A new initiative from the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science is aimed at enhancing Ireland’s position as a stable, well-funded hub for world-leading scientific research. Global Talent Ireland is designed to attract outstanding international research leaders to come to Ireland to carry out globally competitive research.
Administered by Research Ireland, the programme will bolster the State’s reputation as a location for cutting-edge research by providing funding for relocation, team establishment, and research infrastructure.
The initiative has been driven by the Minister for Research James Lawless, says Research Ireland director for research for society Dr Ruth Freeman.
“We want Ireland to be seen as a place where people can come and do globally competitive research. We are delighted to administer the scheme, and we believe it has the potential to attract applications from top researchers around the world,” says Freeman
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Funding is divided into two separate streams, according to Freeman. “Rising stars with less than 15 years’ experience after their PhDs are eligible for funding of up to €2.25 million. Established research leaders can receive funding of up to €3.25 million.”
The deadline for expressions of interest under the programme is next Thursday, August 28th, with late October set as the deadline for full proposals, she adds. “It is anticipated that the researchers will start work in Ireland in 2026 and will receive funding for six years after that.”
Applications are made jointly by individuals and research institutions, Freeman explains. “All of our universities and research centres are incredibly well connected globally. It might be that a researcher already has a relationship with an Irish institution, or it could be an Irish researcher working abroad with an eye out from opportunities to come back here to work.”
The programme is specifically targeted at researchers who can make a meaningful impact for Ireland. “Our universities understand what can make an impact,” says Freeman. “Obvious areas to think about are the key economic sectors such as life sciences, ICT, food and farming while sustainability is relevant to all sectors. The call is very broad and is open to all areas in all disciplines including the social sciences.”
The Global Talent Ireland initiative will build on a strong record of attracting world leading researchers. Among those who have chosen Ireland to pursue their research careers is Prof Rob Kitchin of the Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute. “One of the big pluses in Ireland for research is the ease of access to decision-makers in local and regional authorities and government-level departments, and how open people are to hearing about the data and insights,” he says. “As a researcher you can get access to many different infrastructures, pathways and multi-jurisdictional supports, and you can access both domestic and European funding. That is very attractive for a researcher looking to build their group and career.”
Valeria Nicolosi, professor of nanomaterials and advanced microscopy at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), first moved to Ireland from her native Italy 20 years ago to do her PhD and returned seven years later to lead a new high-tech microscopy facility in what is now the Research Ireland Centre for Advanced Materials and Bioengineering Research at TCD.
“Ireland has supported me at every stage of my career,” she says. “The funding mechanisms and the access I had to industry collaboration have enabled me to thrive here in a way that I could not have done in other places. Ireland gave me the best environment to grow my career; it provided the right infrastructure or the right environment for me to be able to grow my science fully 360 degrees. There were no roadblocks based on my age or stage as an early-career researcher.”
One of the world’s most recognised chemistry researchers, Prof Mike Zaworotko of the University of Limerick, moved from Florida to Ireland under Research Ireland’s Research Professorship Programme. “My research group is part of the SSPC Research Ireland Centre for Pharmaceuticals, which has many collaborations and links with industry partners,” he says. “This means you can take something quite fundamental, like a new crystalline material, and bring it into real-world environments. There is a huge amount of openness and collaboration, and sharing in Ireland. The moment you get here, you see the meaning of ‘wearing the green’ – people work together, they share resources, they work as a team. That doesn’t happen everywhere in the world.”
The new programme’s potential benefits stretch far beyond the individual research projects that will be funded. The presence of world-leading researchers in any location tends to generate a halo effect, which attracts other cutting-edge researchers to come to work with them.
They will also play an important role in the development of future generations of Irish researchers, according to Freeman. “The researchers will teach in our universities and train postgraduate researchers. This is very important if we want to have an economy and society ready for the future. Having researchers at the cutting edge in their fields will give us a good start in understanding where things might be going and what we need to be ready for.”
- For more information see researchireland.ie/funding/global-talent-ireland/
