Wednesday 6th Febuary, Dublin – Minister for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan TD, today launched the new Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Frontiers for the Future programme, which will provide opportunities for independent investigators to conduct highly innovative, collaborative research with the potential to deliver impact, whilst also providing opportunities for high-risk, high-reward research projects.  

Announcing the SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme, Minister for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan TD, said: “The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation is pleased to be investing in this new programme, which will support individual-led research, ensuring a bright future for Ireland through discovery, innovation and tangible impact. I look forward to the great opportunities that SFI Frontiers for the Future will create for the researchers already carrying out excellent work in Ireland, as well as for those in the early stages of their research careers who hold fantastic potential.”

This new programme, which will be run in collaboration with other state agencies including the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will support excellent individual researchers through grants which incorporate multidisciplinary approaches for innovative and ambitious programmes of research. SFI is committed to increasing the number of SFI grants held by female researchers. Towards achieving this goal, the SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme will provide additional supports for excellent female researchers to secure funding.   

Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General at Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland, said: “I am delighted to announce SFI Frontiers for the Future, a highly-innovative and dynamic funding programme, which will support researchers at various career stages in Ireland. There are highly-skilled, talented and dedicated researchers across the country and it is important that we invest in their excellent ideas and research, so that we can improve and maintain Ireland’s superb global standing in research, innovation and discovery. We have started to test and implement some of the ideas that have come from our recent consultation, and SFI Frontiers for the Future will be a source of opportunity for the researchers of Ireland as we build this programme over the coming years.” 

This new programme replaces the SFI Investigators Programme and the SFI Career Development Award through an overarching investigator-led programme, that supports different career stages.  

The SFI Frontiers for the Future programme is now open for applications. More information can be found here.