A report that described efforts to find new treatments for schizophrenia has taken first prize in the annual 2003 Royal Irish Academy/Irish Times biochemistry essay competition.
The Tánaiste yesterday presented a cheque for €1,000 and a bronze sculpture to Dr Brendan Kelly for his essay, one of a large number submitted for the competition which is sponsored by Yamanouchi (Ireland) Co Ltd.
The event encourages researchers to describe their work in ordinary language.
Ms Harney acknowledged that State expenditure on research had in the past been "unheard of" and that the first White Paper on research was published only seven years ago.
She noted, however, that State investment in research had grown rapidly and in the Estimates published last week had jumped a further 36 per cent within her Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
"I think we have genuinely come a long way in the past seven years," she said.
Dr Kelly's essay, "Schizophrenia - solving the puzzle", describes research aimed at a better understanding of the condition, based on work done by him while studying for a doctorate in medicine at the Department of Psychiatry, NUI Galway.
A joint award for second place was given: Mr Joel Tracey of the University of Ulster wrote an essay that described how biochemical studies of frogs could lead to new drug discoveries; and Mr Shane Madden of University College Cork wrote about why some cancers could become more aggressive after surgery.