Science Foundation Ireland: Grants and Awards:SFI Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) Programme
SFI Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) Programme
SFI Strategic Research Clusters (SRCs) will help link scientists and engineers in partnerships across academia and industry to address crucial research questions, foster the development of new and existing Irish-based technology companies, and grow partnerships with industry that could make an important contribution to Ireland and its economy.
The SRC programme has been designed to facilitate the clustering of outstanding researchers to carry out joint research activities in areas of strategic importance to Ireland (in ICT and/or BioTech sectors), while also giving the time and resources to attract and cultivate strong industry partnerships that can inform and enhance their research programmes.
Objectives of the SRC Programme
* Create clusters of internationally-competitive researchers from academia and industry, particularly Irish-based industry.
* Exploit opportunities in science and engineering where the complexity of the research agenda requires the advantages of synergy, scale and shared resources that clusters of research partners can provide.
* Facilitate the development of new research partnerships and the strengthening of existing partnerships between academic and industrial researchers.
* Build interdisciplinary links among researchers.
* Create awareness among academic-based researchers of industrial road maps and research goals.
* Support excellence in research as measured by international merit review.
Funding
SRC grants will be awarded for periods of three years with possible extension for an additional two years following successful scientific and strategic progress review.
Grants will normally range from €500,000 to €1,500,000 direct costs per year over the five (3+2) year period. The budget requested should be appropriate to number of participating PIs within the clusters, the experience and track record of the PIs and the scale of the research programme to be undertaken.
Downloads
The following documents describe the SRC programme in detail:
Call for Proposals (doc) (pdf)
Application Process (doc) (pdf)
Pre-Proposal Application Form (doc) (pdf)
Full Proposal Application Form (doc) (pdf)
Deadlines
Expression of interest submission Deadline passed
Information meeting 21 August, 2006
Pre-Proposal submission 3 November, 2006
Invitations to submit full proposals Mid-December, 2006
Full Proposal submission 16 March, 2007
Information Meeting
The joint CSET/SRC Information Day took place on Monday 21st August. The presentations given at the meeting are available here:
Overview of SRC Programme (pdf)
Overview of CSET Programme (pdf)
Overview of SFI IP Guidelines (pdf)
IDA Briefing (pdf)
EI Briefing (pdf)
Developing a CSET: Lessons Learned (pdf)
FAQ
Updated FAQs for SRC program are available here. (word) (pdf)
General questions relating to Grants and Awards are available here.