26th November 2015
Minister for Skills, Research & Innovation, Damien English TD, today announced Ireland’s latest successes in Horizon 2020, the EU Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020) with a budget of approximately €80 billion.
In welcoming the success the Minister said: ‘I would like to congratulate researchers from academia and industry in Ireland who have secured this prestigious funding. Irish Researchers are punching above their weight & continue to excel at winning competitive funding against the Europe’s best researchers. This confirms to me that Ireland is well on the way to becoming a global research destination of excellence.
Since the beginning of the programme over 440 applicants from Ireland have secured almost €180 million of funding for research and innovation projects. In particular I welcome the strong performance by Irish companies in winning €53 million (of the total funding secured). This level of funding will allow some of our leading SMEs to become world players in areas such as medical devices, road safety and energy.'
Recent highlights include Ireland’s success in Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies (€60 million of total) with a portfolio of ICT, Nanotechnologies, Advanced materials, Biotechnology, Advanced manufacturing and processing projects as well as substantial success in the European Research Council grants and in the Health, Energy and Agri-Food Societal Challenges. Ireland’s success comes at a time when the EU Institutions have just announced agreement on the 2016 budget, boosting investment in competitiveness, jobs and growth. A budget of €10 billion has been allocated to Horizon 2020 (up 11.6% from 2015). This will contribute to increasing competitiveness in the EU through research and innovation.
Minister English concluded: ‘I would call on Irish researchers and companies to actively respond to this growing opportunity from Horizon 2020.’ENDS For more information please contact:
Press Office, Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation: 01 – 631 2200 or press.office@djei.ie
Notes for Editors
Horizon 2020 is the current EU framework programme for research and innovation. With a budget of nearly €80 billion, Horizon 2020 runs over seven years from 2014 to 2020. Horizon 2020 is the successor to Framework Programme 7 (FP7) and is the largest ever research and innovation programme in the European Union. Horizon 2020 has a simpler structure than previous programmes with less red tape making it easier to apply. For general information and further details about each of these pillars, visit ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/.
Enterprise Ireland leads the National Support Network for Horizon 2020 consisting of National Contact Points and National Delegates from various research and industrial development agencies and Departments. Further information and key contacts are available at www.horizon2020.ie.
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