Lero gets €22.4m funding boost

The Irish Software Engineering Research Centre based at the University of Limerick is to receive €22.4 million in funding over the next five years, it was confirmed today.

Funding of €16 million is being provided to Lero through the Government via Science Foundation Ireland with a second-term funding of €6.4 million coming from a consortium of industry partners that includes IBM Ireland, Intel, Movidius and Fineos.

The industry contribution towards funding will be provided by numerous companies collaborating with the research centre on projects.

Lero brings together leading software engineering teams from a number of third-level institutions including the University of Limerick, Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Dundalk Institute of Technology and the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Comprising a team of 170 top-class researchers and PhD students, the centre’s research outputs have numerous applications for industry and society globally, in areas such as urban traffic control, corporate compliance systems, medical devices, financial services, ICT, mobile communications and space missions.

Since its foundation in 2005, Lero has established strategic research partnerships with over 70 multinational and indigenous companies, with research contracts having been signed with partners such as the European Space Agency and United Technologies Research Centre in Cork.

Lero was awarded a €300,000 contract with the European Space Agency last August to work on space flight software that helps increase a satellite’s ability to correct its own errors and make decisions for itself.

Making today's announcement at the University of Limerick, Minister for Research and Innovation Seán Sherlock said the funding would "further deepen the level of collaboration with industry and provide for increased commercialisation opportunities for Ireland.”

Separately, the organisation's director, Prof Mike Hinchey, who was formerly the head of Nasa's software engineering laboratory, said the investment would help it realise a number of ambitious plans which would allow it to generate an increase in commercial potential over the next five years.