34 research projects are seeking £100m

The next research funding round under Science Foundation Ireland is under way, with 34 research proposals requesting support worth £100 million.

These proposals will now undergo international review and all that survive scrutiny will be funded, according to Forfβs.

Science Foundation Ireland has a £500 million budget made available under the National Development Programme. It supports research in either biotechnology or information technology, and earlier this year it announced funding of £57 million for 10 projects which are now under way.

This is the first of two or perhaps three calls for proposals under this funding round, according to a spokeswoman for Forfβs. At close of deadline on October 10th, 34 proposals had been received, seeking a total of £100 million in research funding.

These will now go forward for assessment by a team of international scientists. "When the peer review is over we will put in whatever (funding) is necessary," the spokeswoman said.

"Whatever recommendations are made and approved by the board will be funded. We are not limited by the amount this year."

There will be a second call under this funding round with a deadline early next year, she said, and perhaps a third. The aim of these invitations is to encourage senior scientists to build teams and conduct world-class research in this State.

The calls are open to researchers here and abroad although the work must be conducted here. Of the 34 calls received under the first deadline, 19 were for information and computer technology research, 14 were in biotechnology and one covered both areas.

There were 25 from the Republic and one from the North. Eight involved researchers from overseas, with bids from Britain, the US, Canada and Japan. There were submissions from all of the Irish universities, from the Mater Hospital, Dublin Institute of Technology and from the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.