Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has awarded nearly €16 million in funding to Trinity researchers across 21 projects as part of the Frontiers for the Future Programme.
Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris on Monday announced a total of 71 grants to support frontier research across 12 higher education institutions in Ireland.
The SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme, launched in 2019, funds “high-risk, high-reward” research in their projects category , as well as larger projects aimed at delivering societal impact in the awards category.
Congratulating the scientists on their awards, Trinity’s Associate Dean of Research Prof Andrew Bowie said: “That almost 30 per cent of these Frontiers for the Future investigator-led projects and awards in this highly competitive scheme came to Trinity is a real testament to the quality of the research happening in Trinity, and to the calibre of our scientists.”
The 15 project grants in Trinity encompass research from physics, ecology, physiology and more, while the six award grants explore several areas of immunology and neuroscience along with physics.
Harris also congratulated the researchers, and emphasised his commitment to frontier research: “I am delighted to support this programme which funds individual-led research, with an emphasis on areas of high-risk, high-reward, which will help us build a better future for Ireland through discovery, innovation, and impact.”
The SFI Frontiers for Future funding programme funds frontier research, also called blue-sky or fundamental research. This type of research favours bold, individual-led ideas.
This stands in contrast to applied research, which is typically funded based on a project’s ability to have an immediate, short-term impact or be profitable in some way.
Frontier research funding in Ireland and across Europe is set to take a hit under the EU’s latest budget proposal, The University Times reported in October. The EU’s European Research Council (ERC) is the only major grant scheme for frontier research in Europe and would face potentially severe cuts to the number of grants they could award over the next seven-year budget period.
Speaking to The University Times about the effects of budget cuts on ERC funding, Trinity’s Prof Matthew Campbell, a genetics researcher and ERC grant recipient, remarked that while the SFI Frontiers for Future grants are a step in the right direction, they are not yet at the scale of the ERC grants.
The Frontiers for Future programme represents a significant investment of €53 million into Irish scientific research.
“The funding will support researchers who are already carrying out excellent work in Ireland, as well as those in the early stages of their research careers who hold incredible potential”, said Minister Harris. “It is through investment like this that Ireland will become an innovation leader and provide solutions and opportunities for our society and economy.”
