Evans received the award for his work on pattern recognition via nucleation kinetics of multifarious DNA tile self-assembly.
Maynooth University research fellow Dr Constantine Evans has been awarded this year’s Robert Dirks Molecular Programming Prize, becoming the first Irish scholar to receive the accolade.
The award was established to honour California Institute of Technology graduate Robert Dirks, who tragically died in a 2015 New York Metro train crash. The annual prize, celebrating molecular programming researchers since 2016, is awarded by Caltech as well as the International Society for Nanoscale Science, Computation and Engineering.
Evans received the 2025 Dirks Prize for his work on pattern recognition via nucleation kinetics of multifarious DNA tile self-assembly.
He explained that he is interested in researching molecular self-assembly, or “the process of molecules organising themselves into structures through simple interactions”. This process is behind structures in nature such as water molecules freezing into ice or snowflakes and the construction of complex, functional structures in biology such as viruses that attack our cells and the microtubules that give our cells their shape.
“I look at the way these processes can be viewed as a form of computation, making decisions based on their environment about what to grow, and how we can use self-assembly to design precise, programmable structures at a molecular scale that build themselves,” he said.
The award represents an early-career achievement for Evans, who also received a cash prize along with the title.
“I am honoured to be part of remembering Robert Dirks’ life and work as a brilliant scholar, and hope that my continued research will be a credit to his memory,” he added.
Evans is a member of a research team led by Prof Damien Woods at Maynooth University’s Hamilton Institute, which is working towards providing a bridge between mathematics and its applications in ICT, biology and other disciplines.
“As the first Irish university scholar to receive this award, Dr Evans’ achievement is a reflection of both his hard work and the ongoing research excellence at Maynooth University’s Hamilton Institute,” said Prof Rachel Msetfi, Maynooth University’s VP for research and innovation.
“His research into molecular self-assembly and its applications in biological systems continues to make important strides in the scientific community.”
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