Irish, British and Northern Ireland Ministers, Harris, Ghani and Poots announce joint investment in co-centres for research and innovation
24th October 2022 - Irish Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD, UK Minister for Science and Investment Security, Nusrat Ghani MP and Northern Irish Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Edwin Poots MLA, have today announced a €74 million (£64 million) investment to create new collaborative research centres across Ireland, Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The call under the ‘Co Centres: Collaboration for Transformative Research and Innovation’ Programme will open in November and will focus on two thematic areas: Climate, and Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems.
Announcing the collaboration, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD said: “I am delighted to announce the launch of the new Co-Centres Programme.
“We have seen in recent years how important it is to invest in collaborative research and we are pleased to be able to support this ambitious new programme through the Government’s Shared Island initiative."
“By working together, we can foster new research collaborations that are crucial to addressing both climate, and sustainable and resilient food systems, these are critical issues that impact on all of us.”
Announcing the collaboration, Minister for Science and Investment Security, Nusrat Ghani, said: “This excellent new programme will further deepen the relationships between the research sectors in Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland, encouraging valuable cross-border collaboration between our friendly nations."
“By working closely with industry, the Co-Centres will ensure their excellent research translates into innovation that helps us tackle some of the most important challenges we face, from climate change to sustainable food systems.”
Announcing the collaboration, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Edwin Poots MLA, said: “I am pleased to welcome the opening of this call, which represents a major joint investment for new research in the areas of Climate and Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems. I look forward to our research community responding to the call and subsequently delivering world-leading collaborative science to provide the evidence and innovation we need to enable Northern Ireland to reduce carbon emissions and biodiversity crisis in the right way; balancing climate, driving efficiency, environment and green jobs.”
The new Co-Centres programme will bring together leading academic and industrial researchers, as well as policy makers across Ireland, Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The call will be managed by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
The new programme will provide for an investment of €74million, funded through DAERA (up to £17M), SFI (up to €40million) and UKRI (up to £12 million), to support future joint research.