The ADAPT Research Ireland Centre recorded a decisive and high-impact year in 2025, strengthening its position as a central player in Ireland’s AI research, policy, and innovation landscape. The year was defined by major research investments, strategic public-sector partnerships, international policy engagement, and commercial spin-outs, reinforcing Ireland’s standing in global AI development.
The year began with the launch of FORSEE, a €3 million EU-funded research project led by ADAPT researchers at University College Dublin’s Centre for Digital Policy. The project examined the societal benefits and risks of artificial intelligence, with the aim of strengthening AI capabilities and informing EU regulatory frameworks.
In February, Dublin City Council, ADAPT, and Trinity Business School launched Ireland’s first Generative AI Lab dedicated to local government. The initiative positioned Dublin as a testbed for responsible GenAI deployment in public services. ADAPT researchers also contributed to the AI Action Summit in Paris, where Professor John Kelleher and Dr Abeba Birhane played prominent roles in discussions on AI governance, accountability, and ethics.
March saw a concentration of activity, including International Women’s Day events co-hosted with the Insight Centre, the hosting of the 18th All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad at DCU, and the launch of Age-Friendly AI: A National Conversation on Artificial Intelligence, a two-year national inclusion project led by TU Dublin and ADAPT. During the same period, ADAPT hosted former US Attorney and PittCyber founder Professor David Hickton for an extended visit focused on cybersecurity, disinformation, and AI regulation.
In April, ADAPT researchers received significant academic recognition. Dr Eileen Culloty was awarded a DCU President’s Award, while five ADAPT academics were elected Fellows of Trinity College Dublin. May highlighted emerging talent and industry engagement, including recognition in the Sunday Business Post’s “30 Under 30,” the ADAPT annual scientific conference, and the launch of the sea-scan project using undersea telecommunications cables.
Industry-facing activity accelerated in June, with ADAPT-led events on enterprise AI adoption, DigiAcademy securing a major social impact award, and the AI Accountability Lab receiving funding to advance justice-oriented AI auditing. Over the summer, ADAPT researchers launched zkBallot, a cryptography-based electronic voting platform designed to preserve voter anonymity while ensuring public auditability, and completed a major Springer Nature book series on machine translation.
In September, ADAPT-associated projects were recognised at the Ireland eGovernment Awards, while senior leaders from across Ireland’s AI ecosystem convened at the National AI Leadership Forum to shape a shared roadmap for ethical and human-centric AI development. October saw the national rollout of ADAPT’s AI Literacy in the Classroom programme, supported by Google, alongside the ADVANCE 2025 flagship conference, which focused on driving European innovation and closing the AI gap.
November delivered further policy and societal impact, with ADAPT researchers appointed to national governance bodies, multiple awards for inclusion and “tech for good” initiatives, and €1 million in performance funding awarded to Trinity College Dublin’s DigiAcademy. The year concluded in December with Enterprise Ireland backing MESO, an AI-powered ed-tech spin-out from ADAPT, and the hosting of the ADAPT Recognition Awards celebrating research excellence and collaboration.
Collectively, these developments underscored ADAPT’s role in translating advanced AI research into societal, economic, and policy impact throughout 2025.
