Research Bursaries available to support the developemnt of new insights using project Air View Data
Dublin City Council launched the results of the Project Air View initiative in Feb 2023, which measured the air quality of Dublin City’s streets over a period of 16 months. Through a partnership with Google, the data was captured by Google’s first electric Street View car equipped with Aclima’s mobile air sensing platform. The data is now openly available to support further research, and to increase awareness of air quality levels across Dublin. The mapped, street-by-street air quality data is a first for an Irish city, and provides unique insights that will enable the Council, businesses and citizens to work collaboratively to improve air quality for Dublin. The data will also be used by the City Council to help inform current and future environmental and climate policies, and planning efforts. https://smartdublin.ie/fresh–datafresh–thinking–google–project–air–view–results/
All data is available to view on Google’s Environmental Insights Explorer and on Smart Dublin’s open data platform, while a 3-day air quality data hackathon based on this data took place in Google Ireland from the 24-26th February (https://airqualitydatahack.com/)
DCC’s Smart City Programme in partnership with the Air Quality Unit is offering a limited number of bursaries (up to 10 bursaries @500 euro each) to support research projects that utilize the Project Air View data. We invite you to submit research proposals that focus on exploring the insights gained from the collected data, with the goal of informing policy decisions that improve air quality and public health.
Some potential research ideas include, but not limited to:
- Exploring the links between air pollution and health outcomes in specific neighborhoods or populations within Dublin., such as children, elderly people, and those with preexisting health conditions
- Investigating the impact of traffic and other sources of air pollution on air quality in Dublin
- Examining the effectiveness of existing policies and interventions aimed at reducing air pollution in Dublin
- Assessing the correlation between air quality and other environmental factors such as noise.
- Spatial and temporal variability of Air Quality in Dublin and hotspot analysis
Successful applicants will receive financial support from the council (€500) and will also receive mentorship from council staff with expertise in the field and opportunity to present the projects to Google Project Air View and Aclima team members that supported the Project AirView project in Dublin.
We are excited to collaborate with researchers to better understand the complexities of air quality in Dublin and to inform evidence-based policy decisions that improve the health and wellbeing of our citizens.
How to Apply:
To apply for a bursary, please submit a brief proposal (maximum 2 pages) outlining your research questions, methodology, and expected outcomes to smartcity@dublincity.ie by midnight 12th June.
Proposals should be approved / signed off by a research supervisor. Research should start by mid-June and be completed by the end of October 2023 at the latest.
Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of experts from DCC, Google, and the academic community, and successful applicants will be notified.
