Minister Micheál Martin identifies SFI as key element of Research Strategy at a meeting in Cork

Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin T.D today (Monday 20th February 2006) addressed the Board of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) at a meeting held in Cork. The SFI Board used its meeting to examine it current research investment portfolio and to set out key strategies for future investment.

Addressing the SFI Board, Minister Martin, said “through the new Strategy on Science, Technology & Innovation for 2006-2013, the Government wants to accelerate Ireland’s progress towards being a key player in the knowledge economy. The essence of the strategy is to harness all the change agents in a synergistic way to support that transition. We want to do this in a way which magnifies the strengths that we already have: our supportive business environment, our focus on research excellence and the speed, flexibility and agility that underpin our best manufacturers.”

The Minister added “our new strategy can only be delivered with a shared effort based on common goals. In that context, SFI has a major role to play in delivering the strategy through its own efforts and in acting as an advocate for change in the fields it touches upon. It is important that SFI balances these two elements and that it maintains its strategic focus on supporting research excellence. SFI must continue its mission of fostering world class research culture by investing in superb individual researchers and their teams.”

By end 2005 SFI had awarded funding commitments amounting to more than €550m across 830 projects comprising more than 1,200 individuals, research teams, centres, and visiting researchers. SFI has committed over €43 million to important research investment in UCC and €7 million to Cork Institute of Technology. Among the research projects support by SFI in Cork are The Tyndall National Institute (UCC) now led by Prof Roger Whatmore, Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) lead by Prof. Fergus Shanahan, the David Cotter group in photonic, transmission systems who came from BT/Corning in the UK and the Cork Constraint Group in software led by Prof Gene Freuder from University of New Hampshire.

SFI has been allocated €149.43m for 2006, which represents a 22.2% increase on its 2005 allocation of €122.2m.

ENDS

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