Third-level colleges are set to secure close to €100 million for a range of projects, including new efforts to boost maths and science teaching.
All but one of the 31 projects receiving support involve joint ventures between various third-level colleges. Thirteen involve alliances between universities and institutes of technology.
The funding is being provided under the latest phase of the €515 million Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). This is designed to support management changes in colleges, boost co-operation between them, improve teaching and learning, promote access and lifelong learning and support the development of post graduate education.
One of the most striking new projects gaining support is a new national centre for excellence in mathematics and science teaching and learning at the University of Limerick.
In recent years, the Government, business and teachers have expressed concern about the alarming fall-off in student interest in these subjects and the stubbornly high failure rates at Leaving Cert ordinary level.
Overall, the big winners from the SIF round include UCD (which secured €13.7 million); TCD (€10.5 million); DIT (€9.8 million) UL (€9.7million) and DCU (€5.4 million) .
The latest round of funding also represents good news for the institute of technology sector. Nine of the institutes are lead partners in projects that received some €40 million.
One of the features of the funding round is how various colleges formed regional alliances to build strong proposals. UL, for example, was the overall co-ordinator of the Shannon Consortium, a partnership between UL, Limerick IT, Tralee IT and Mary Immaculate College.
In all, this consortium secured over €12 million for a range of projects.
Announcing details of the overall funding yesterday, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin said the new funding would help to boost post-graduate research structures benefiting research students and the economy.
The key projects receiving support include:
€35.9 million is provided for proposals seeking to enhance the systems of teaching and learning in higher education;
€20.7 million is allocated for proposals seeking to extend the research capacity of the sector in line with the Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation;
€15.7 million has been allocated for lifelong learning and up-skilling, and
€13 million has been allocated for restructuring programmes in third level colleges.
