merrion street

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney today welcomed the news that researchers from Irish institutes and agri-food SMEs are participants will be funded under the EU's 2010 Research Call under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7).

Irish researchers are involved in 20% of the recent awards by the EU Commission in Food, Agriculture&Fisheries, and Biotechnology. The value of funding to Irish researchers is in excess of €6.1 million.

The successful applicants included Teagasc, the Marine Institute, University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, and Limerick Institute of Technology. The Minister congratulated in particular Dr Susanne Barth of Teagasc who is leading a research team from 10 countries, on a project to enhance biomass production from marginal lands with perennial grasses. The Minister said:

It is important for Irish researchers to participate in European collaborative programmes, and this recent success indicates the high quality of research being conducted at Irish research institutes.  

I now encourage researchers in Irish institutes and agri-food SMEs alike to pursue FP7 funding opportunities as aggressively as possible given that the amounts available will rise significantly under the two remaining Calls in 2012 and 2013...The administrative procedures have been simplified, the support is available through my Department and Enterprise Ireland, and the prize is certainly worthwhile.

Minister Coveney went on to acknowledge the on-going success of Irish researchers who, have secured over €20.3 million in research funding to date under FP7 since 2007.