Pictured (from left) are Dr Celia Gallagher, Project Manager, IUA; Dr Jimmy Devins, TD, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation; Dr Conor O’Carroll, Head of Research, IUA; and Dr. John Hegarty, Provost, Trinity College Dublin.
The development of a national research website, which will catalogue all publically funded research taking place in Ireland on a single platform, was progressed further at a Research Information Systems Conference that took place in Dublin.
The conference which was opened by Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Jimmy Devins, TD at the Science Gallery in Trinity College Dublin, is an integral part of the Irish Universities Association's (IUA) National Research Platform project and looked at EU best practice in research information systems to gauge the standards that Ireland intends to exceed.
On the new platform, it is anticipated that all research projects and research information will be available in a single location in a user-friendly way. One of the benefits of such a system would be to highlight the extent and quality of the Irish research effort to national and international audiences.
Commenting on the value of the project Minister Devins said: 'Effective implementation of the Strategy for Science Technology & Innovation (SSTI) will require enhanced visibility and accessibility of the national research effort. We need more effective identification and classification of the research being conducted in the Irish higher education sector and research establishments and more effective dissemination of the results of that research to potential users, in Ireland and globally'.
Under the project, recipients of R&D publicly funded monies have come together for the first time with Industry representatives and the state/government agencies to assess what information, resources and capabilities will help drive economic competitiveness.
Commenting on the relevance of the National Research Platform, IUA Project Manager Dr Celia Gallagher, said that the 'opportunity now exists to bring focus and order to the current situation and to create a single web based locus through which the national research effort can be accessed and quantified in a structured and intelligible manner'
Data from the existing third-level knowledge and expertise portal, expertiseireland.com, will provide the cornerstone for the new National Research Platform.
