Wellcome Trust renews biomedical research partnership

Dick Ahlstrom Science Editor

The UK-based Wellcome Trust has renewed its partnership with Science Foundation Ireland and the Health Research Board to co-fund biomedical research.

The partnership has put about €1 million a year into research here over the past four years with Irish university researchers benefitting from the support.

The Wellcome Trust has maintained an open-door approach to funding research in Ireland and has provided funding through a collection of programmes.

The partnership was formed in October 2010. The two Irish organisations co-fund but Wellcome Trust is responsible for the administration of the grant applications and for awards made under the partnership.

These awards are distributed through various programmes including Wellcome’s investigator awards, fellowships and strategic awards among others.

The amount of funding granted depends on the application so the amounts distributed can vary. It has been worth €4 million however to Irish-based researchers.

The funding would help to “boost Ireland’s biomedical research credentials”, said Minister of State for Skills, Research and Innovation Damien English.

The Wellcome Trust was happy to continue its long-standing relationship with the Irish research community, said Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the trust.

The partnership would open up new opportunities for Irish researchers, said Prof Mark Ferguson, director general of SFI.

The collaboration would "deliver for patients", said Dr Graham Love, chief executive of the HRB.

Researchers based in University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and NUI Galway have benefitted from the funding stream afforded by the partnership.