US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme

The Governments of the United States of America, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have come together for a unique initiative to advance scientific progress in fields that will have a significant impact on the health, well-being and economic prosperity of all their citizens.

The US-Ireland R & D Partnership will help link scientists and engineers in partnerships across academia to address crucial research questions; will foster new and existing industrial research activity that could make an important contribution to the respective economies; and will expand educational and research career opportunities in science and engineering.

The government departments and agencies across the three jurisdictions supporting this initiative are:-

• Northern Ireland – Invest NI and the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL)
• Republic of Ireland – Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)
• United States of America – National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The following thematic areas have been prioritised as important research challenges for the health and prosperity of the citizens of the United States, Ireland and Northern Ireland:

• Nanotechnology
• Sensors
• Diabetes
• Cystic Fibrosis

Note that the NI element of Diabetes and Cystic Fibrosis research themes will be funded by the Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS) R&D Office.

This US-Ireland R&D Partnership has its origins in the US-Ireland Business Summit that took place in Washington, DC in 2002.

The Partnership is guided by a joint Steering Group composed of senior representatives from government, academia and private industry across the three jurisdictions. Download a list of Steering group members (DOC).

Working groups, with representatives from each jurisdiction, have been established in each thematic area to advise and make recommendations to the Steering Group on the scientific themes and issues to be addressed in each area.

Under the US-Ireland R&D process, the Partnership will facilitate researchers to submit joint research proposals in the identified priority areas. As part of this funding process the governments (and/or relevant government research agencies within the Partnership) will contribute to the costs of researchers based in their jurisdictions. All proposals submitted under the auspices of the Partnership must have significant research involvement from researchers in all three jurisdictions.

Planning grants

The aim of the US-Ireland R & D Partnership Planning Grant is to provide planning travel support to researchers in Northern Ireland to travel to the United States in order to develop specific projects with US collaborators for identified programmes under the NSF/NIH auspices. Planning grants, which are administered by Invest NI, are not a pre-requisite for all Northern Ireland researchers who subsequently intend to submit a full application, under the auspices of the US-Ireland R & D Partnership, to Invest NI/DEL for matching funding for any NSF/NIH competitions. They are intended as a vehicle to facilitate development of the tri-jurisdictional application. Should this tripartite application be successful, funding will be provided by the applicable agency to the partners in their jurisdiction. SFI has agreed to manage the assessment process for these planning grants on behalf of Invest NI.

For further information and details on how to apply for a planning grant, download the information below:

Download an application form and support notes for the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Planning Grant (DOC)	Download guidance notes for the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Planning Grant (DOC)

Deadline: applications are accepted under a rolling call for 2007

US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme

Invest NI/DEL have agreed to consider funding requests from Northern Ireland-based applicants wishing to engage in tri-jurisdictional collaborative research projects in areas identified by the Partnership. A minimum of one co-principal investigator from each jurisdiction – Northern Ireland, United States, and Republic of Ireland, must be named on the proposal to be deemed eligible for funding under the Partnership. The scientific application with supporting materials will be jointly prepared by the co-investigators.

To facilitate a ‘single-proposal, single-review’ mechanism, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have agreed to accept submissions from tri-jurisdictional teams to a number of their existing funding programmes. Consequently applicants should design their proposal (including the total requested budget) based on the guidelines and criteria outlined in the relevant programme call and associated documentation.

See the guidelines for submission to the NSF and guidelines for submission to the NIH below for further details of identified programmes and submission details.

Following scientific merit review, if the proposal is being actively considered for funding, the NSF/NIH will provide Invest NI/DEL with appropriate feedback to facilitate Invest NI/DEL’s funding decision on the Northern Ireland applicant’s budget request.

For further information and details on how to apply, download the information below:

Download guidelines for submission to the NSF under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme (DOC)	Download guidelines for submission to the NIH under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme (DOC)
Download the cover sheet for application to the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme (DOC)	Download the budget template for the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme (DOC)
Download frequently asked questions about the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme (DOC)

Contact

Northern Ireland Partnership representatives

Invest Northern Ireland Roz Carson T: 028 9069 8847 E: roz.carson@investni.com	Department for Education and Learning Boyd McDowell T: 028 90 257749 E: boyd.mcdowell@delni.gov.uk W: www.delni.gov.uk

Republic of Ireland Partnership representatives

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) For Nanotechnology: Dr. Paul Dodd, ICT Division T: 00 353 1 607306 E: paul.dodd@sfi.ie W: www.sfi.ie	For Sensors: Dr. Aisling McEvoy, ICT Division T: 00 353 1 6073055 E: aisling.mcevoy@sfi.ie W: www.sfi.ie

Secretariat for the Partnership on the Island of Ireland provided by InterTradeIreland

Dr. Bernadette McGahon T: 028 3083 4100 E: bernadette.mcgahon@intertradeireland.com W: www.intertradeireland.com