Asia

Ireland/India Research Seminar, Bangalore (March 2011)

In March 2011 SFI intensified its international collaborations by co-hosting a series of symposia in Bangalore, India, with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and India’s National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS).

The symposia, covered specialised areas under three themes: information security, neuroscience and plant biology, and featured formal presentations by SFI-funded researchers based at Cork Institute of Technology, Dublin City University, Waterford Institute of Technology, University College Dublin, University of Limerick, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork and NUI Galway. In addition to the symposia, IDA Ireland is facilitated meetings between companies based in India and the visiting Irish researchers to encourage further collaboration.

For further details on the Agenda and presentations please click here.

Ireland-Taiwan (Province of China) Workshop on ICT and Energy (August 2010)

The first Ireland-Taiwan (Province of China) Workshop on ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and Energy was held in UCD on 30th and 31st August 2010. A total of 76 participants representing some 15 academic institutions in Ireland and Taiwan (Province of China), in addition to industry organisations and government agencies, attended the event. At the Science Foundation Ireland and National Science Council, Taiwan (Province of China) sponsored event, speakers from Ireland and Taiwan (Province of China) meet to discuss the state-of-the-art of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in electric power grids, renewable energy, and smart grid subjects. 

Dr Wendy McLoone, Science Foundation Ireland pictured with Professor Chen Ching Liu and Dr. Philip Nolan of UCD delegates from the recent "Ireland-Taiwan (Province of China) Workshop on ICT and Energy"

Dr Wendy McLoone gave her welcoming remarks on behalf of Science Foundation Ireland, She commented, "Energy is a priority area for SFI; SFI would like to see close collaborations internationally."

Dr Philip Nolan, Deputy President of UCD, delivered the official welcome on behalf of the host institution, highlighting the fact that UCD has established exchange agreements with National Taiwan (Province of China) University and National Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan (Province of China).

Representative David Lee, the official representative of Taiwan (Province of China) in Ireland, is instrumental in making this event a reality. He extended his appreciation to the 12 academic leaders who travelled from Taiwan(Province of China) to join a distinguish group of researchers in Ireland at this event.

Mr John Perry TD, Chair of Ireland-Taiwan (Province of China) Parliamentary Friendship Society, applauded the event stating that it was his hope that the timely event that will foster future opportunities in green energy. He commented that "there is a potential for collaborations between universities and industry in Ireland and Taiwan(Province of China) to work together to help in economic development and create jobs." The importance the future of the economy was a theme shared by a majority of the speakers Mr Dermot Byrne, Chief Executive, EirGrid one of the keynote speakers who stated that “electricity is critical to the economic life of the country.”

Other keynote speakers included Professor Falin Chen, Director of National Taiwan (Province of China) University Energy Research Centre, Professor Chen-Ching Liu and Dr Raymond Alcorn, Research Manager, HMRC.

Ministerial Visit to Tokyo (June 2010)

In 2010 SFI participated in a Ministerial visit to Tokyo, accompanying Minister for Energy, Communications and Natural Resources, Mr Eamonn Ryan.  The visit by the Minister focused on encouraging FDI in high tech areas, and the use of Ireland as a test bed for electric vehicles. 

Delegation to Peking University (March 2010)

The Higher Education Authority of Ireland, State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA), P.R. of China, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland and Peking University, P.R. China (PKU) are the founders of the Sino-Ireland Joint Research & Education center (SIRJEC), which was established on 24 Oct. 2008 in Beijing.

The goal for the Centre is to push forward cooperations both in research and education aspects. It builds flexible and concrete cooperation platform for Universities, Companies and other related organizations of the two countries. It is one bridge between the two countries.

In 2010, SFI participated in a delegation to Beijing with the aim of developing further these formal links with Peking University, which is one of the top two educational institutes in China.   University College Cork has also joined with Maynooth as a partner in SIRJEC.

SFI is working with the HEA and the universities to coordinate collaborative efforts with China.

Japan-Ireland Technology Forum (November 2009)

The Japan-Ireland Technology Forum which was held in Wilton Park House on the 4th November 2009, and was hosted by JETRO in collaboration with SFI and IDA Ireland.  The forum was launched by Mr Conor Lenihan T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation and the Japanese Ambassador, Mr Toshinao Urabe.  JETRO is the Japan external trade organisation which is a government related body that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world.  JETRO has been holding technology seminars for Japanese companies in cooperation with universities research institutes and government bodies in the UK and Ireland since 1996.  These seminars are aimed at introducing the research activities and its impact/results to Japanese companies in order facilitate such companies to develop research collaborations and build potential working relationships with research centres.

This was a follow up to the highly successful joint SFI/IDA R&D seminar held in Japan during the visit by the Taoiseach on the Trade Mission there in January this year.  The objective for the forum on the 4th was to provide an overview of Ireland’s R&D environment, supporting eco-systems and presentations by major research institutes in Ireland outlining the quality of their projects to this targeted Japanese audience. JETRO invited participants from Japanese companies operation in Europe to the Dublin Forum.  These companies largely operated in the ICT, Energy, Environment and Life Sciences and the presentations from the research leaders (mainly CSETs) funded by SFI are focused on these areas.

Attendance at the meeting included senior representatives from major Japanese companies operating in Europe such as FUJITSU, Schimadzu research, Toray Europe Ltd, Schisso Corporation Europe, IHI Europe, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Mitsui, Toshiba, City of Yokohama, Marubeni Europe, Kanagawa Perfecture, The Japan Machine Tool Builders Association, Beckman Coulter.  Representatives from JETRO London also attended as well as representative from the Japan Society of Promotions Science (JSPS) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation.

It is hoped that the forum will lead to new relationships which will develop into new high quality collaborations between industry and academia and will hopefully be a catalyst for new partnerships with these Japanese companies.  This was a very significant event bringing together the very best examples of Irish research leaders funded by SFI of direct relevance to senior decision makers in these key areas.  It is hoped that this continuing unique opportunity to bring together Japanese industrialists and Irish scientific researchers will develop into investments from Japanese Multi Nationals and collaborations with Irish academic institutions.

R&D Seminar in Japan (January 2009)

In January 2009, SFI and IDA Ireland co-hosted a seminar, which was attended by over 150 key decision makers from Japanese high tech companies. The objective was to provide an overview of Ireland's R&D environment, supporting ecosystem, examples of recent Japan-Ireland joint R&D projects and presentations by major research institutes in Ireland of current research projects to a targeted Japanese audience.

Taoiseach, Brian Cowen TD mentioned three highly significant Japanese R&D announcements for Ireland at the seminar.

The seminar was attended by most of the major Japanese ICT and Life Sciences companies. Companies attending the event included: Sharp, Panasonic, TDK, Canon, Mitsubishi from the ICT sector and Takeda, Astellas, Olympus and Mitsubishi Tanabe from the Life Sciences sector.


Scientific Cooperation with India

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has established formal collaborative arrangements with India. The aim of these collaborations is to increase the extent and the quality of exchange between the two countries, with a view to building links between Irish academic research leaders and their counterparts in India.

SFI supported Bio Researchers visited India to examine the possibilities for tangible research collaborations with their Indian counterparts and attended the BioBangalore (a major international biotechnology conference) held on 7th-9th June 2006 in India. This facilitated exchanges between Irish and Indian scientists with a view to developing collaborations. In addition two SFI funded scientists attended the EU-India Science Conference in India on 7/8 February 2007.

To enhance these collaborations, and develop new ones, SFI is engaging with the Indian Ambassador to Ireland to formulate plans for developing closer links to India.  This plan includes facilitating a delegation to visit India in early March 2011 centred around the areas of Neuroscience, Information Security and Plant Biology and hosted by the IISc and the NCBS in Bangalore.