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The Minister for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock T.D., today announced funding of €300,000 to three researchers in Trinity College Dublin and Teagasc. The funding, from Enterprise Ireland, is aimed at maximising Ireland’s opportunities in accessing funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

EIT will form an important part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 package of research funding, with a proposed Commission budget of some €3 Billion for EIT during the next seven years. The EIT is expected to launch new calls for funding in targeted thematic areas later this year.

The €300,000 national funding will be used to bring together strong Irish consortia of higher education, research and industry partners that can collaborate with European counterparts in applications for EIT funding. The areas currently being targeted by the three Irish researchers are Healthy Living and Active Ageing, Food4Future and Raw Materials.

Speaking about the award, Minister Sherlock said: "It is vital that Irish researchers are actively involved in large-scale European research projects. EIT not only offers significant funding opportunities but also provides the potential to develop strong collaborative links with leading higher education and research institutes and industry across Europe.

"The funding being provided by Enterprise Ireland will hopefully be the catalyst for developing successful Irish nodes in these large-scale EIT projects".