Irish researchers have secured more than €104 million in funding over the course of the seven-year Horizon 2020 initiative, with Teagasc coming out on top, receiving €18m in research grants, according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
Teagasc on top – Horizon 2020
During 2014-2020, Teagasc’s 63 Horizon 2020-approved research projects received the most funding by a single organisation in Ireland.
This saw it place sixth overall in the programme across Europe, making it the only Irish organisation to reach the top-20 in terms of funding received.
Glanbia, The Marine Institute, University College Cork, University College Dublin and National University of Ireland Galway were also “well represented in the Irish honours list in terms of the number of projects participated in or funding received” according to Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Martin Heydon.
In total, to date, Irish organisations are involved in 175 different agri-food projects.
Green Deal
“There was an additional Green Deal call announced in mid-2020 and more funding was made available for research in the Farm to Fork area of this call,” said Minister Heydon.
This attracted more than 260 research proposals, but just seven were recommended for funding.
“Despite the extremely competitive nature of the Farm to Fork area of the Green Deal call, I am very proud to see that Irish organisations again excelled and are in line for over 5.3% of the funding allocated to this area, worth over €3.75 million,” he said.
“This is a truly exceptional result and I wholeheartedly congratulate the Irish applicants in these successful proposals which will help the agri-food industry become more sustainable.
“It reflects many years of hard work and success by these organisations and shows that Ireland is well placed when it comes to helping put agriculture and food systems on a more sustainable footing.”
In considering the future research opportunities for Ireland’s agri-food researchers, the minister wished researchers well in the first call of Horizon Europe which opened on June 22.