SFI invests €30m to support 23 research projects that could impact society

24 Apr 2015

A new €30m investment in R&D for 23 major research projects that involve 100 researchers and 40 companies has been unveiled by the Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation Damien English TD.

Funding for each project will range from €500,000 to €2.3m.

The 23 projects are part of the SFI Investigators Programme, which focuses on Ireland’s society and economy, and were selected by competitive peer review involving 400 international scientists after a call for proposals across a number of thematic areas of national and international importance.

The projects include research in areas such as materials science, data management, medicine and pharmaceuticals, food and nutrition, agriculture and veterinary research, and have links to 40 companies.

Leading academic talent

“This funding provides assistance to individual researchers to advance their investigations and address key research questions in sectors such as energy, medicine, food and nutrition, technology and agriculture,” Minister English said.

“It allows researchers to further their careers and build partnerships with leading industry partners who also benefit from access to some of the leading academic talent on this island. The Investigators Programme is an important contributor to Ireland’s credentials as a research leader in a number of sectors.”

Mark Ferguson, the director of Science Foundation Ireland and chief scientific adviser to the Irish Government, said the SFI Investigators Programme provides important support to researchers in Ireland, creating employment opportunities by leveraging state funding.

“These are areas that will make a difference to both Ireland’s economy and society,” Ferguson said.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com