A consensus has emerged in recent years that Ireland’s research and innovation framework contains a significant gap, namely opportunities for exceptional researchers to conduct frontier basic research across all disciplines beyond postdoctoral level. Innovation2020 affirms the existence of the critical gap in the Irish landscape and recommends the establishment of a frontier research funding programme, to be administered by the Irish Research Council.
Funding to launch the first iteration of the programme was made available by the Minister for Education and Skills under the 2017 budget. For the first iteration of the Irish Research Council Laureate Awards programme, the Council is inviting applications at the early and mid-career level (Starting and Consolidator). Funding will be awarded on the basis solely of excellence, assessed through a rigorous and independent international peer-review process. Laureates will enhance their track record and international competitiveness. As well as the benefits for the laureate and their team, it is anticipated that the award will enhance the potential for subsequent ERC success as a further career milestone; indeed it will be a requirement of all laureates that they make a follow-on application to the ERC.
The Council will host a webinar on Tuesday 25 April at 12pm. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the webinar. Please check your junk/spam folders as the confirmation email may stray into these folders. A recording of the webinar will be available on the Council website afterwards.