedication to the advancement of the Academy and its objectives.
Our prizes serve as both recognition and incentive to established and early career researchers to endeavour. They serve to inspire the future leaders in learning in Ireland.
In 2021, the Academy will award a Gold Medal in the Social Sciences and a Gold Medal in the Environmental Sciences and Geosciences to individuals who have made a demonstrable and internationally recognised outstanding scholarly contribution to their field.
Dr Conor Crawford is the winner of the Kathleen Lonsdale RIA Chemistry Prize 2021 sponsored by Henkel. The prestigious prize is awarded for the most outstanding Irish PhD thesis in the chemical sciences and is announced today to mark the birthday of the famous Irish x-ray crystallographer, Kathleen Lonsdale.
Watch the 2020 US-Ireland Research Innovation Awards special virtual event with guest of honour Simon Harris T.D., Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
