Two the State's leading universities have agreed to greater collaboration on research projects and to facilitate the introduction of joint postgraduate programmes facilitating the transfer of students between institutions.
The announcement by Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Cork (UCC) that they are to collaborate in the areas of science and technology follows the recent announcement of a multi-billion euro budget for the research and development sector.
The move is designed "to focus on research areas where both institutions have complementary strengths and thereby reduce duplication of research projects and provide value for money", according to Trinity's dean of research, Dr David Lloyd.
"We are actively pursuing collaborations with other universities in other areas . . . competition with other universities is not the intention of this collaboration. We are not drawing a line in the sand and will be talking to other universities," he said.
Over the past five years, UCC and TCD have collaborated in the field of nanotechnology, making complementary investments in infrastructure at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork and the Crann Centre in Dublin.
Under the new relationship, the two universities will work in partnership in the implementation of institutional research strategies, management information systems, benchmarking, institutional repositories, technology transfer initiatives and in the procurement of equipment and materials for research.
UCC president Prof Gerard Wrixon said it made no sense for two universities to tackle the same research areas in a small country competing in an increasingly competitive global market for research.
"UCC and TCD are probably the most research intensive universities and together account for 50 per cent of the total research funds out there," said Prof Wrixon.