Devins announces €23m funding for science projects

Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Jimmy Devins, today launched on behalf of Science Foundation Ireland its Annual Report 2007 and announced new funding of over €23m for 143 projects, under the SFI Research Frontiers Programme (RFP) for 2008.

Launching the SFI Annual Report at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin, Minister Devins said: “Investment in research is at the core of the Government’s strategy to ensure the development of Ireland as a knowledge-based economy.

"The Government’s Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) 2006-2013 and the allocation of €8.2bn under the National Development Plan provides the framework necessary to build a world-class research system in Ireland, and SFI is a key player in achieving this objective."

Minister Devins added: "That the SFI 2007 Annual Report illustrates clearly that this investment in new and innovative research programmes in science and engineering is now clearly resulting in the attraction and retention of high-quality researchers, increased numbers of highly-skilled PhD students graduating from SFI supported research teams, and new substantial collaborations with industry. The annual report demonstrates how SFI is supporting and increasing Ireland’s key resource – talented people."

Commenting on the Annual Report, SFI chairperson, Prof Patrick Fottrell: said: "That the Annual Report for 2007 shows SFI is delivering on its SSTI targets and is on target in the recruitment and retention of top-class researchers, as it continues to build a high-quality research environment in this country.

"Through the new SFI Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) Programme, key partnerships have been forged with 43 distinct companies, while the establishment of a new SFI Centre for Science Engineering and Technology (CSET) in the software sector led by Dublin City University, has brought together researchers in partnership with IBM, Microsoft, Symantec and others. SFI continues to work together with the other Governments agencies implementing SSTI, in particular IDA and Enterprise Ireland to foster stronger collaboration between SFI researchers and industry."

In announcing the Annual Report and new funding of over €23m under the SFI Research Frontiers Programme (RFP) 2008, Minister Devins said: “Today is both a reflection on the year past, and, with this major new investment, very much a statement of intent for the future. The funding of these 143 research projects is spread across 13 different and exciting areas encompassing health, engineering, energy, ecology, medicine, mathematics, genetics and related fields. Significantly, this funding will allow for the provision of high-quality training and jobs for 180 scientists.”