Regional Action Plan to support the governance of Responsible Research & Innovation in the Southern & Eastern Regional Operational Programme 2014 - 2020
Further Background on sentinel stakeholder: Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) SFI is the largest funder of competitive research in Ireland, funding basic and applied research aligned with SFIs goals in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). They operate 16 research centres nationally.
SFI has invested over €2.2 billion supporting over 4,000 research awards. With this investment SFI annually supports a community of 2,800 researchers in Ireland including 450 research leaders.
SFI are Intermediary Bodies(IB’s) under the S&E ROP 2014-2020 and manage 2 co-funded schemes under Priority 1:
1. The Research Centres Programme: The objective of the Research Centres Programme is to develop a set of world-leading, large-scale Research Centres that will provide major economic impact for Ireland. Nine SFI Research Centres are co-funded under the S&E ROP 2014-2020; 2. Spokes Programme: The objective of the Spokes Programme is to promote the further development of existing SFI Research Centres to incorporate new areas of research and new industrial and academic collaborators. Sixteen awards have been made to Research Centres under the SEROP 2014-2020. The overall purpose of these schemes is to foster collaboration between research centres, industry and academic partners. It also encourages research centres to link-up and collaborate with industry in targeted projects, the goal of which is research that delivers faster and more impactful economic and societal benefits. An example of one of the research centres co-funded through the S&E ROP 2014-2020 is Lero, Ireland’s national software research centre, headquartered at the University of Limerick. Lero hosts 200 researchers across all seven Irish Universities and two Institutes of Technology. LERO has demonstrated that for the period 2005-2018 it has contributed €515.32 million to gross output and to the creation of 2,678 jobs nationally. SFI’s Strategic Plan Agenda 2020 quotes “Science and technology play an increasingly important role in addressing the economic, social and environmental problems faced by the world today. That role needs the support and active engagement of the public who fund the work and are the ultimate beneficiaries of it. An engaged public is one that understands the role of science, can judge between competing priorities and arguments, encourages young people to study STEM subjects, and feels that it has the appropriate level of engagement with, and influence upon, the researchers. SFI, as the primary investor in scientific research in this country, must form a strong relationship with the Irish people, built on trust.” The overall aim being to build on and utilise the Quadruple Helix framework; working with the government to provide the best environment for STEM education, collaborating with industry to develop cutting edge products and services and developing novel means of communication and engagement with civil society.
Southern Regional Assembly | Regional Action Plan
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