Govt announces €97m for higher education

The Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, has announced that universities and institutes of technology will receive €97m in funding from the Strategic Innovation Fund.

A total of 31 projects have been approved, of which 30 are collaborative.

The SIF was introduced by Minister Hanafin to support internal change, and to enhance collaboration between higher education institutions, improve teaching and learning, promote access, lifelong learning and support the development of fourth-level education.

Seventeen institutions have been approved for funding as lead institutions, as well as two sectoral submissions from the Irish Universities Association and the Institutes of Technology Ireland.

Due to the collaborative nature of the projects, each of the seven universities, 13 Institutes of Technology and the DIT will be involved in a number of projects under SIF Cycle II.

Announcing details of the funding, Ms Hanafin said that the successful proposals will have a range of impacts and benefits across the system.

Post-graduate research structures are to be developed and improved, benefiting research students as well as wider society and the economy through enhanced quality of research.

New opportunities for workplace-based learning will be supported.

Areas being supported under this round of SIF include:

€35.9m is provided for proposals seeking to enhance the systems of teaching and learning in higher education.

€20.7m is allocated for proposals seeking to extend the research capacity of the sector, in line with the Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation.

€15.7m has been allocated for lifelong learning and up-skilling.

€13m has been allocated in the area of institutional restructuring.

€11.8m has been allocated to the area of access for under-represented groups.