The Cabinet is due to approve on Tuesday special funding to attract leading US researchers to the Republic, in response to widespread disillusionment among academics who have lost financial backing due to interventions by the Trump administration.
The package, it is understood, will create professorships in Irish universities and, in some cases, be backed by start-up supports and finance for research teams.
Speaking at an event in Dublin on Monday hosted by the Irish Universities Association, Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless said Irish universities had good working relationships with many US partners, and already there were inquiries about options to work in here.
Others in Europe, notably French president Emmanuel Macron were more vocal in delivering “a call to arms” but he said the Irish initiative would complement European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s efforts to attract scientists with a €500 million package “to make Europe a magnet” for research during these uncertain times.
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“Europe can be a superpower, politically, educationally, in terms of research and innovation ... We have to stay strong and stand on our feet and attract people from all corners of the world on that basis,” he said.
While the United States became a global leader in research after the second World War, “the last few months has undoubtedly changed how people view the US when it comes to research”, said Mr Lawless at the event attended by all seven presidents of Irish universities.
“It has become a cold place for free thinkers and talented researchers. Faculties are having pledged funding revoked, institutes are facing shutdown,” he added.
“We all know how that will grind advanced research to a halt. And that is nothing in the face of the human suffering of targeted student arrests and deportations. Reports of library culls bring to mind book burnings of old – something that should stay the reserve of history lecturers.”
Culture wars aside, the Minister said, “investment in innovation and cultivation of the best minds is key to economic advantage”.
As US research freedoms come under threat, the Republic had a unique opportunity to emulate its postwar success by offering a stable, open, EU-aligned environment where world-class researchers can thrive, contribute and shape the future of science. “Ireland will be a welcoming host for the best and brightest fleeing the US university system,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Lawless said he would publish a new student accommodation strategy by summer. “I want to see students move from private rentals into purpose-built student accommodation. This will ... ease pressure on the wider housing market and end long-distance commuting.”
The model used would mirror the approach to building secondary schools, which now have a similar building specification, which meant “not every project starts from scratch”.
He accepted that the right balance had to be struck on spaces, size, comfort and sharing of utilities; a quick turnaround would be needed to help ease housing pressures.
Mr Lawless said he was looking at cost issues for third-level students. “Cost is only one part of improving access. Another critical step is the development of flexible and diverse pathways. This means investing in opening more flexible and inclusive routes to higher education.”
The Minister said a new programme for investment in science, research and innovation would be announced in tandem with the revised National Development Plan.
He said he had listened to universities on the need for a replacement of the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions, which was “a turning point in Ireland’s development as a knowledge economy and the State’s first major strategic investment in research capacity, infrastructure and training”.
It had empowered the State’s universities to define their research priorities while ensuring funding decisions were devolved to a world-class, independent panel, avoiding any conflicts of interest.
