Clinton's labour of love set to pay off

Senator Hilary Clinton has brokered a deal that will see DCU and the University at Buffalo, New York, stepping forward together to support research projects aimed at stopping the drainage of jobs to low-cost economies, writes John Downes

It is not every day that a woman mentioned in some circles as a future president of the United States of America offers to broker a deal between an Irish and an American university. This is exactly what Hilary Rodham Clinton did, however, following a visit to Dublin City University in 2002.

Clinton's decision to get involved in what she called a "labour of love" has brought real results: the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between DCU and the State University at Buffalo, New York, could provide a signpost for the way research will be conducted in the Republic of Ireland for years to come.

Speaking via video link at the signing ceremony, Clinton said that both the US and the EU are witnessing the drainage of jobs to low-cost economies around the world. Given this, it was important for advanced economies to build on their strengths.

"Ireland and New York State are similar in size, and both regions have made significant investment commitments to academic-industry partnerships," she said. "The UB/DCU strategic alliance could provide a model of how to maximise intellectual capital partnerships to the benefit of people in both New York State and Ireland."

But how true is this? Are initiatives such as the DCU/UB memorandum the future of Irish university research?

"Hilary Clinton really started the whole thing off," says Professor Dermot Diamond, vice-president of research at DCU, and one of those behind the initiative. "She set up the initial meeting in Buffalo. . . it's doubtful it would have happened without her involvement."

In the agreement, both universities pledge to develop a strong research partnership programme in a number of key areas. These include sensor research, cell biology, communications and network technologies, primary and preventative healthcare and science education. The aim: to build on existing complementary strengths at both universities.

Intriguingly, one section of the memorandum also allows the universities to pursue joint funding from agencies in Ireland, Europe and the US. In this way, it opens up the possibility of DCU getting a slice of the US National Science Foundation's $56 billion annual budget.

Prof Diamond, however, stresses that it is unlikely that initiatives between the two universities would ever be funded entirely from the US alone. There is, however, a real need to put in place structures that would allow high-level links between research initiatives, he says.

One way this could be done would be through the establishment of a joint review board, helping to simplify the whole process of funding applications. Currently, if two universities put in separate applications, to be reviewed in their respective countries, there is a risk that if one of them does not get approval for this process, then the initiative as a whole could fail.

"If we could get a joint review process established, if that can be done, then it could be rolled out across the whole country," he believes. "Each team would have separate applications, but they would be reviewed together."

Irish research has developed dramatically in recent years, Prof Diamond says. As a result, the signing of the memorandum can be seen very much as a partnership between equals, something which was not always the case in years gone by.

"In the past, we had to use our links, really, to survive. We depended immensely on the goodwill of our partners. We had to just to get access to key items of equipment," he says. "But before the memorandum was signed, representatives from Buffalo visited Ireland. They could see that Ireland now has an infrastructure that is as good as anything in the world. . . it's a two-way exercise, not one-way traffic."

Perhaps understandably, given that he has been involved so heavily in bringing it to fruition, Prof Diamond believes that the memorandum of understanding can, in time, be a model for other Irish universities. But how accurate is this assessment?

"It is absolutely the way forward, but not on its own," says Enda Connolly of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA). "There is a fundamental need to bring world-class research and development into Irish universities. We're trying to develop world-class science skills by linking places like Buffalo, DCU, Athlone IT and the large pharmaceutical companies, particularly the likes of Elan, and the teaching hospitals. The idea is to interlink them into some kind of world-class biopharma institute, to be built in Athlone, with Buffalo a central partner in this."

There are some pitfalls, however. Connolly cites recent efforts by the IDA to establish a research institute with the giant US company General Electric as one example of this. The project, which was to be located at DCU, fell apart after two years' planning due to a shortfall in funding.

The Republiccurrently holds the EU presidency, and has set itself the task of implementing the aims of the so-called Lisbon agenda. But trying to develop this State into a dynamic knowledge-based economy, as outlined in that strategy, is not an easy task.

"(Research) has to be in partnership with business, so there is a link not just with university development. What we need is practical research that can be applied to bringing new technological products onto the market," says Connolly. "We're not going to keep landing assembly-based jobs - they have to be research-driven projects."

There is room for improvement, however, in linking this applied research with the more traditional "blue-skies" (or fundamental) research here, says Dr Willie Donnelly of Waterford Institute of Technology.

"Industry involvement is necessary in research in order to give you a benchmark to measure the potential for results. It's about how you fine-tune it to the market," he says. "Universities and institutes have to be much better at looking at commercialising their research. . . we need to put it in the context of what the market needs."

So, while the memorandum of understanding signed between DCU and Buffalo is a good indicator of how research might be co-ordinated in the future here, clearly much remains to be done.

"If we can step up to the next level, that's really our ambition" is how Connolly puts it. Sentiments with which Hilary Clinton, through her involvement with the initiative, would doubtless only too heartily agree.