The Science Foundation Ireland announced at a board meeting held in Cork this week that its research commitments have exceeded €1 billion, following a record year of funding investments in 2007, amounting to the sum of €365.3 million.

Details of a new €31.2 million investment in an SFI Equipment Call were also announced at the meeting by Micheál Martin, TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The goal of this 2007 Equipment Call, the Minister said, is to accelerate and enhance research output and quality from both SFI and non-SFI-funded researchers through a significant investment in additional resources and infrastructure in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

Speaking at the board meeting, Minister Martin, said, "SFI has made outstanding progress in 2007 and has established itself as an organisation with an international reputation for funding quality research. Operating at the heart of Ireland's knowledge economy, it is making excellent progress in implementing Government policy to establish Ireland as an international location for scientific research. SFI actively encourages researchers to collaborate with industry and to date over 300 companies are involved in various levels collaboration with SFI backed researchers.

Measures such as the SFI Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSETs) and Strategic Research Clusters (SRCs) provide the mechanisms for new innovative research and entrepreneurial leadership and real opportunities for re-shaping Ireland's economy through science. These collaborations therefore, are central to the Government's long-term economic strategy in building Ireland's new knowledge-driven economy," he concluded.

Pat Fottrell, Chairman of SFI added, "The Government's commitment to transforming Ireland into a knowledge based economy has brought about considerable change in the Irish research community and SFI has assumed a significant leadership role in this transformation. The Board of SFI has put in place a framework to ensure it plays a full role in developing innovative programmes to deliver on the challenging task assigned to it to create a world-class research community in Ireland".

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment