Science Foundation Ireland aims for world innovation leader status

Ireland’s reputation for excellent research and innovation helps the country compete for the best global talent, international funding and foreign direct investment, according to Science Foundation Ireland director of research programmes Siobhan Roche. “Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is fostering a cohesive research and innovation ecosystem that supports Ireland’s competitiveness,” she says. “This drives job creation, the growth of small and medium enterprises, and new academic-industry research partnerships.”

The research SFI supports leads to better technologies, new products, new processes and improved services, which in turn advances Ireland’s knowledge economy and builds resilience for the future, she adds.

“Ireland is recognised globally for excellence in research and innovation in areas like immunology, materials science, agricultural science, medical technology, data analytics and software development. Our Shaping our Future strategy aims to build on this and develop Ireland as a global innovation leader.”

Collaboration between industry and academic in research is critically important. “SFI works closely the IDA and Enterprise Ireland to develop and support the research ecosystem by encouraging enterprise to collaborate with researchers in higher education institutions,” Roche explains.

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She points out that Ireland’s small size and high level of connectivity between industry and academia are advantages in this respect. “We are able to do collaborative research really well. There are many benefits to industry when partnering with academia, from connecting into world-class expertise and research to progress projects, gaining access to specialised facilities and testbeds, and of course access to talent, with many highly skilled graduates moving on to work with partner companies.”

In 2021, SFI supported over 1,542 industry engagements with academia, 739 of them involving multinational companies and 803 with SMEs. In addition, SFI-funded research led to the creation of 13 spin-out companies, 68 patents, 90 licensed technologies and 204 invention disclosures.

“The results of those collaborations include the development of new products, innovations and services, the establishment of new companies and the creation of high-value jobs,” she notes.

SFI has a number of mechanisms and programmes to support collaborative research and allow graduates to spend time working in industry. These include engagement with the SFI network of Research Centres.

“SFI Research centres work on areas of strategic importance to Ireland and bring together industry and higher education institutions,” Roche explains. “SFI funds 16 Research Centres at the moment with more than 700 companies collaborating with them.”

The value of collaboration with these research centres has been independently verified by a study carried out by Professor Helena Lenihan of the University of Limerick which analysed the value of the Research Centres Programme. It found that companies that collaborate with the centres tend to increase their investment in research and development and redirect their R&D spending towards more scientific types of research. This in turn has led to greater potential for breakthrough ideas and disruptive innovations.

“Companies often start with a small-scale project but go on to become strategic partners of the research centres,” says Roche. “We are seeing increased collaboration across the research centre network.”

Among the latest initiatives is the Co-Centre Programme, a €74 million research fund established in partnership between Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) that will support collaboration between academic researchers across Ireland, Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Co-funded by industry, Co-Centre Programme will be open to proposals focused on high-quality research and innovation within the areas of climate, and sustainable and resilient food systems.

The SFI Industry RD&I Fellowship supports academic researchers that wish to spend time in industry worldwide through the temporary placement of highly skilled academic researchers with an industry partner.

“It is a great programme to start collaborations between industry and academia,” says Roche. “It will reopen for applications in the new year.”

Finally, there is the SFI Strategic Partnership programme, which aims to support large-scale research initiatives with strong potential for delivering economic and societal impact to Ireland. These include the EYE-D and the Next Generation Energy Systems (NexSys) SFI Strategic Partnership awards.

The EYE-D award, valued at €2.4 million with co-funding from industry and charity partners, focuses on the study of retinal disease. Led by Professor Matthew Campbell, from the Smurfit Institute of Genetics at TCD, and Associate Professor in Immunology, Sarah Doyle, from the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, the project aims to uncover new insights into degenerative retinal diseases and identify new therapeutic treatments and drug delivery methods for Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), glaucoma and other retinal degenerations.

Led by Professor Andrew Keane of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, UCD Energy Institute, the €16 million Next Generation Energy Systems (NexSys) SFI Strategic Partnership aims to guide the energy sector’s transition towards net-zero carbon by 2050 in Ireland.