A major €230 million package for research programmes across 15 third-level institutions was unveiled yesterday by the Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin.
In practical terms, the new funds will underwrite a series of research projects. It will provide funding for 200 postgraduates, 100 postdoctoral researchers, 50 principal investigators and 60 administrative and technical support staff. It will also provide additional work spaces for some 890 researchers.
More generally, it will, according to Ms Hanafin, "contribute significantly towards our objective of doubling the number of PhDs in order to upscale research across all disciplines".
The funding comes under Cycle 4 of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI). Launched in 1999, the PRTLI, in which colleges compete for research funding, has transformed higher education, allocating over €600 million to date.
In what will be seen as a boost for the controversial UCD president, Dr Hugh Brady, the college emerges as the big winner, securing over €29 million for a range of projects yesterday. He has placed huge emphasis on the need to improve UCD's research capacity after it performed poorly in earlier programmes.
The other major winner was Cork IT (€17.9 million).
While all seven universities are well represented in the funding list, only four of the 14 institutes of technology feature. They are Cork IT, Tallaght IT, Waterford IT and the Dublin Institute of Technology. However, some ITs do contribute to collaborative research projects with other colleges.
Addressing third-level leaders, Ms Hanafin said the new investment was a statement of confidence in the capacity of our higher education institutions to deliver in key research areas.
A key feature of PRTLI- 4, she said, is the enhanced collaboration between universities, institutes of technology and other higher education institutions in addressing national research priorities.
"Examples of collaborations include six universities and two institutes receiving over €31 million to research programmes in the area of nanoscience, which combines the traditional sciences of physics, chemistry and biology in order to deliver future generations of products from areas like drug delivery systems to electronic devices."
Three universities will also jointly conduct research in the food science area.
The €229 million funding will be supplemented by a further €33 million from the various institutions themselves.
Ms Hanafin said the funding "will provide the basis and confidence in the research sector for other private sector funding to build on institutional strengths and enable Ireland compete among the world's most advanced knowledge economies."
She also announced an additional €130 million for the sector under the new Strategic Innovation Fund. Essentially, this rewards colleges for a range of initiatives including modernisation, improved access and improved collaboration.
Research funding: who gets what?
1. UCD €29.8 million
2. UCC €26.2m
3. DCU €23.1m
4. NUI Galway €23.1m
5. TCD €22.6m
6. UL €18.2m
7.Cork IT €17.9m
8. NUI Maynooth €15.9m
9. College of Surgeons €13.3m
10. Dublin Institute Advanced Studies €9.5m
11. IT Tallaght €9.2m
12. DIT €8.9m
13. Waterford IT €6.4m
14. Royal Irish Academy €3.5m
15 National College Art and Design €1.0m
Total funding €229 million