€230m funding for third-level colleges

AN additional 900 research places will be made available as part of a €230 million Government investment in third-level colleges announced yesterday.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin revealed the projects and colleges which will share the funding from the fourth phase of the Government’s Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI).

The core of the funding will help create new research buildings on campuses around the country and will aid specific projects at the seven universities, four institutes of technology, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin Institute for Advance Studies, Royal Irish Academy and the National College of Art and Design (NCAD).

More than €146m of the PRTLI fund is going towards eight collaborative programmes, each involving at least three institutions and covering research areas as diverse as the arts and humanities, food and health, nanoscience and biophotonics.

The largest single project will be the €31.6m nanoscience and nano scale technologies for Ireland (NANOTEIRE) programme led by University College Cork (UCC) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD). The sector combines physics, chemistry and biology to deliver future generations of products in areas such as drug delivery systems and electronic devices.

UCC, University College Dublin (UCD) and University of Limerick are to work together on a €6.4m national food and health research programme, supporting the country’s agri-food sector and its 170,000 workers.

Ms Hanafin stressed that the funding was not just about the sciences, as significant funding is being allocated to humanities and social sciences research programmes. Among these is a €2m Graduate School of Creative Arts and Media — the country’s first — at NCAD and Dublin Institute of Technology, involving collaboration with academia and industry.

“This Government funding will provide the basis and confidence in the research sector for other private sector funding to build on institutional strengths and enable Ireland to compete among the world’s most advanced knowledge economies,” the minister said.

Ms Hanafin also defended State funding for undergraduate teaching at third level following recent criticisms about shortages from university heads.

Third-level institutions made their submissions earlier this year for the latest funding phase of the PRTLI, which has provided more than €600m since 1999.

Ms Hanafin said this round of funding will contribute significantly to government plans to double the number of PhD researchers in Ireland, providing for 200 postgraduates, 100 post-doctoral researchers, 50 principal investigators and 60 administration and support staff.