How Science Foundation Ireland makes a difference

A key element of Science Foundation Ireland's (SFI) strategy to establish Ireland as a location for world-class research is the development of a pool of research talent in this country. According to SFI director general Prof Mark Ferguson, "Stars matter."

“The top research stars are attractive to companies and other researchers who want to work with them. People want to work with people who are at the top,” he says. SFI approaches this issue in two ways. “The first is by growing our own talent here in Ireland and the second is by buying it in,” says Ferguson.

When it comes to buying in talent SFI’s research professorship programme has been very successful in supporting Irish universities to recruit international research leaders in a number of fields. “The universities provide the salaries and the research facilities for these people while SFI provides the research grant,” Ferguson explains. “This would typically be of the order of €1 million a year for five years. This funds PhDs and so on, and helps them get up and running very quickly once they get here.”

The programme is open to any researcher but the standard is set at a very high level. “We have set the bar very high and we have recruited a number of really excellent people over the past number of years under the programme.”

These include Prof Aljosa Smolic, a world-renowned creative technologies researcher to lead a cutting-edge research programme aimed at increasing Ireland's capability as a global centre of creative industries and production. He joined Trinity College Dublin this year from Disney Research in Switzerland where he was a senior research scientist, leading the advanced video technology group.

Medical devices

Prof Fengzhou Fang, a world leading researcher in the field of nano-manufacturing has decided to move from China to take up a new position at University College Dublin. He is an expert in developing ways to machine complex surfaces at the smallest of scales, from a millionth to a billionth of a metre. Ireland's medical devices development and manufacturing companies provide a ready market for any discoveries that may be made by Prof Fang.

Also this year, Prof Stefan Andersson Engels joined University College Cork as professor of biophotonics in the department of physics. He will also lead the newly-established Biophotonics Group at the SFI-funded Irish Photonic Integration Research Centre (IPIC). "Biophotonics is an emerging area of scientific research that uses light to understand the inner workings of cells and tissues in living organisms, allowing researchers to see, measure and analyse living tissues in ways that have not been possible before," Ferguson says.

“These are just the latest top international research stars who we have been able to recruit under this programme,” he adds. “There are a number of others in the pipeline and we hope to fund between eight and 10 each year.”

Brexit also looms large in SFI’s thinking at the moment. “This has presented some opportunities. There are great scientists in the UK who are thinking of leaving because of the impact of Brexit on research funding and we are encouraging them to think of Ireland in this respect.”

Future stars

SFI is also interested in recruiting the stars of the future. “Our Future Research Leaders programme is aimed at attracting to Ireland outstanding new and emerging research leaders in both scientific and engineering domains.”

Complementing this outward-focused activity are SFI’s efforts to support Irish research talent. “We have a number of schemes which support researchers who are already in Ireland. These include investigator grant schemes and, in recent years, we have established collaborations with funders in the UK.”

One of these collaborations is with the Royal Society and makes Irish researchers eligible to apply for highly prestigious Royal Society research fellowships. "We pay the cost but the Royal Society does the independent assessment. Five Irish researchers have been awarded fellowships this year – on a per capita basis that is better than the success rate for UK applications."

Ferguson stresses the importance of international validation such as this for Irish research. “This shows the world that we are right up there at that level. Of course, SFI schemes here in Ireland are great but the Royal Society research fellowships demonstrate that Irish researchers can compete with the very best in the world.”

He also notes Ireland’s growing reputation for scientific excellence as evidenced by this country’s ascent in global scientific citation rankings. “We are now ranked 14th in the world for international scientific citations per paper and rank in the top five in key disciplines such as immunology, nanotechnology, chemistry, animal and dairy, and agricultural sciences.”

Sustained investment

This upward trajectory has been supported by sustained investment in the research system. This includes the 12 Science Foundation Ireland research centres established through an investment of €355 million from the Government and a further €190 million from industry partners. A new research centres competition is underway and SFI hopes to add a number of new centres in 2017.

In addition, the Government's Innovation 2020 aims to increase the enrolment of postgraduate researchers from 1,750 to 2,250, delivering a 30 per cent increase in the number of funded post-doctoral researchers to support the generation of future research talent.

“The idea is to create a world-beating pool of talent here in Ireland by bringing in the best international researchers and combining it with our own home grown talent,” Ferguson says.