Nearly 70 new science research posts will be created with funding of €44.55 million announced by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin today.
The 67 posts in higher education institutes will be funded under the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Stokes Professorship and Lectureship Programme.
Mr Martin said the programme will support 32 professorships and 35 lectureships. It is aimed at recruiting senior, world-class research academics as well as entry-level academics and senior post-doctoral researchers.
"We require significant support for new posts at Higher Education Institutes to achieve the next phase of our national development ambitions, and the Stokes Programme will be a key element in meeting this requirement," Mr Martin said.
Thirty of the 32 Stokes professorships announced today are allocated to scientists from outside Ireland.
SFI is providing direct funding of €180,000 for Stokes professorships and €90,000 for Stokes lectureships, and the funding is awarded for up to five years.
Some 172 applications were received for lectureships and 89 for professorships. The institutes are now completing contract negotiations with the successful Stokes awardees.
The Stokes Programme is named after Sir George Gabriel Stokes (1819-1903), the Irish mathematician and physicist who was born in Skreen, Co Sligo.