Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2017
132. Deputy James Lawless asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if her Department has conducted an analysis concerning the objectives of the Science Foundation Ireland strategic partnership programme; the level of funding provided on both basic and applied research by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39188/17]
View answerThe Science Foundation Ireland Strategic Partnerships Programme was launched in 2013, with a total of 11 awards funded under the programme to date supporting excellent research with strong potential for delivering economic and/or societal impact.
The objectives of the programme are to:
- Support development of areas of economic importance
- Build stronger, more direct relationships with research-based industry
- Transfer technology from academia to industry
- Support enhanced training of researchers in areas of importance to the industrial sector
- Maximise the state investment in research through leveraging of non-exchequer funding, including funding available through Horizon 2020
- Encourage convergence across disciplines
- Develop and utilise national testbed facilities
- Support the attraction and retention of talented researchers
- Build stronger links with other key stakeholders and end-users of research
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has not initiated a formal analysis of the programme to date. However, as with all Science Foundation Ireland programmes, the agency monitors and adjusts the programme on an ongoing basis in response to academic, industry, economic and strategic requirements.
All SFI awards, including the SFI Strategic Partnership awards are subject to stringent post award reporting and evaluation processes.
The annual grants budget to Science Foundation Ireland for 2017 is €162.5 million. The agency does not predetermine or “ring fence” specific funding allocation for basic or applied research. Funding decisions are made through international peer review on the basis of research excellence and impact.
In 2013, SFI’s remit extended to funding applied research in addition to its existing remit to fund oriented basic research. This broad remit enables Science Foundation Ireland to support a hugely important range of work from early stage investigations, novel discoveries through to pre-commercial activities.
While Science Foundation Ireland funding does fund applied and industry focused research as per its mandate, it should be noted that over 80% of Science Foundation Ireland’s funding is currently committed to basic (Technology Readiness Levels 1 and 2 as measured on a scale of 1-9) research projects. This indicates that a substantial amount of SFI funding continues to be in support of ‘oriented basic’ research.
Approximately 50% of Science Foundation Ireland funding is given to large SFI Research Centres which partner with industry. These centres conduct "applied and basic combined" research. Approximately 30% of Science Foundation Ireland award holders have at least one industry collaborator. Industry partners work on both basic and applied projects.
While the Strategic Partnership Programme has yet to undergo formal evaluation, the monitoring undertaken by SFI and the stringent post award reporting requirements and evaluation processes are robust processes that validate the economic and social impact of the funding awarded to date.
