“Horizon Europe, the European Union’s new research and investment programme – the biggest programme ever undertaken in Europe – has been launched today. The new multidisciplinary programme will run until 2027 and will be backed by a budget of over €95 billion …” (more)
[RTÉ News, 25 March]
“I realised today that I hadn’t yet posted a reaction to the announcement earlier this month by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) of a new five-year strategic plan. Although much of the document Shaping Our Future is fairly bland – as strategic plans usually are – there are some very welcome things in it …” (more)
[In the Dark, 21 March]
“Science has demonstrated its capacity to deliver in responding to Covid-19. Effective vaccines were developed in a less than a year while scientists contributed hugely to the global response to the pandemic. At the same time, the sector now has a place at the Cabinet table via minister Simon Harris and his new Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science …” (more)
[Irish Times, 4 February]
“Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the public expenditure on research and development and as a percentage in each year since 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 25 February]
“Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris has today announced an investment of €193 million in five Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres for six years. Lero, the SFI Research Centre for Software, led by University of Limerick (UL) and ADAPT, a SFI research centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology led by Trinity College Dublin in partnership with Munster Technological University (MTU) and other universities and institutes of technology across the country are among those to benefit …” (more)
[Nicole Glennon, Irish Examiner, 1 February]
“The State is to invest €193 million over six years into research on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, ethics and data privacy, smart medical devices, e-health and telecommunications. Announcing the €193 million investment in five Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) research centres, Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said it reflected Ireland’s position as a world leader in research and innovation …” (more)
[Marie O’Halloran, Irish Times, 1 February]
“The EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement, commonly known as the ‘Brexit deal’, has been welcomed by the UK and EU research communities, as it states the political will to continue close scientific cooperation under Horizon Europe, the 9th European research programme. The terms and conditions to join the programme as an associated member still need to be negotiated and agreed. However, the Brexit deal puts an end to a climate of uncertainty for UK-based researchers that started in June 2016 with the Brexit vote in the middle of Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe’s predecessor …” (more)
[Marco Cavallaro, LSE, 26 January]
“Before Christmas, Ireland’s new Department for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science embarked on a consultation about its strategy for 2021-23. Like most other departments, the Department of Theoretical Physics at Maynooth made a collective submission to this consultation and we await further developments …” (more)
[In the Dark, 4 January]
“The end of this year marks the close of the European Union’s massive 2014–20 research programme, Horizon 2020. Over the past six years, more than 150,000 participants – including research institutes, companies and individual scientists – have collectively received almost €60 billion (US$73.5 billion) in research funding …” (more)
[Quirin Schiermeier, Nature, 22 December]
“University staff and students remain ‘in the dark’ about whether they will be able to access vital research funding and take part in exchange opportunities when Britain leaves the EU. Higher education leaders are calling on the Government to prioritise full participation in the Erasmus+ exchange scheme and the Horizon Europe research funding programme as a no-deal Brexit looms …” (more)
[Eleanor Busby, Belfast Telegraph, 12 December]
“A mere two weeks after the National Science Foundation declared it would close the Arecibo single-dish radio telescope – once the largest in the world – the observatory took a dramatic dying breath and collapsed on Dec. 1, 2020 …” (more)
[Raquel Velho, The Conversation, 11 December]
“Minister for Further and Higher Education and Research Simon Harris has paid tribute to the Tyndall National Institute in Cork after it surpassed more than 100 EU funded awards totalling over €56 million for research projects. Mr Harris said that the Tyndall’s securing of over 100 Horizon 2020 awards totalling some €56.1 million from the EU for research and innovation over the past seven years made it one of the most successful institutes in Ireland for European funding …” (more)
[Barry Roche, Irish Times, 17 November]
“Cork’s Tyndall National Institute has succeeded in securing more than €56m in funding as it reaches the milestone of its 100th Horizon 2020 award. It makes the centre one of the most successful institutes in Ireland for European funding …” (more)
[Brian Finn, RTÉ News, 12 November]
“A broad range of Irish scientific research is to be supported by the latest round of Science Foundation Ireland’s Frontiers for the Future programme – 71 research grants totalling €53 million have been allocated for work to be carried out in 12 higher education institutions …” (more)
[Kevin O’Sullivan, Irish Times, 4 November]
“Millions are set to be pumped into scientific research projects, ranging from anti-ageing to potential new treatments for Alzheimer’s and Crohn’s disease. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, announced 71 grants valued at €53m under the Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) ‘Frontiers for the Future’ programme …” (more)
[Eavan Murray, Independent, 2 November]
“My attention was recently drawn to a proposal for a radical overhaul of the research funding system in the Netherlands by the Dutch Academy of Sciences. The document I linked to above is in Dutch but the principles are easily understood. To prevent academics having to waste so much time writing proposals that have a very limited chance of success, it is proposed to introduce ‘rolling grants’ for which no application is needed …” (more)
[In the Dark, 18 October]
“Since its establishment in 2007, the European Research Council (ERC) has developed a reputation for excellence. Its grantees have won seven Nobel Prizes, four Fields Medals and five Wolf Prizes, along with the 6,100 publications produced by its grantees being among the top one per cent most cited in their respective fields …” (more)
[Jane Cook, University Times, 8 October]
“Ireland has reached the momentous milestone of having won just over €1 billion to date from the current European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020. Horizon 2020 began in 2014 and will conclude in the main at the end of this year, with the launch of the next Framework Programme, Horizon Europe in 2021 …” (more)
[DFHERIS, 28 September]
“Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris today promised a ‘bright new era for research in Ireland’, saying that Ireland’s recent achievements in research funding should ‘only make us more ambitious’ …” (more)
[Jane Cook, University Times, 16 September]
“Today, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, announced a €4.3 million investment in the Irish Research Council’s Enterprise Partnership Scheme, providing funding for fifty enterprise-focused research awards …” (more)
[Rebecca Deasy-Millar, Trinity News, 17 August]
