Ireland wins €274.7 million in Horizon 2020 funding
Researchers and companies in Ireland have won a total of €274.7 million in funding from the EU Horizon 2020 programme for research projects. Breaking this figure down, €79.2 million in funding has been secured by companies, including €54.3 million for SMEs. The higher education system accounted for the remaining €172.5 million.
Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU research and innovation programme ever with €75 billion of funding available over 7 years, from 2014 to 2020. The Horizon 2020 benefits for companies include access to competitive EU funding for research and innovation activities and opportunities to collaborate with the best researchers and leading companies in the EU.
Enterprise Ireland, which leads the national support structure for Horizon 2020 in Ireland, is continuing to help researchers identify opportunities and apply for funding, and is looking specifically for newcomers with a view to preparing a cohort of 100 new researchers and companies for the upcoming calls.
Find out more about Horizon 2020.
Investment in research programmes supports 28,000 jobs directly and indirectly
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has released its annual report for 2015, which gives an insight into the economic impact delivered by the Agency and the research community it supports.
Last year SFI invested €154 million across its research programmes, with researchers attracting a further €130 million in international and industry funding to support their research. SFI estimates that 28,000 jobs were supported directly and indirectly by its involvement in the sector and combined significant investment.
1,220 collaborations with industry involving 372 multinational companies and 437 SMEs were supported by SFI awards,
38 conferences and workshops involving 4,784 international delegates were also supported by the Agency last year, with a projected economic value of €4.8 million in supporting the local economy in Ireland.
Read the full SFI Annual Report and Accounts 2015.
Ireland ranked 6th in European Innovation Scoreboard
For the third year in a row, Ireland has moved up the rankings of the European Innovation Scoreboard and is now ranked sixth out of 28 EU countries, and seventh among the full dataset of 36 countries. Ireland is one of seven countries which has improved its standing from the previous year.
Of the eight dimensions that make up the European Commission’s European Innovation Scoreboard, Ireland is ranked first in innovation in SMEs. Ireland is also classified as a Strong Innovator and tops this class. This means Ireland has an innovation performance above or close to the EU28 average.
Find out more about the European Innovation Scoreboard.