TUS allocated €12m for regional research offices
The Technological University of the Shannon has been allocated a massive €12m to enhance research and innovation opportunities.
The funding is part of an €84 million allocation announced by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris today.
The programme will establish, equip, and staff regional research and innovation offices within Technological Universities to enable deepened engagement with local and regional business, industry, and enterprise stakeholders.
It is also directed at developing researcher human capital in the technological sector, including staff development, recruitment, postgraduate training and supervision, networking, and collaborative knowledge-transfer and mobility schemes.
Minister Harris said: “I am very pleased to announce, with the assistance of the European Regional Development Fund, the allocation of almost €84 million in funding to our five TUs as well as to Dundalk Institute of Technology and Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology.
“The Technological Universities are uniquely placed to link with local and regional enterprises, particularly Small and Medium Enterprises, to support them to turn innovation opportunities into real-world actuality.
“TUs are catalysts of regional development and support the skills and employment agendas regionally and nationally. This significant research-oriented funding will further enhance their capacity in this regard, ensuring that as a nation Ireland will be recognised as a world-leader in Research and Innovation for years to come.”
TU RISE is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the Southern, Eastern & Midland and the Northern & Western Regional Programmes, 2021-27.
The Higher Education Authority will manage and oversee the scheme
MEP Maria Walsh welcomed the funding saying: “The investment of over €36m in our third-level institutions right across the Midlands-North West is thanks to assistance from the European Regional Development Fund. This is a prime example of Ireland and the EU working together for the betterment of not only our education system, but also our local businesses economies.