The US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership is a unique initiative involving funding agencies across three jurisdictions: United States of America, Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland.

The overall goal of the Partnership is to increase the level of collaborative R&D amongst researchers and industry across the three jurisdictions. This collaboration aims to generate valuable discoveries and innovations which are transferable to the marketplace, or will lead to enhancements in health, disease prevention or healthcare.

The Partnership achieves its goals through tri-partite research projects in which the funding agencies fund the elements of research undertaken in their own jurisdiction. Importantly, the Partnership must add significant value to each research programme above that achievable by the PI in each jurisdiction working alone.

The current focus of the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme, as agreed by the Partnership Steering Group, is on the following seven thematic areas:

  • Sensors & Sensor Networks
  • Nanoscale Science & Engineering
  • Telecommunications
  • Energy & Sustainability
  • Health
  • Cybersecurity (new theme)
  • Agriculture

For proposal submissions under Sensors & Sensor Networks, Nanoscale Science & Engineering, Telecommunications, Energy & Sustainability and new pilot Cybersecurity themes, please refer to the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Proposal to the National Science Foundation section below.

For proposal submissions under the Health theme, please refer to the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Proposal to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) section below.

For proposal submissions under the Agriculture theme to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture [NIFA (US)], please contact the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine [DAFM (RoI)] or Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs [DAERA (NI)]. Further details on the Agriculture theme can be accessed from the webpage of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Centre-to-Centre Mechanism

Science Foundation Ireland together with the National Science Foundation and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland has developed a mechanism to link SFI-funded Research Centres, NSF-funded Engineering Research Centres and researchers in Centres in Northern Ireland. For further details please refer to US Ireland R&D Partnership Programme: Centre-to-Centre Mechanism section below.

Each US-Ireland R&D Partnership proposal must have a minimum of one applicant from each jurisdiction and significant research participation by all three jurisdictions. The work proposed for each jurisdiction must add significant value, so that the overall programme of research goes beyond what might be achieved by any one PI working alone supported by national funding only.

The applicants from each jurisdiction will write a joint tri-partite proposal in the format required by NSF or NIH. It is the responsibility of the US investigator to submit the tri-partite proposal to the respective agency for review. Proposals are evaluated in accordance with the standard NSF or NIH review criteria of intellectual merit and broader impacts of the proposed effort. The funding agencies on the island of Ireland have agreed to accept the decisions of NSF and NIH with regard to the suitability for funding of individual proposals

Notification of Intent to Submit

In order to participate in a US-Ireland R&D Partnership proposal to the NSF or NIH, NI and RoI eligible applicants must send a mandatory Intention to Submit (ITS) form to the relevant funding agencies, North and South, from the Research Institution Research Offices on behalf of the RoI and NI lead applicant respectively. The information in this form will be used for planning purposes by the agencies. For templates and deadlines please see relevant call documentation.

Draft “Tri-Partite” proposal submission

In advance of submission of the final tri-partite proposal to the NSF or NIH, RoI and NI funding agencies will evaluate the draft proposal and either approve or decline support. Therefore, a draft of the tri-partite proposal for submission to the NSF or NIH must be submitted to the NI and RoI funding agencies in advance of full proposal deadline. For specific timelines and requirements please see relevant call documentation.

Submission of Final Tri-Partite Proposal to NSF

Once eligibility of the proposal has been confirmed by the RoI and NI funding agencies and the draft tri-partite proposal approved, the RoI and NI PIs are permitted to submit the tri-partite proposal to the NSF or NIH via their US partner, as it is the US partner who takes the lead on submission of the full proposal, including all necessary documentation, to the US funding agency via their Research Institution. 

Each of the RoI and NI funding agencies will write a Funding Commitment Letter outlining their level of budget commitment subject to NSF or NIH approval of the tri-jurisdictional proposal. Funding Commitment Letters are sent to the applicant by their funding agency and must be included in the final NSF or NIH submission.

A US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme application must have a minimum of one academic applicant from each of the three jurisdictions. Significant participation by researchers in all three jurisdictions must be demonstrated in the application.

Researchers should be at mid-stage or senior stage in their career. For specific eligibility criteria please refer to relevant call documentation.

The following guidance document provides details on how to apply to the programmes at the National Science Foundation under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership programme. Science Foundation Ireland manage the NSF section of the programme for RoI applicants – for further details please contact USIreland@sfi.ie. Department for the Economy Northern Ireland (DfE) manages the NSF section of the programme for NI applicants.

Call Document (PDF) & (Word)

Frequently Asked Questions

The following guidance document provides details on how to apply to programmes at the National Institutes of Health under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership programme. Please note that for RoI applicants, Science Foundation Ireland and the Health Research Board work in partnership for applications to the NIH and have agreed to co-fund RoI applicants whose collaborative proposal is approved for funding by the NIH. SFI and HRB will jointly fund the RoI applicant at a level of 50% each and operate a rotating administration of the programme. SFI currently manages the NIH section of the US-Ireland R&D Partnership programme for RoI applicants – for further details please contact USIreland@sfi.ie. In the Northern Ireland (NI), the partner agencies are the Health & Social Care R&D Division (HSC R&D), the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland (DfE) 

NIH Call Document (PDF) & (Word)

Frequently Asked Questions

The following guidance document provides details on how to apply to the Centre-to-Centre programme. Science Foundation Ireland manage the programme for RoI applicants – for further details please contact USIreland@sfi.ie. Department for the Economy Northern Ireland (DfE) manages the programme for NI applicants.

Guidance Document (PDF) & (Word).

SFI together with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) held a Grants Process Webinar in June 2014.  The focus was on grant-writing tips and an insight into review procedures at the NIH. For full details see below

NIH Grants Process Webinar

Science Foundation Ireland together with the National Institutes of Health held a webinar in June 2014 for researchers on the island of Ireland to learn about all aspects of the NIH Grants Process, including valuable grant writing tips and insight into review procedures.

The US-Ireland R&D Partnership is a unique initiative involving funding agencies across three jurisdictions: United States of America (USA), Republic of Ireland (RoI) & Northern Ireland (NI). Under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership programme, a ‘single-proposal, single-review’ mechanism is facilitated by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) who accept submissions from tri-jurisdictional (USA, NI and RoI) teams to a number of their existing funding programmes.

This webinar was designed to convey the fundamentals of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants process, with particular focus on grants writing for success under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership programme, in addition to explaining the NIH RePORT database, a potential resource for sourcing US partners.

These individual webinar recordings and presentations are now available at the links below. Powerpoint slides are also available separately.

We hope Irish researchers will find this a useful repository of information and we thank our partners at the NIH for contributing to this webinar.

NOTE: These are large files and may take time to download. If you are having difficulty please consider switching browsers to Firefox or Chrome, for example.

Welcome to the NIH Grants Process Webinar

  • Dr. Aisling McEvoy, Scientific Programme Manager, SFI
  • Prof. Mark WJ Ferguson, Director General, SFI, and Chief Scientific Advisor to the Government of Ireland
  • Dr. Lawrence A. Tabak, Principal Deputy Director, NIH

Webinar link –  SFI & NIH Introduction Please note that we had some access issues at the start of this presentation, so the presentation is a little slow to start. Your patience is appreciated.

The NIH Top 10 (Fundamentals of the NIH Grants Process)

Megan Columbus, Director, Division of Communications & Outreach, Office of Extramural Research, NIH

Webinar Link  - NIH Top 10

Powerpoint Slides - Powerpoint Slides for the NIH Top 10

NIH Peer Review Process 

Dr. Richard Nakamura, Director, Center for Scientific Review (CSR), NIH

Webinar Link - NIH Peer Review Process

Powerpoint Slides - Powerpoint Slides for NIH Peer Review Process

The U.S.–Ireland R&D Partnership: Grant Writing for Success

Dr. Teresa Jones, Program Director, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases,National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), NIH

Webinar Link - US-Irl Partnership - Grant Writing for Success

Powerpoint Slides - Powerpoint Slides for US-Irl Partnership Grant Writing for Success

Using RePORT & NIH Resources to Your Advantage

Megan Columbus, Director, Division of Communications & Outreach, Office of Extramural Research, NIH

Webinar Link -  Using RePORT & NIH Resources to Your Advantage

Powerpoint Slides - Powerpoint Slides - Using RePORT & NIH Resources to Your Advantage

 

Additional Resources:

US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme FAQs  

US-Ireland R&D Partnership  FAQs

Health Research Board Information for RoI applicants:

http://www.hrb.ie/research-strategy-funding/grants-and-fellowships/hrb-grants-and-fellowships/grant/115/

Intertrade Ireland – Secretariat for the US-Ireland R&D Partnership

http://www.usirelandresearch.com/index.html

US-Ireland R&D partnership information for NI applicants:

1.      HSC Northern Ireland
2.      Dept for Employment & Learning (DELNI)

NIH Website

NIH Grants Website            

NIH Centre for Scientific Review

NIH RePORT 

This provides access to reports, data, and analyses of NIH research activities, including information on NIH expenditures and the results of NIH supported research.

NIH RePORTER

This is a repository of NIH-funded research projects and provides access to publications and patents resulting from that funding.

 

SFI together with the National Science Foundation (NSF) held a workshop in September 2014. The objectives were to give an overview of the NSF, an insight into the NSF review process and create researcher networking opportunities. Please click on our NSF resource page to view these presentations from senior NSF directors and partner funding agencies SFI & DEL NI. An overview of NSF Engineering Research Centres is provided and valuable tips are also shared from a successful applicant under the partnership programme. For details see below.

For further information on the background of the programme, please see the publication.

NSF Resource

Science Foundation Ireland together with senior directors from the National Science Foundation (NSF) held a workshop on Wireless Communications and Sensing - Devices, Components & Systems in September 2014. The objectives were to give an overview of the NSF, an insight into particular research areas including the NSF review process and create a networking opportunity between researchers based in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States.

The US-Ireland R&D Partnership is a unique initiative involving funding agencies across three jurisdictions: United States of America (USA), Republic of Ireland (RoI) & Northern Ireland (NI). Under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership programme, a ‘single-proposal, single-review’ mechanism is facilitated by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) who accept submissions from tri-jurisdictional (USA, NI and RoI) teams to a number of their existing funding programmes.

We hope Irish researchers will find this a useful repository of information and we thank our partners at the NSF for allowing these presentations to be used as an online resource.

We are also grateful to Dr. Paul Hurley from Tyndall for providing insights in the programme from the applicant’s perspective, as a holder of two awards (one expired, one current) under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme.

An additional presentation from 2015 relating to the Centre to Centre mechanism has also been included to give an overview of NSF Engineering Research Centres.

NSF Director Presentations

Dr. Samir El-Ghazaly, NSF Division Director ECCS

Dr. George Haddad, NSF Program Director CCSS

Dr. Dimitris Pavlidis, NSF Program Director EPMD

Tips for applicants from a US-Ireland double award-holder

Dr. Paul Hurley, Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork

Partner Funding Agency Presentations

Claire Thompson

Dr. Aisling McEvoy

NSF Engineering Research Centres (ERCs)

Dr. Keith Roper, NSF Engineering Education and Centres