Prof Des Fitzgerald, UCD Vice-President for Research
A Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Census was conducted amongst the holders of SFI’s major grant categories in 2008. The census results are presented in summary form in the SFI Census document which is available here.
Prof Des Fitzgerald, Vice-President for Research in UCD, comments on some of UCD’s major achievements:
"The Science Foundation Ireland Census 2008 illustrates the scale of research the young agency supports in Irish Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). The research programmes are wide ranging, from the Research Frontiers Programme that now provides support for a large number of individual researchers, to the relatively rare Centres for Science Engineering and Technology (CSETs). The latter large-scale programmes involve groups of Principal Investigators, frequently from different institutions working closely with industry partners.
UCD has been awarded two CSETs in the last two years. One, called Clarity is headed by Prof Barry Smyth, UCD School of Computer Science & Informatics and is co-directed by DCU’s Prof Alan Smeaton. Clarity is developing the next generation web that will integrate sensor information and enable a more intuitive interface with the user. The second CSET headed by Prof Walter Kolch and co-directed by Prof Boris Kholodenko at the UCD Conway Institute, is called Systems Biology Ireland. SBI is a collaboration with NUIG Professors Tim O’Brien and Frank Barry and aims to create models of the processes that control stem cells.
The CSETs have been at the forefront of an impressive array of academic-industry partnerships, numbering 402 in 2008, made possible by the funding from SFI. The report lists the companies involved, from software developers to big pharma and includes multinationals, SMEs and start-ups. UCD alone has agreements with more than 80 companies in programmes supported by SFI, Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and other government agencies. The resulting network of industries provides unique opportunities for new partnerships and innovation through convergence of industries and technologies. The engagement of so many companies with Irish HEIs bodes well for further investment and job creation."
Other highlights of the report include:
