The government announced the creation of a new €5 million higher education innovation and transformation fund as part of the plan to invest €100 million in higher education
The Minister Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, and Mary Mitchell O’Connor, the Minister for Higher Education, were present at the launch of the new fund.
Third-level institutes will be invited to apply for funding based on their satisfaction of various criteria set out by the government. Colleges must indicate what steps they are taking to support innovation and student retention in order to avail of the resource.
All proposals submitted will be assessed by an independent international expert panel and funding to successful applicants will be allocated later this year.
In a press statement released before the launch of the fund, Bruton: “We are aiming to have the best education and training system in Europe by 2026. Key to this ambition is the need to support innovation throughout the education system.”
It was also announced that ring-fenced funding of €250,000 will be made available to higher education institutes with more than one campus. Any institute with a smaller satellite campus located in a rural area within 45 kilometres of a primary campus qualifies for this funding, under government guidelines.
In a press statement, Mitchell O’Connor said: “This funding is intended to recognise the challenges faced by operating in more than one campus, over a wide geographical area, and the funding implications that this presents.”
This announcement comes shortly after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced plans to develop Grand Canal Dock into an innovation district, with Trinity’s Technology and Enterprise campus (TTEC) at its heart. The project is set to cost €1 billion and is hoped to make the surrounding area a globally competitive hub of entrepreneurship.
