Abigail Ruth Freeman

Dr Abigail Ruth Freeman is the Director of Science for Society at Science Foundation Ireland, the Irish government’s largest funder of research. She oversees Individual-led Research Programmes and Centres for Research Training, Challenge-based Research Programmes and leads the Education and Public Engagement brief at the Foundation. Ruth is a frequent voice on media and is currently a weekly contributor to The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk radio. Prior to her current appointment Ruth has held a series of positions at SFI. She was appointed Director of Strategy and Communications in 2013, after previous roles as Director of Innovation, Communications and Education, and Director of Programmes, Enterprise and International Affairs. Ruth joined SFI as a Scientific Programme Manager in November 2006. Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked as a researcher at Trinity College Dublin. Ruth holds a BA (Mod) and PhD in Genetics and a post-graduate diploma in Statistics from Trinity College Dublin, where she was awarded a Trinity scholarship, the Eli Lilly Chemistry Prize and the Roberts prize for Biology.