Teagasc has been listed as the fifth highest organisation in the EU in terms of projects awarded in agri-food research.
In 2019, Teagasc secured €3.7 million in funding from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 funding programme, under the programme’s agri-food stream.
Over the course of Horizon 2020, Teagasc attained funding of €25.3 million, in excess of a target of €19 million, which was aimed for when the ‘Horizon’ programme began in 2014.
European funding is a very important measure of success for Teagasc. It shows that we perform on a par with the best research organisations across Europe despite our small size relative to research organisations of many other European countries.
“Our contribution to the European research agenda matches the important contribution we are making to the national science and research agenda. Collaboration with European colleagues will be a key part of Teagasc’s contribution to the research required by the new European strategies on ‘Farm-to-Fork’ and Biodiversity,” said Prof. Gerry Boyle, director of Teagasc.
Teagasc published 611 peer-reviewed agriculture and food science articles in 2019, its highest number ever.
Nearly all Teagasc research – 92% – is carried out in collaboration with other national and international research organisations, such as universities and institutes of technology, with 49% of publications having partners from international universities or research organisations.
“Many important and exciting projects have been funded in 2019, and of particular significance in this era of climate change is the €80 million European Joint Programme on soils,” noted Prof. Frank O’Mara, director of research at Teagasc.
“We look forward to working with other European countries to drive on the research agenda in relation to soil carbon sequestration,” he added.
Prof. O’Mara went on to highlight other recent research developments by Teagasc, including in: fertiliser and water quality; the marginal abatement cost curves for greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions; genetic improvement in the national dairy herd; and grassland management resources.