Scientists in Dublin, Cork and Limerick are to share substantial research funding worth €12 million awarded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).
Two of the researchers relocated to Ireland from north America because of the availability of the funding.
The announcement is part of the ongoing release of research funding being made under the SFI programme. It specifically backs research in two areas, biotechnology and information and communications technology.
The researchers were chosen after an assessment by an independent panel of internationally known scientists.
"The talent and pedigree of this group of researchers is further testament of our commitment to only investing in those, that will best assist Ireland to build a world-class scientific and engineering research environment," SFI's director general, Dr William Harris, said.
There is a wide range of research supported including the use of lasers to track slow-moving atoms and studies of how viruses and other agents can defeat the body's immune system to cause disease.
The studies are expected to lead to new discoveries in computing and may also lead to new drugs and new treatments for a variety of diseases.
The recipients include Prof Noel Buckley of the University of Limerick and Prof Declan Burke of University College Cork; Dr Síle Nic Chormaic of Cork Institute of Technology; Prof Stephen Fahy also of UCC; Prof Martin Caffrey, who is moving from Ohio State University and joining the University of Limerick; Dr Andrew Graham Bowie of Trinity College Dublin; Prof Peter Humphries, Dr Gwyneth Jane Farrar and Dr Paul Francis Kenna of TCD.
Other recipients are Prof Fergal O'Gara, UCC: Dr Douwe van Sinderen, UCC; Dr Donal Fitzmaurice of University College Dublin; Dr Gerard Cagney, moving from the University of Toronto to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; Dr Daniel Bradley, TCD, and Dr Geraldine Butler, UCD.
