Science Foundation Ireland

A €104 million investment in scientific research across Ireland was announced today by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Patrick O'Donovan TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon. The targeted funding will support over 600 highly-skilled research positions in the bioeconomy, agrifood, neurological disease and advanced manufacturing, over the next six years The funding is being allocated to four SFI Research Centres: BiOrbic, Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre; FutureNeuro; I-Form, the SFI Research Centre for Advanced Manufacturing; and VistaMilk SFI Research Centre. An additional €21 million has been committed by these Centres’ industry partners. Read here:https://lnkd.in/gShZJ-RD #IrishResearch

Cut from the Same Cloth is a wonderful University College Dublin-led project that engages with women from minority communities in workshops centred around textiles and experiences of health research. The project is supported through SFI's Discover Programme, which aims to grow communities that contribute to #STEM in Ireland. The SFI Discover Programme is currently open for applications until 3rd July 2024. We strongly encourage and welcome applications from organisations including community and civil society groups, charities and NGOs. We are looking for new and creative approaches to engage the public in ways that are most suited to them, but also welcome projects that promote engagement with STEM through tried and tested methods. For more information, please visit:https://lnkd.in/eZCyPgiy #IrishResearch

The Farm Zero C project from BiOrbic, Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre and Carbery Group was featured in Euronews this week. The project, managed by Padraig Walsh, aims to set up a climate-neutral profit-making dairy farm. "We have already achieved a 27% reduction in our carbon footprint," explains project manager Padraig Walsh. "We're hoping to get this to about 50 to 65% in phase two and be climate neutral by 2030." Read more: https://lnkd.in/eVQvk6pB #IrishResearch Teagasc AIB

The 2024 Industry RD&I Fellowship call is open for applications with a submission deadline of 26th June 2024. An update to the programme has been made to allow Category C applicants (late-stage PhD researchers) to include a second Academic Collaborator on their proposal, this is in addition to their current PhD supervisor who is required to be included as an Academic Collaborator. Further information on the SFI Industry RD&I Fellowship call is available at:https://lnkd.in/gSd38XD IDA Ireland Enterprise Ireland

New Website Alert!🤩 Last week we launched the next phase of FutureNeuro, and now we're delighted to unveil our brand-new website. Explore our pioneering research programme, public engagement initiatives, and patient involvement opportunities at: https://lnkd.in/e3rfKYcJ  #FutureNeuro #NewWebsite #GetInvolved Science Foundation Ireland

"The mission of BiOrbic really is to help Ireland transition from a fossil dependent society to a bio-based society. That’s really about transitioning towards sustainability and reducing our impact on the environment" An interesting interview on Tech Central with Prof Kevin O'Connor, Director of BiOrbic, Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre. Prof O'Connor talks about building a platform for academics, industry and the public. Read more:https://lnkd.in/eqYgxKPh #IrishResearch #Sustainability

Later this week, the European Space Agency - ESA will release new images from the Euclid mission so I'm going a little out of sequence in the Little Book of Irish Research to talk today about Ireland's involvement in the search for the missing matter in the Universe. It's hard to believe that with all the incredible ground and space based observation equipment we have at our disposal today, what we can observe only accounts for 5% of the matter in the Universe. Current theories believe the rest is composed of 25% Dark Matter and 70% Dark Energy. Dark Matter, we speculate, is non-luminous matter that helps to explain gravitational observations. Similarly, Dark Energy is believed to be responsible for the accelerating expansion of the Universe. The reality, however, is that we don't really know what Dark Matter and Dark Energy are and the ESA's Euclid mission is to create detailed, far-reaching, 3D maps that will help shed light on this remarkable mystery. Peter Coles from Maynooth University is part of the team working on the Euclid mission so I'm looking forward to hearing from him on the latest releases from ESA. Science Foundation Ireland #IrishResearch #Space #Innovation #Technology #DarkEnergy

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have unveiled that myriad, intricate factors influence the genesis and chemistry of bastnäsite and rare earth carbonates, which are critically needed for today’s tech industry and its hardware outputs. Their work, published in international journal Global Challenges, unveils a newly acquired depth of understanding that had previously been unexplored in this field. In combination, the findings mark a significant advancement and promise to reshape our understanding of rare earth mineral formation. Read here:https://lnkd.in/eEqnZn3W Melanie Maddin J.D. Rodriguez-Blanco #IrishResearch

SFI-funded research is calling on the public to support the monitoring of wild and native honey bee colonies 🐝 Researchers at Galway Honey Bee Research Centre aim to use the recorded data on free-living bees to devise better conservation strategies. Citizen scientists have already supported the recording of 541 nests of wild and native honeybees but more data is needed, according to Prof Grace McCormack who is based at the University of Galway. The project involves samples from wild colonies being compared to those from managed and historical ones, combined with studies of the ecology of colonies, the extent and type of pathogens affecting the hive and bee genetics. Read more on The Irish Times here: https://lnkd.in/eNS9DwR8 #WorldBeeDay

The 2024 SFI-Defence Organisation Innovation Challenge - a collaboration between SFI, the Irish Department of Defence and the Irish Defence Forces - is now open for applications.     The 2024 SFI-Defence Organisation Innovation Challenge call provides researchers with an opportunity to work with the Irish Defence Forces to address a new set of strategically important challenges with strong positive societal impact potential for Ireland.    Under the 2024 call, four challenge areas have been identified to focus engagement with researchers to explore STEM-based solutions.    Deadline for applications is Friday, 6th September 2024.    For more information, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eJBmFupt   #IrishResearch