Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 February 2012
119 Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to establish a database or network of PhD students at universities in the country and details of their work so as to create a portal into this important State resource. [8909/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has no plans to create a database or network that is dedicated specifically to Ph.D. students at Irish universities. However, funding was provided under the Department's Strategic Innovation Fund to the Irish Universities Association in 2008 to develop a national online repository for research publications from Irish universities. This initiative aims to make Irish research material more freely accessible, and to increase the research profiles of individual researchers and their institutions. The portal, rian.ie, was launched in 2010 and provides open access to the research of the seven universities and the Dublin Institute of Technology. I understand that there are proposals to extend this initiative to other institutions. I understand that there are a number of other initiatives under development across the sector, which aim to showcase and promote Irish research internationally and these developments are to be welcomed.
