Thrissur: Irene Pauly, a 26-year-old native of Vendore, has been awarded the prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship by the European Union, receiving a grant of ₹1.68 crore for scientific research. She will pursue a three-year research programme at the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles (ESPCI) in Paris, under the Department of Soft Matter Science and Engineering.

Irene completed her undergraduate studies in Chemistry at St Thomas College, Thrissur, followed by a postgraduate degree in Medicinal Chemistry from the Central University of Punjab. She later earned an MTech from the MG University campus, completing her final-year research at Keele University, Germany.

She is the daughter of Manjaly MI Paul and CJ Jeeji.