Funding of €26m Announced for 168 SFI Research Projects  

SFI Research Frontiers Programme Awards  

 

On 15^th May, 2007, Mr. Micheál Martin, TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment announced funding awards to 168 research projects, spread across 14 third-level institutions, under the Research Frontiers Programme. The 168 awards represent a three-year investment of over €26 million. Under the National Development Plan 2007 – 2013, the Government is investing €8.2 billion in scientific research over the next seven years, building on the continued drive towards making Ireland a knowledge-based economy.  

The Science Foundation Ireland-funded Programme supports high-quality, innovative and internationally competitive research in the third-level sector across a broad range of disciplines in Science, Mathematics and Engineering.  

Commenting on the awards, Mr. Martin said: “Government strategy supports the promotion of research in Ireland. The generation of an innovative, knowledge economy is fundamental to economic growth and the Research Frontiers Programme is a vital component in this policy.” The Research Frontiers Programme - formerly the Basic Research Grants Programme – has been managed by SFI since 2005. On average, each research project in 2007 will receive funding of €157,000. The awards cover a broad range of disciplines embracing the Earth Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Biosciences and Computer Science.

Commenting on the awards, Dr. Gary Crawley, Head of the Research Frontiers Programme, SFI, stated: “This is a competitive process and the quality of the proposals we receive every year is more impressive. SFI is devoted to fostering potential talent and I am delighted that not only has the number of awards increased annually since 2005, but the quality of the research has also improved, according to our international peer review process.” Dr. Crawley added: “SFI is committed to building a world class research base in Science, Mathematics and Engineering in the third-level education sector and fostering pioneering research in Ireland. The Research Frontiers Programme is one of a number of programmes which work towards this goal.”

The proposals were reviewed by 12 individual panels made up of national and international peers and were judged on their scientific merit.  

The 14 institutions receiving grants are University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Dublin City University, NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth, University of Limerick, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Cork Institute of Technology, Athlone Institute of Technology, Dundalk Institute of Technology and IT Tralee.The 168 successful projects were chosen by competitive review from a total of 704 original submissions.  

SFI is now calling for applications for the Research Frontiers Programme 2008, information is available at www.sfi.ie. To view the list of awards visit www.sfi.ie. 

 ENDS