€39m in funding announced for 30 research projects
Funding worth a total of €39m was announced today for 30 flagship scientific research projects which will support the work of over 150 researchers.
Administered via Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) ‘Principal Investigator’ (PI) Programme, the projects will be supported through to 2015.
The funding will support researchers working in areas identified by the Government as key for developing new commercial products and services from scientific research, including ICT, health/life sciences and energy.
Industry collaboration will be central to the projects, and companies involved will include Intel, Analog Devices, J&J and Hitachi.
Among the areas covered by the research projects funded include:
· Molecular imaging of cancer
· Obesity
· Inflammatory diseases
· Green transport and communications networks
· Renewable energy generation and storage
“Over the past decade, Ireland has built up a very substantial infrastructure and a reputation for basic scientific research, and many of the high-end jobs we have created in multinational and indigenous companies are directly related to these achievements," said Jobs Minister Richard Bruton, making the announcement today at Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin.
"However, a central part of this Government’s plan for jobs and growth is to ensure that this research is better targeted at turning the good ideas of researchers into good products and good jobs.
“To achieve this, we have introduced legislation to allow SFI to go beyond basic research to investigate commercial solutions; we have identified 14 areas which the Government is targeting for commercialisation; and we have adopted a series of reforms to make it easier to commercialise the results of State-funded research, including a one-stop-shop.
“Today, I am very happy to announce that the Government is investing a further €39million in 30 new research projects in areas which the Government has identified as having particular potential for jobs and growth, including ICT, health/life sciences and energy."
