The plan aims to fund 3,800 new PhDs, support 14 enhanced research centres and deliver 150 research awards in collaboration with Government departments.
Ireland’s national competitive research and innovation development agency Research Ireland has unveiled its inaugural strategy for development of the country’s research and innovation landscape over the next five years.
The aims of the strategy, titled ‘Curiosity, Capability, Competitiveness – Charting Ireland’s Research and Innovation Future 2026–2030’, include “prosperity for the people of Ireland” through stronger enterprise performance and enhanced national competitiveness.
Three core pillars – talent, economy and society – form the basis of the strategy, which Research Ireland CEO Dr Diarmuid O’Brien discussed in a recent interview with SiliconRepublic.com.
On the strategy’s launch, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, TD said: “A stronger, more resilient Ireland enabled through research and innovation is a priority for Government. Our future success hinges on our ability to prepare and compete in a rapidly-changing world.
“This ambitious strategy positions research and innovation not as a support function, but as a national capability essential to Ireland’s prosperity and our ability to contribute at the core of Europe and beyond.”
The plan’s talent-focused targets include funding 3,800 PhDs and 2,000 postdoctoral fellows to increase the available number of researchers across disciplines; supporting 1,000 investigator-led grants and strengthening international competitiveness with 29 international recruitment grants; and partnering with higher education institutions and research bodies to “ensure the effective transition of research talent to address economic and civic needs”.
O’Brien said the new strategy “sets out a clear ambition – to support all disciplines towards building an internationally-renowned research and innovation system that delivers real outcomes for people, communities and enterprise”.
He added: “Over the coming five years, we will focus on strengthening the talent pipeline, supporting FDI investment and indigenous capability, and fostering greater innovation-driven collaboration, all of which underpins our future competitiveness and societal wellbeing.
“Acting as a leader, partner and connector across the research and innovation ecosystem, our measure of success is impact: a stronger, more resilient Ireland, and an innovation system that earns its place among the best in the world.”
Economic targets of the plan include supporting 14 enhanced research centres at an international scale; enabling 10 strategic partnerships of scale – at a total value of more than €10m – between organisations and the research community; and creating “intellectual property that will grow indigenous innovation capability, underpin spin-out creation and provide the future deal flow for venture capital”.
Among the plan’s societal goals are supporting evidence-based research that informs public policy and national responses to challenges such as climate change, AI regulation and health; investing €650m in multidisciplinary research; delivering 150 research awards with Government departments to strengthen the link between research and public policy; and strengthening collaboration with enterprise, NGOs, national cultural institutions, and the arts and culture sector “to drive and showcase greater benefit to society”.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless, TD said that Research Ireland “will play a central role in strengthening Ireland’s research and innovation system, supporting excellent researchers and driving real impact for our society and economy”, noting that the strategy “aligns with the Programme for Government, the National Development Plan, Impact 2030 and the Action Plan for Competitiveness”.
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