Need for more economic skills

“@dfarrell_ucd @JaneSuit ironic that call for more econ skills in D.Finance comes same week that PRTLI money for PhD in Econ and Pol parked!” (tweet)

[Colm Harmon, Twitter, 1 March]

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Ireland Holds its Nerve on Science Research

“Despite the country’s parlous economic situation, the Irish government has provided a modest increase in funding for its main university research funding agency Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) in 2011 …” (more)

[Cormac Sheridan, BioWorld, 29 December]

The possibility is that focus will be lost and the system that has worked well over the past decade will unravel

“The state funding system that feeds scientific research here is in a precarious situation as the year draws to a close …” (more)

[Dick Ahlstrom, Irish Times, 17 December]

Irish science is a real cause for optimism

“… just over two decades ago, Ireland’s international performance in terms of the quality of scientific publications was below that of Bangladesh. The quantity of output relative to our population was well below the EU average. In the last ten years, our output has accelerated like no time in our history. We have exceeded the EU average and are now at OECD levels …” (more)

[Graham Love, Sunday Business Post, 29 August]

Big investment boost for research

“The largest research investment plan in the history of the Republic of Ireland – €359m (US$473m) – is aimed at transforming the country into ‘Europe’s innovation hub’, according to Brian Cowen, the Irish Taoiseach …” (more)

[John Walshe, University World News, 15 August]

€12m Boost For UL Researchers

“… The primary PRTLI funding awarded to UL will go towards the expansion of the University’s sector-leading Materials and Surface Science Institute (MSSI) for the establishment of a National Centre for Applied Materials Research at UL. This will develop new materials and methods in the strategically important areas of pharmaceutical and composite materials and will significantly enhance UL’s materials research capabilities in biomaterials, materials for energy conversion and biocatalysis …” (more)

[Clare Herald, 30 July]

Spreading the research news

“It is good to see that the UK journal Times Higher Education has given some space to a report on the most recent round of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI). Right now Ireland’s reputation for investing in research and R&D is the key factor determining our attractiveness for high value international investment …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 26 July]

Research funding vital for economy

“Last Friday the Government continued its commitment to investing in research with more than €296 million to develop infrastructure and research capacity across the higher education sector. With universities and institutes of technology bringing in €63 million from private and international competitive sources this makes of total of €359 million …” (more)

[Conor O’Carroll, Irish Times, 22 July]

President welcomes multi-million investment

“NUI Galway President Jim Browne has said that the announcement of €60 million in research funding is a strong ‘vote of confidence’ in the university. The much-needed boost was confirmed by An Taoiseach Brian Cowen last week and will see funds go towards development of major building and programmes for environmental science and the creative arts …” (more)

[Marie Madden, Galway Independent, 21 July]

PRTLI Funding Announced

“… There is a real danger that innovation will get captured as simply meaning commercialisation of ICT and bio-science research and measured only in terms of short to medium run monetary gains. It is worth debating what the value of social science really is …” (more)

[Liam Delaney, Geary Behavioural Economics Blog, 17 July]

The PRTLI research agenda: practical or intellectual?

“Funding the latest Cycle of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) is one of the key elements in the Irish government’s plan for a ‘smart economy’, and in that context it may be that some commentators will look for direct links between the subject areas of the research and the country’s current problems and issues …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 17 July]

Investment in Third Level Research is Vital but needs Focus

“Fine Gael Frontbench Spokesperson on Innovation & Research, Deirdre Clune TD, has welcomed the Government’s announcement of the €359 million investment in third level research and innovation. However, Deputy Clune called for the funds to be invested in a focused manner in order to have the greatest possible impact on economic recovery …” (more)

[Deirdre Clune TD, 16 July]

€359m research investment to create 2,000 building jobs

“More than 2,000 jobs will be created when a €359m state-backed research investment gives the troubled construction sector a temporary boost. The building programme at colleges nationwide will in turn lead to another 379 jobs in research and development, based at the newly-built venues …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly and others, Independent, 17 July]

Cowen hails €360m third-level research spend

“Ireland’s research reputation and job-creation potential is to get a major boost through a €359 million investment that will create almost 2,400 jobs, according to Taoiseach Brian Cowen …” (more)

[Niall Murray and Scott Millar, Irish Examiner, 17 July]

PRTLI Cycle 5 – a broad outline

“All credit to the government, and to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation in particular: this is a very significant investment in the state’s R&D capacity. Details can be found here. The total investment in this cycle is going to be €358,729,000 …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 16 July]

Govt pumps €359m into PRTLI 5 – largest investment in research

“Today, the Government announced the largest investment in research in the State’s history with €359m going into PRTLI Cycle 5. The move will make Ireland Europe’s innovation hub, said Enterprise Minister Batt O’Keeffe …” (more)

[John Kennedy, Silicon Republic, 16 July]

UCD and TCD secure major part of €358m research fund

“University College Dublin (UCD) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) have secured a major share of a new €358 million fund for third-level research. The programme – the single largest research investment in the history of the State – will be unveiled by Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe today …” (more)

[Sean Flynn, Irish Times, 16 July]

The future of Ireland’s research effort

“Later today, the Taoiseach (Ireland’s Prime Minister) will announce the results of the latest cycle of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI). It would be hard to over-state the significance of PRTLI in the development of Ireland’s research infrastructure over the past 12 years or so …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 16 July]

Sliding towards the Not-So-Smart Economy?

“Earlier this year I pointed out that, notwithstanding Ireland’s commitment to spend 3% of GDP on research and development, our actual performance does not measure up to that target. In fact, according to my calculations Ireland’s R&D expenditure now lies at around 1.4% of GDP, and it is falling …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 7 July]

PRTLI wars

“In yesterday’s Irish Times we read that the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) is in trouble. There may be readers here who are not fully aware of what PRTLI is, so here’s a short explanation …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 29 May]