Brief description
The Irish public research funding system comprises a number of funding bodies, each of which report to individual Government departments. The Office of Science and Technology (OST) which is located within the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has responsibility for the overall national science budget.
The two main research funding organisations are:
* Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) was established in 2000 to administer Ireland's technology foresight fund (646 million) to support academic researchers and research teams in the fields underpinning two broad areas, biotechnology and Information Communications Technology. It operates under the auspices of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
* The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is the funder of the HEA Block Grant which provides the necessary floor for research funding in the third level sector and the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) which provides support for institutional strategies, inter-institutional collaboration, large-scale research programmes and infrastructure. A total of 605 has been provided to the higher education sector under the PRTLI during the period 1999-2006; a substantial amount of this funding was provided from private philanthropic sources including Atlantic Philanthropies. The HEA reports to the Department of Education and Science.
Other funding organisations include the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology whose Embark Initiative which provides funding for post-graduate research students and sectorally-focused research funding and performing agencies such as the Marine Institute, the Health Research Board, the Environmental Protection Agency and Teagasc (the agricultural research body).
Last update date: 18/12/2006
Name of correspondent: Tom Martin