THE Dublin government has pledged more than £30 million to cross border research projects tackling issues as varied as precision cancer medicine and youth crime.
The North-South Research Programme funding awards by Taoiseach Michéal Martin and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris are being channelled through the Irish government's Shared Island Fund.
It will see 62 collaborative research projects between academics and institutions in the north and the Republic receive a total of €37.3m (£31.1m) under the first funding call.
The awards range in value from €200,000 (£167,000) over two years to €4 million (£3.34m) over four years and are available under three strands – bilateral researcher-researcher projects; emerging hubs of excellence; and partnerships of scale.
The successful projects include the Atlantic Innovation Corridor, a collaboration between the National University of Ireland, Galway and Ulster University looking at fostering sustainable innovation in a multi-city region, and Stable Lives Safer Streets, in which University of Limerick and Queen’s University Belfast examine youth justice, community and youth work.
The taoiseach said the fund would bring researchers "from all corners of the island together to work on pioneering projects over the next four years, and is not only strengthening existing relationships, but is fostering new research partnerships".
"I’m particularly impressed by the high level of interest and the calibre of the proposals, and I am confident that these cross-border collaborations will further strengthen the island’s reputation for innovation and research excellence," Mr Martin said??Mr Harris said the research programme would "deepen north-south cooperation and invest in our regions for the common economic and social good. I want to thank an taoiseach for his support and the funding secured through the Shared Island Fund."??
