Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, recently announced €8 million in prize phase funding for six research teams across four challenge programmes under the National Challenge Fund. Funded by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Fund calls on researchers to identify problems related to Ireland’s Green Transition and Digital Transformation, and work directly with those most affected to solve them.
GroSafe, led by Dr Christina Thorpe and Dr Matt Bowden of Technological University Dublin, with Societal Impact Champion Fiona Jennings, Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, won the OurTech Challenge. Dr Susan McKeever from the ADAPT Centre at TU Dublin was the AI lead on the team.
GroSafe is a technology-enabled safeguarding platform designed to combat child grooming through education, support, and reporting. By empowering children and caregivers through this platform, the team aims to build societal resistance, reduce exploitation, and foster a culture of safe and trusted disclosure.
Minister James Lawless said: “I am delighted to announce the second cohort of teams to receive prize funding under the National Challenge Fund. These research teams are driving innovative projects that will help Ireland transition to a clean and secure energy system, strengthen our ability to anticipate and respond to flood risks, protect children by recognising and resisting grooming tactics, and advance our move towards an environmentally sustainable, climate-neutral economy. I congratulate all the teams on their success in this highly competitive programme.”
Over the past two years, the GroSafe team has worked closely with more than 600 young people and other stakeholders to co-create interactive components such as gamified learning tools that help users recognise grooming tactics and take action.
The GroSafe initiative had previously been supported by Research Ireland, including seed funding for prototype development. The funding under the Challenge Fund will enable the team to expand the project further.
