Call made for agri research proposals under 7 priority areas

Details of a new call for research proposals in selected agri-food related areas under the US-Ireland Research and Development (R&D) Partnership have been announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed.

Making the announcement yesterday (Sunday, June 10), the minister stated: “I am delighted to announce a new round of funding opportunities for Irish-based researchers to collaborate with their Northern Ireland and US-based counterparts.

“This will further strengthen existing scientific linkages; whilst also helping to make an important contribution to addressing shared challenges in the agri-food sector.”

The 2018 US-Ireland R&D Partnership Call in Agriculture sees an expansion in the number of topic areas in scope from three to seven compared to the 2017 call – with four new strategically-relevant areas added following detailed discussions between officials across all three jurisdictions.

The call 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”, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Minister Creed said: “Today’s announcement will further deepen Ireland’s involvement in selective, strategically important international agri-food research initiatives and I expect that any successful projects funded under the 2018 US-Ireland call will be key enablers of the Food Wise 2025 themes of competitiveness, innovation and sustainability.”

The following seven priority areas will be supported in the 2018 US-Ireland R&D Partnership Call in Agriculture:

Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems;
Animal Nutrition, Growth, and Lactation;
Animal Well-Being;
Animal Health and Disease;
Tools and Resources – Animal Breeding, Genetics and Genomics;
Understanding Antimicrobial Resistance;
Food Manufacturing Technologies.

US-Ireland R&D Partnership

The US-Ireland R&D Partnership is a product of the Northern Ireland Peace Process and involves the governments of the US, the Republic of 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 40 projects have been successfully funded under the partnership under a range of areas – including health, ICT, energy and sustainability.

Since 2016, the scope of the partnership has been extended to include agriculture research focused on selected priority areas.

For those interested, more information about the funding programme is available on the Department of Agriculture’s website.