New web resource for firms to search R&D funding and advertise jobs
Pictured at Dublin Castle today were Minister Sean Sherlock; EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Maire Geoghegan-Quinn; and travel bursary award winners Alanna O'Malley, Fiona McDermott, Petra Ivancova and Milan Caukovic

New web resource for firms to search R&D funding and advertise jobs

14 May 2013

Ireland’s Research and Innovation Minister Sean Sherlock, TD, has launched a new web resource targeted specifically at businesses to help them access information on R&D funding and to advertise jobs for researchers.

The new web resource is an extension of the Euraxess.ie portal developed by the Irish Universities Association. Launched in 2009, the site, which is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the European Commission, has information for researchers on topics such as R&D funding, job opportunities and researcher mobility.

The new portal on Euraxess.ie will allow companies to advertise vacancies, search an online database of researcher CVs and search for funding support opportunities.

Via the new R&D funding search facility, businesses will be able to search in real-time for all national and European funding supports for their business and research activities.  

Sherlock said the new resource will give a boost to research and development and that businesses have specifically asked for a one-stop shop for these queries.

He was speaking this morning at the start of a two-day Researcher Careers and Mobility conference that’s taking place at Dublin Castle.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, is also speaking at the conference, which is focusing on measures to ensure the free movement of researchers and knowledge across Europe.

Geoghegan-Quinn said that new industry user interface will make Euraxess.ie more attractive to industry.

“We will be exploring the possibility of rolling this out to other countries so that business users across Europe will have a tailored interface including both job and funding opportunities,” she said.

Working towards a European Research Area

At the Researcher Careers and Mobility event in Dublin, researchers and policy-makers from around Europe are converging to discuss issues for researchers, including fast track immigration, and open and transparent hiring policies.

One of the aims of the conference is to work on practical solutions to achieve the European Commission’s goal of a ‘European Research Area’ for the free movement of researchers and knowledge.

“We must foster research excellence to maintain our leading international position,” said Sherlock this morning. “We must provide pathways to enable researchers to find employment in industry where their talents can lead innovation and the development of new products and services.”

According to the Commission, while 5m jobs were lost in the EU between 2008 and 2010, the number of jobs in the knowledge economy increased by 800,000.

Geoghegan-Quinn said that European Research Area will help ensure a sufficient supply of highly qualified workers by offering researchers more attractive careers, and by removing any obstacles to mobility across sectors and countries.

“Think of it as a ‘European single market’ for research, knowledge and ideas,” she said.

Carmel Doyle
By Carmel Doyle

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic. She reported on clean tech, innovation and start-ups, covering everything from renewable energy to electric vehicles, the smart grid, nanotech, space exploration, university spin-outs and technology transfer.

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