Research and innovation (R&I) are crucial for securing Ireland’s economic future, and they are at the heart of the European Commission’s policies for boosting jobs, improving health and attracting investment.
R&I policy is driving the European Union’s green and digital transitions by promoting and supporting scientific excellence and technological development across Member States.
EU support for research and innovation enables Irish researchers to be involved with, or take the lead on, collaborative projects that are making breakthrough discoveries in science, healthcare, transport, climate action and digital technologies.
Ireland’s own Research and Innovation Strategy, Impact 2030, aligns closely with European Union R&I strategies and outlines how Ireland will leverage research and innovation to tackle the country’s social, economic, and environmental challenges. Ireland has created a new research funding agency, Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland, which is an amalgamation of the Irish Research Council (IRC) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), to better realise the ambitions of Impact 2030.
Research
Good research lays the groundwork for innovation by providing new insights or technological breakthroughs that can be developed into practical solutions for global challenges and the changing needs of society.
Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation over the 2021-27 period. It has a budget of around €95.5 billion that’s being used to help tackle climate change, achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boost the EU’s competitiveness and growth.
The programme is built around three main pillars:
- Excellent science: Supporting world-class research to strengthen the EU’s scientific base.
- Global challenges and industrial competitiveness: Addressing societal challenges and reinforcing technological and industrial capacities.
- Innovative Europe: Stimulating market-creating breakthroughs and fostering innovation ecosystems.
Horizon Europe incorporates five missions, which focus on achieving measurable goals in addressing some of the most pressing global challenges:
- Adaptation to climate change.
- Cancer.
- Restore our ocean and waters
- Climate-neutral and smart cities.
- Soil health and food.
EU support for research and innovation encourages cooperation between research teams across countries and disciplines, which is vital in making breakthrough discoveries.
This means Irish researchers can get involved in or lead projects that can deliver on EU priority goals like smart technologies, sustainable transport and green energy sources.
Being part of the European Research Area (ERA) is another way Ireland can contribute significantly to global research and development. The ERA was created to help Europe become the world’s leading ‘knowledge economy’ by developing a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology across the EU.
The first ERA Policy Agenda (2022-2024) is nearing completion having achieved tangible results. A second agenda for 2025-2027 is expected to be adopted in summer 2025.
European Commission analysis has found that while significant progress has been made in making the ERA more attractive, efficient and integrated, there is scope for improving it further. Four areas where future action is needed have been identified.
1. Prioritising investments and reforms: Europe needs to increase private investment in research and development to meet its 3% GDP target. Regulatory and administrative barriers that hinder innovation should be removed.
2. Improving access to excellence: More work is needed to reduce bureaucracy and provide better information on available opportunities for researchers.
3 Translating results into economic impact: Every euro invested by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund attracts four euros from private investors. However, Europe still needs more venture capital to scale breakthrough innovations.
4. Deepening the ERA: More effort is required to reduce disparities in career development opportunities across the EU and to ensure the long-term sustainability and accessibility of European research and technology infrastructures.
In June 2024 the European Commission launched the ERA Talent Platform to support researchers' careers and enhance mobility across countries, sectors, and disciplines, addressing challenges in improving access to excellence and deepening the ERA. EURAXESS Ireland is part of the platform, providing practical information to researchers embarking on mobility ventures, whether they are coming to or leaving Ireland for research roles.
Innovation
The European Innovation Council (EIC) is Europe’s flagship innovation programme for identifying, developing, and supporting breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations. About two-thirds of Europe's economic growth over the last few decades has been driven by innovation.
Ireland has transformed itself over the past 40 years into one of Europe’s top innovation nations. The country is classed as a ‘strong innovator’ Member State in the 2024 European Innovation Scoreboard, which provides an analysis of innovation performance in EU countries, other European countries, and regional neighbours. Ireland’s performance in the Scoreboard was 113.2% of the EU average, placing the country seventh overall, ahead of several larger countries, including Germany and France.
The Industrial Development Agency (IDA) has helped attract billions of euros to Ireland in foreign direct investment (FDI) from companies in innovation related hi-tech sectors like Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Pharmaceuticals, Digital Media and Social Media.
But innovation isn’t confined to big business and the EU also provides funding and support to Irish start-ups and SMEs with breakthrough innovation projects through key schemes such as EIC Accelerator, which helps fund high-risk, high-potential innovations to bring them to market.
The European Commission’s 2025 EIC Work Programme has a €1.4 billion budget, €200 million more than in 2024, to boost deep tech research and start-ups. A key addition is the €300 million EIC STEP Scale-up scheme, set to reach €900 million by 2027, offering €10–30 million per company to advance strategic EU technologies.
Ireland currently has four European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), which are part of a pan-European network established under the European Commission’s Digital Europe Programme. These hubs aim to support the digital transformation of companies, particularly SMEs, and public sector organisations.
European Digital Innovation Hubs Ireland
Research in Ireland
Ireland enjoys a strong track record in research funding through European Framework Programmes. Under Horizon 2020, the country secured a total of €1.21 billion from over 20 different research funding programmes.
This funding was distributed across more than 2,700 Irish organisations, including universities, research institutions, and SMEs. Irish SMEs alone secured over €300 million of the total.
Some of the successes for Irish research funding came through the European Research Council, from which just over €135 million was secured, and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) from which Irish researchers at various stages of their careers were awarded more than €176 million.
Between 2021 and 2024, Irish organisations secured €836 million in funding from the EU's Horizon Europe 2021-2027 programme. The figure represents 2.14% of the €39 billion awarded so far, and shows that Ireland is tracking ahead of its target at just past the halfway point of the programme.
This funding supports 1,295 projects involving 487 Irish organisations, including higher education institutions, research organisations, public bodies, and SMEs. Notably, 217 Irish SMEs have received €233 million, ranking Ireland fourth among EU member states for SME participation.
According to the 2024 European Semester report for Ireland, which provides EU-wide economic and policy recommendations, Ireland needs to strengthen its research and innovation ecosystem to boost competitiveness and reduce regional disparities. The report highlights the need for increased investment in digitalisation, SME transformation, and clean energy research, and urges Ireland to make full use of EU funding, particularly through the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) initiative.
It also calls for the acceleration of cohesion policy programmes to ensure research investments align with long-term economic growth. Improving access to funding and fostering innovation will enhance productivity and support Ireland’s role as a leader in research and technological development.
Ireland is leveraging EU funding, particularly from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and cohesion policy funds, to boost research and innovation.
To address shortages of highly-skilled workers and help realise R&I ambitions, Ireland has implemented several initiatives including the National Challenge Fund. This €65 million competitive programme aims to deliver solutions for major environmental and societal issues. In December 2024, 'Grow Phase' funding of over €9 million was announced for 16 research teams under the fund.
In February 2025, Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland launched two new Advanced Research Centre Hubs for Therapeutics and ICT. The hubs have a combined budget of €63.84 million thanks to joint funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Irish Government.
Enterprise Ireland coordinates the network of national contact points for Horizon Europe in Ireland. The agency has a dedicated website where potential applicants can find out more about the programme and explore past Irish success stories.
Irish Marie Skłodowska-Curie Office
Opportunities for Ireland
Irish researchers with viable proposals can search for funding opportunities on the Single Electronic Data Interchange Area (SEDIA), which is the single-entry point for finding and managing EU grants and procurement contracts.
Ireland’s success rate in applying for research funding is above the EU average and Irish SMEs are ranked amongst the best in the EU for innovation.
There are significant challenges in achieving gender equality in research and innovation (R&I) across the EU, but Irish women are accessing funding at rates that meet or exceed those of their male counterparts.
The European Commission’s She Figures report tracks progress and challenges in achieving research and innovation gender balance. The 2025 report found that Irish women R&D personnel are more likely to work as researchers (69%) than in the Business Enterprise or Government sectors.
In 2025 two Irish women were selected as semi-finalists in the European Prize for Women Innovators that celebrates exceptional women entrepreneurs driving innovation. They were:
- Rhona Togher, co-founder of Lios, which developed a smart noise reducing acoustic material called SoundBounce that has versatile applications in construction, automotive, aerospace, and home appliances.
- Elizabeth McGloughlin, Co-Founder and CEO of Tympany Medical, whose variable angle endoscopy technology improves patient and healthcare system outcomes.
Examples of EU-funded Irish research projects:
- Five Irish projects are among 91 selected across the EU for funding totalling €500 million to advance Green Deal objectives for the sustainable transformation of the EU economy and society. The five projects, two coordinated by UCD and one each from the University of Galway, the Technological University of the Shannon and Teagasc, will receive combined EU funding of over €25 million. They range from a project to combat food fraud to a project to utilise AI software to design and develop bio-based materials ‘programmed’ to biodegrade in real marine and terrestrial environments.
- Trinity College Dublin’s Smartheal was one of 40 groundbreaking projects selected for €2.5 million of European Innovation Council (EIC) funding in 2025. Smartheal focuses on perfecting new types of implants that use tiny magnets to join two parts of the intestine together, allowing them to heal and fuse naturally without stitches or staples.
- Professors Matthew Campbell and Valeria Nicolosi from Trinity College Dublin and Professor Fergal O'Brien from the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland were each awarded European Research Council Proof of Concept grants worth €150,000 in 2025. These grants help bridge the gap between the results of pioneering research and the early phases of its commercialisation.
- A €2.69 million European research consortium funded by Horizon Europe and led by Dr Sara Farrona at University of Galway is exploring new methods to improve how crops can survive prolonged dry spells by harnessing natural processes. Kerry-based biotech company BioAtlantis is part of the EpiSeedLink project consortium together with University Galway will help train 11 young researchers as part of the project’s goal to tackle drought.
- Bats have exceptional longevity and minimal age-related health issues. Bat biologist and Professor of Zoology at UCD, Emma Teeling, is part of the BATPROTECT team that received over €11.8 million in ERC funding to learn strategies from the flying mammals that could extend human lifespan and improve disease resistance.
- Professor Ruth Britto, from Trinity College Dublin’s School of Mathematics, will work with three colleagues on an international project that seeks to develop new algorithmic methods with applications in mathematics, particle physics and gravity. The team secured nearly €10 million through an ERC Synergy Grant.
- Orla Muldoon from the University of Limerick received almost €2.5 million in ERC funding for her SIMTIC project on trauma research. She was presented with an ERC Public Engagement with Research Award in 2024 for advancing public understanding of gender-based violence, highlighting its systemic nature and driving societal change.
- Cork-based diagnostics company Altratech received an investment of €10.5 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator in 2024. The funding will help scale up development of a handheld molecular testing device that can provide healthcare providers and patients with instant, reliable diagnostic results outside of clinical settings.
“Ireland’s overall success in the Horizon Europe EIC programme, supported by Enterprise Ireland in our National Contact Point capacity, shines a spotlight on the innovation and capability of Irish companies to compete on a global level. This funding provides the critical support required to enable these innovative companies such as Altratech to further develop and scale their business.”
Marina Donohoe, Head of Research and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland
- In September 2024, Dr Junli Xu and Dr David MacManus from University College Dublin were among seven young Irish scientists who were awarded ERC starting grants worth about €1.5 million each over a period of five years.
- Using pioneering technology, the EU-funded Remote Rehabilitation Service for Isolated Areas (ROSIA) project aims to deliver rehabilitation services to patients in need, wherever they are. ROSIA secured €1.7 million in Horizon funding.
- The HECATE project co-ordinated by Collins Aerospace in Cork has received over €34 million in Horizon Europe funding to help develop hybrid-electric regional aircraft that combine traditional fuel engines with electric propulsion to reduce fuel consumption, emissions, and noise.
- Nine Irish research teams were awarded €500,000 each under the €65 million EU-funded National Challenge Fund, managed by Research Ireland. The projects vary from working on improving thermal management of batteries in electric vehicles to combining artificial and human intelligence for monitoring peatland.