Ciaran Clissmann (M.Sc. UCD 1991) set up Pintail Ltd as a company specialising in EU funding in 2001, after working as a software architect and as a project officer at the European Commission in Brussels.

Over the last 25 years, the company has grown to seven employees and has secured in excess of 200 million euro in competitive EU funding, primarily in life sciences but also in cultural heritage and green fuels, among other disciplines. Ciaran and his team work with universities across Ireland, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark, both in the preparation of competitive proposals and in the administration and delivery of the successful projects.

Pintail Ltd has a long and successful history of collaboration with the University of Galway, notably in regenerative medicine and stem cells, and in pandemic preparedness and response. 

Ciaran is a keen cyclist and spends the winters in Girona, northern Spain, to escape the Irish weather.