Ninth Level Ireland

“Sir, – According to the 2019 annual report of Science Foundation Ireland, €5 million was spent on 47 Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education projects, and €189 million was spent on scientific research. However, not one euro was invested in research that would seek to support how science is taught and learned throughout primary, secondary and tertiary levels in Ireland …” (more)

[Aishling Flaherty, Irish Times, 22 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]

“Many Irish people do not want to return to the way they worked or commuted before Covid-19 and want a greener alternative. That is according to a national survey of 1,000 adults conducted last month by Science Foundation Ireland to mark Science Week 2020 …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 9 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]

“Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the engagements he has had with Science Foundation Ireland in relation to its participation in the Department of Foreign Affair’s Ireland House strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 21 October]

“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]

The full (draft) Programme is here; extracts related to third level are here.

“Earlier this week Cambridge University in the UK announced that all its courses will be delivered online for the next academic year. The decision followed immediately on a warning from England’s university regulator, the Office of Students, on the need for ‘absolute clarity’ for students making academic plans …” (more)

[Joan Donegan, IFUT, 21 May]

“Irish universities will struggle to ‘compete’ in the sphere of online learning when it comes to attracting students over the coming years, a top research official has warned. Peter Clinch, the chairman of Science Foundation Ireland, said the ‘centralised’ approach to IT of Ireland’s universities means it will be difficult for them to implement ‘blended learning’ – a combination of online and in-person learning – in the coming months and years …” (more)

[Sárán Fogarty and Donal MacNamee, University Times, 15 May]

“The Irish Universities Association welcomes the announcement of €5 million in funding grants to key COVID-19 research and innovation projects by Minister Heather Humphreys today. 26 ground-breaking research projects have been funded today (26th April), 21 by the Health Research Board/Irish Research Council and a further 5 by the Science Foundation Ireland/Enterprise Ireland/IDA Ireland …” (more)

[IUA, 29 April]

“The Health Research Board (HRB), Irish Research Council (IRC) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) are fully aware that the current situation regarding the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is having a significant impact on the research and innovation community, both in Ireland and internationally …” (more)

[SFI, 13 March]

“The Department of Education has clashed with the country’s largest State-funded research agency over how taxpayers’ money should be spent, documents show. Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has been drawing up a strategy for the years 2020 to 2025 to guide the direction of future investment …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 20 January]

“Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) today published its Annual Plan for 2020. Key priorities are: a continued focus on individual-led research programmes, challenge-based funding initiatives including programmes to address climate action, international engagement through partnerships with funding agencies, public engagement programmes to drive public interest and participation in STEM, partnerships with enterprise and supporting Ireland’s world class SFI Research Centres …” (more)

[DBEI, 9 January]

“The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation invites applications from suitably qualified candidates who have an interest in the area of science/research to fill two vacancies on the Board of Science Foundation Ireland. The ideal candidates should demonstrate in their application evidence of at least one of the following at an appropriately senior level: …” (more)

[StateBoards.ie, 7 January]

“The Government is increasingly under fire for how the nation lags its European counterparts in funding basic, ‘blue skies’ research, the kind in which real world applications are not immediately clear. During Science Week 2019, Fianna Fáil’s science spokesman James Lawless, stated it was ‘over-concentrating resources around applied-commercial research at the expense of basic/discovery research’ …” (more)

[Conor Purcell, Irish Times, 2 January]

“Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent): To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amount of funding her Department provided to Science Foundation Ireland in 2017, 2018 and 2019, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 8 October]

“Fianna Fáil has criticised Fine Gael’s ‘short-sighted and philistine’ approach to research funding in Ireland, after the country won just one of 400 grants from the European Research Council. Fianna Fáil spokesperson on science, technology, research and development James Lawless said the government’s approach is hindering research in Ireland …” (more)

[Sárán Fogarty, University Times, 16 September]

“Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Science, Technology, Research and Development, James Lawless, has said the short-sighted approach taken by Fine Gael in only funding research with expedient commercial outputs has greatly hampered the research and development ecosystem in Ireland …” (more)

[Fianna Fáil, 15 September]

“The Presidents of Ireland’s seven universities, represented by the IUA, have called on the Government and the national research funding agencies to urgently address strategic deficiencies in how Irish research is funded, following the outcome of the latest European Research Council (ERC) funding programme. Only one Irish-based researcher was funded out of a total of 408 grant awards from the €621 million funding programme …” (more)

[IUA, 13 September]