Colm is Assistant Professor of Inorganic and Materials Chemistry at the University of Dublin, Trinity College Dublin. He is an emerging leader in the field of sensing, bio-diagnostics, microfluidics, and materials development. After completing his PhD in 2016 in Trinity College Dublin, under the supervision of Prof. Sylvia Draper, he took a Postdoctoral role at Dublin City University. During this time, he served as scientific coordinator of an FP7 Project, lead researcher and co-applicant on a Technology Innovation Development Award (TIDA) and directed a research project in conjunction with Air-Force Research Laboratories (USA) and GE Global Research.

From December 2018 he led a research group at University College Dublin. In October 2020 he returned to TCD upon receiving a 2-year Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Research Fellowship entitled ‘Bio-Inspired Photonic Sensors’. In 2021, Colm was awarded a MSCA International Fellowship at University of Cambridge. In 2022, he accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the School of Chemistry, TCD and received a prestigious ERC Starting Grant to establish his own research group in the School of Chemistry and AMBER Centre, Trinity College Dublin.