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Minister Creed announces launch of 2019 US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership Call for Proposals in Agriculture

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, T.D., today announced a Call for Research Proposals in selected agri-food  areas under the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership.

The Minister stated

The US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership has been instrumental in bringing together researchers from Ireland, North and South, and the United States in order to tackle shared challenges and provide scientific solutions to common problems in the agri-food sector. The programme offers a unique opportunity for researchers to develop new ideas and find new applications for their work by bringing together some of the most prominent scientists in their fields across the three jurisdictions. Working closely with others can help researchers develop new ideas, find new applications for their work, learn new techniques, and gain access to funding, expanding their professional opportunities.

The 2019 US-Ireland R&D Partnership Call in Agriculture aims to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture, and support education and extension activities that deliver science-based knowledge to end users, allowing them to make informed, practical decisions.

Stressing his on-going commitment to identifying strategically aligned transnational funding opportunities to help address national challenges and maximise research and innovation in the Irish agri-food sector, Minister Creed said “Collaboration has become the key to success in delivering solutions to real world problems and creating jobs and growth. Today’s announcement will further deepen Ireland’s involvement in selective, strategically important international agri-food research initiatives and my department is delighted to continue our support for this tri-jurisdictional alliance of ideas and goals.

More information about the funding programme is available at the following link  https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/research/trans-nationalresearchfunding/us-irelandresearchanddevelopmentpartnership/

 

Notes for editor

  • The US-Ireland R&D Partnership is a product of the Northern Ireland Peace Process and involves the governments of the United States of America, Ireland and Northern Ireland working together for scientific progress by awarding grants for research on a competitive basis.
  • The Partnership was launched in 2006 and to date 49 projects have been successfully funded under the partnership under a range of areas including health, ICT, energy and sustainability. 
  • The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is the leading competitive grants program for agricultural sciences in the US. Since 2016 the scope of the Partnership has been extended to include agriculture on a pilot basis whereby researchers in eligible institutions in Ireland and Northern Ireland can link with a US-based researcher to submit research funding applications to annual Calls launched by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
  • DAFM funding of successful projects under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Calls comes from the Department’s Agriculture (Stimulus) and Food (FIRM) competitive research funding programmes.
  • The following six priority areas will be supported in the 2019 US-Ireland R&D Partnership  Call in Agriculture:
    • Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems
    • Animal Nutrition, Growth, and Lactation
    • Welfare and Well-being of Agricultural Animals
    • Diseases of Agricultural Animals
    • Animal Breeding and Functional Annotation of Genomes
    • Mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance Across the Food Chain