THE TÁNAISTE has announced funding worth more than €60 million in support of advanced scientific research. The mix of State and private sector money will back three large research centres based at University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin and NUI Galway.
The five-year funding announced yesterday comes via the State-backed Science Foundation Ireland. It will contribute €45.7 million, while private sector companies will add a further €14.5 million.
The money will go into “Csets”, Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology. These are large-scale investments designed specifically to encourage and support linkages between academic researchers and companies.
Firms that invest can make use of the scientific discoveries coming from the Cset and often conduct the research in direct co-operation with the academic partner. There are nine Csets supported by this combination of public and private investment.
The three Csets receiving support are already up and running and the new funding will advance their work, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said at the announcement in Dublin yesterday.
“All three centres have been playing a pivotal role in contributing to the Government’s goal of building a world-class research base in Ireland and developing our human capital to support economic competitiveness,” she said.
The centres involved include UCC’s Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, which specialises in studying gastro-intestinal health; Crann, Trinity’s Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices, which studies the properties of materials and structures down to just a billionth of a metre across; and Deri, NUI Galways Digital Enterprise Research Institute, which researches technologies that support the world wide web.
The three Csets involve 12 companies, a mix of indigenous and multinational firms, said Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jimmy Devins. “The funding announced today will directly support almost 200 researchers, graduate students and others in a well-structured and wholly collaborative environment between now and 2013,” he said yesterday.
Government support for research and efforts to build a so-called “smart economy” here has never been more definitive. The Government will provide details of its strategy for economic recovery today, which will have a strong science-related element.
The Taoiseach and Tánaiste are already on record as saying State investment in research will help Ireland escape the effects of the current recession.
The Csets will drive this advance, according to SFI director general Prof Frank Gannon. They are also a powerful “attractor” for inward investment by research intensive companies.