Headlines

• Over €97 Million of funding won by researchers and companies in Horizon 2020 EU Programme for Research and Innovation
• NUI Galway has attracts the highest Horizon 2020 funding

Ireland moved up one place to 8^th position in the 2015 Innovation Union Scoreboard of 28 Member States published on 7 May 2015. Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD welcomed the improved ranking and said: “This is the second year in a row in which Ireland’s ranking has improved, up from 9^th in 2014 and 10^th in 2013. In particular, I am pleased to see Ireland is ranked first on two specific dimensions: Innovators; and Economic Effects which shows that our strategy of accelerating the economic and societal returns on our public investment in research and innovation is paying off.”

Ireland’s researchers and companies have been successful in winning €97 Million of funding in the first 9 months of Horizon 2020. Collaboration is at the heart of Horizon 2020 – between industry and academia and between countries.

Among the Irish Universities, NUI Galway has had a noteworthy success rate, attracting the highest Horizon 2020 funding, with projects that exemplify the collaborative approach. One of their projects involves Irish SME Sports Surgery Clinic Dublin collaborating with the University on a large-scale clinical trial using adult stem cells to treat knee osteoarthritis. The project, which is co-ordinated by Professor Frank Barry of the Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) at NUI Galway, has been funded to the value of almost €6 million and trials are expected to be underway across Europe by the end of 2015.

In a separate multi-million euro clinical trial in the area of diabetic complications, led by Professor Tim O’Brien of REMEDI and CÚRAM at NUI Galway, Galway-based Orbsen Therapeutics, a spin-out from NUI Galway will play a key role in the project which will include partners in Northern Ireland and across Europe.

In both projects Dublin-based SME Pintail Ltd will ensure effective collaboration between the partners and support the management and delivery of the funded projects.

NUI Galway’s strong performance has ranged across many sectors, from the biosciences to the social sciences. Commenting on NUI Galway’s success, Professor Lokesh Joshi, Vice-President for Research commented:  ‘NUI Galway views EU collaboration and funding as a key priority to strengthen our research and its impact on society. The University is working with government agencies and the EU to actively encourage, enable and support researchers to participate in EU funding programmes. We are also focusing on mentoring and supporting our younger generation of researchers to participate in EU funding calls. Our success so far is the success of our researchers who are investing their time, energy and passion for research and innovation in a highly competitive process.’

Innovation Union Scoreboard
“In June 2013 Government set a range of system level targets in the context of implementation of research prioritisation and one of those targets was to move to 8^th place in the Innovation Union Scoreboard by 2017 – as a result of a range of policy measures targeting our investment at areas of greatest economic and societal return, encouraging greater collaboration between academia and industry and enhancing the commercialisation of research we have met our target ahead of schedule”, continued the Minister. ”

Of the eight dimensions that make up the European Commission’s Innovation Union Scoreboard, Ireland is ranked first in two of them: Innovators; and Economic Effects. The Innovators dimension measures how innovative firms are, while the Economic Effects captures economic success stemming from innovation in terms of employment, revenue and exports.

“The strengthening of our Innovation performance is bolstering our capacity to compete under HORIZON 2020 – the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation – and I am very pleased with the results for the first 9 months of the programme which show that we are on track to exceed our target for success in the first year.”

Ireland has traditionally performed well in areas such as ICT and research fellowships and researcher mobility across all disciplines (Marie Curie Actions). In these areas, Ireland’s researchers have been awarded over €24 Million and €13 Million respectively. Ireland has also been very successful in the Agri-food (€11 Million) and Health (€10 Million) areas.

Ireland’s success in competing for European Research Council (ERC) grants under Horizon 2020 has significantly exceeded our performance in previous programmes. The ERC’s prestigious grants support frontier research across all fields, on the basis of scientific excellence. The funding to ERC grantees in Horizon 2020 so far is over €19 Million.

In welcoming the success to date, Minister of for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD said “I am confident that, based on the pipeline of activity, we will surpass our target of €100 Million for the first year of the Programme. I would like to congratulate the Higher Education Institutions which account for over 70% of the success to date. Irish companies account for almost 20% of Ireland’s success, with 62% of this going to SMEs”.

Commenting on the industry engagement figures, Minister English added: “I would also like to commend industry and in particular Ireland’s innovative SMEs. The latest Innovation Union rankings demonstrate how innovative Ireland is at the level of the firm. There are many more opportunities which innovative firms, including SMEs, can exploit in Horizon 2020. I want to encourage more industry participation. Success brings not only financial rewards but also a chance to collaborate with the best and brightest in Europe. Enterprise Ireland’s Horizon 2020 industry experts are available to offer advice and support to companies on the Programme, its opportunities and how to apply”.

Noting the progress to date, Enterprise Ireland Chief Executive Officer, Julie Sinnamon said: “Enterprise Ireland is proud to lead Ireland’s participation in Horizon 2020. The latest results from the EU Commission show that IrishSMEs continue to shine in Europe– we are particularly interested to see our high potential start-ups and established companies with disruptive technologies reaping the rewards of the new SME focussed programmes. These programmes offer new and different opportunities to those in previous framework programmes and are at a scale suited to real impact on company development”

Dr Imelda Lambkin, National Director for Horizon 2020, Enterprise Ireland said: “The Irish approach is to provide hands on assistance to our Horizon 2020 applicants – this level of support, building on national research and innovation investments, is paying off. Ireland’s researchers and companies are responding and showing that they can compete with the best internationally.”

ENDS